Monday, September 15, 2008

Bloom Day, September 2008

In September, the big show from the datura has wound down, and the sweet almond verbena is between bloom cycles as well. The show right now is divided between the new front bed, which has finally filled in, and the roses, which are having a good fall flush.

The new front bed, Still Life With Car:

















Here's Duchesse de Brabant. This bloom in particular had an intense tea fragrance:























Gruss An Aachen, just begging for someone with watercolor painting skills:


I've gotta say that now that since I moved Gruss An Aachen to better dirt and more direct sun late last winter, this rose has been almost blackspot free and remarkably free-blooming. It does get a lot of extra water from the leaky hose connection when I water the rest of the yard, though, which is probably a factor in its spectacular performance.





And the backyard rose bed, out of focus, I'm afraid. Blooming from nearest to farthest are Marie Pavie, Double Knockout, Belinda's Dream, Souvenier de la Malmaison, Maggie, Duchesse de Brabant, and finally, a very faint pink speck in the in the back, Louis Philippe:







And as a note to anyone planning to plant Maggie, a wonderfully-scented bourbon:  Make sure you plant this rose where you can actually get to it to smell the flowers.  Planting several roses and an agave right in front of it is most definitely NOT a bright idea.  At least my neighbors have been enjoying the flowers from their side of the fence, so all is not lost.







As I write this, there's a definite chill to the morning breeze, and I'm looking forward to getting back to digging large holes in my yard for "fun."  Six new roses have just been acquired (nearly all in shades of peach, which was unintentional), and I can tell already that my pickaxe is going to get a workout.  It's gonna be awesome.

9 comments:

Annie in Austin said...

You've got a lovely garden Lori - the grasses mixed in with the roses are doing something special to that border and the agaves in front turn the car into an accessory to the plants.

It will be interesting to see how you're going to fit in six peach roses!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

vertie said...

Your garden looks lovely. I am so impressed with your Duchesse de Brabant. Mine is just now showing signs of life, and I'm afraid I've killed the Cramoisi. Guess it's time to buy a new one. did you leave any roses in the nurseries for the rest of us-)?

Lori said...

Annie - Thanks! I knew I had to do something a bit different with the front, so I went for something a little more sculptural, with an emphasis on evergreen plants that I wouldn't have to water a lot (there's quite a bit of prostrate rosemary that hasn't filled in yet). I can't wait until the agaves double in size. It's gonna be cool. As for the six new roses, I plan to yank out Double Delight, which hasn't looked good since April, so that'll free up a space. Two of the climbers are going to go on yet-to-be-built pergolas, and Blush Noisette is going in the back of the shed in the hopes of perfuming the backyard, in a bed I still have to build. So really, that leaves only two to find places for and the front yard beds aren't done yet. I'm gonna be busy, aren't I? ;)

Vertie - I'm glad to hear that the Duchesse pulled through the awful summer, but it's too bad about the Cramoisi. If you want to try something similar and really tough, I can recommend the fellow China, Archduke Charles. It has a fairly strong fruity scent that I really love, and the plant is a lot fuller and bushier than Cramoisi as well. I've been really negligent with mine, not watering it and letting it get buried alive every summer by giant Texas sunflowers, but now that I've hacked everything back to rescue it, the Archduke is still looking all right.

P.S. Barton Springs Nursery and The Natural Gardener just got the first of their fall shipments of roses in last week. ;D

Anonymous said...

You know how I love agaves and roses together. In fact, that will be the theme of my Bloom Day post if I ever get it posted. Your roses are absolutely gorgeous.

Rock rose said...

Your roses are gorgeous. You must be doing something right to have such lovely flowers after all this heat. I love the light airy look of your garden beds.

Carol Michel said...

Looks like you pulled through the summer in good shape. I know you put a lot of work and time into your garden and it shows. It's really pretty right now!

Diana said...

Lori - I just love that Gruess an Aachen -- we used to drive through Aachen on the way to my grandparents' house in Germany during the 4 years we lived in the Netherlands. It is so pretty - you're right about it needing a still painter!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Lori, just wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing...are you too busy to post these days? I'm sure like the rest of us here in Austin, on October GBBD you just enjoyed the RAIN and didn't take pictures; it was a relief, wasn't it?

Lori said...

Hey, getgrounded! I'm not technically too busy to post, it's more that I've gotten sucked into giving myself a crash course in economics and I'm also completely obsessed with this election season. I'm so far behind on garden blogs that it's embarrassing. I will post soon though, I swear! ;D