Friday, April 16, 2010

Bloom Day, April 2010

I'm alive, and so is my garden! In fact, I can safely say that my garden has never looked so good. After the last two years of drought, it amazes me how quickly everything filled in and bounced back. Even the roses are covered in flowers despite the fact that I barely fertilized and completely missed the window to cut everything back properly.

Seriously, it's completely ridiculous how much is in bloom in my yard right now. I've been walking outside, looking around, and laughing with giddiness. The garden is the most spectacular it's ever looked in the three and a half years I've been working on it, and that's including the front yard, which I finally finished hardscaping and planting last month.

So thanks to all the rain this winter, it's a jungle out there. Here's the rose Sunny Knockout being cuddled by artemesia "Silver King" and larkspur:







Here's the rose "Maggie" on the fence. Thanks to planting four other extremely thorny roses directly in front of it, sadly, I haven't managed to fight my way back to the fence in order to properly appreciate the fragrance. Which is sad, because the scent is strong and fabulous. I'm tempted to knock on my neighbors' door and ask if I can spend 5 minutes in their backyard just because there's nothing in the way on their side of the fence.








Here's rose "Gruss an Aachen" tempting me to take up watercolor painting again:











Here are a few blurry pictures of the back borders, which contain roses, artemesia, heartleaf skullcap,and a ton of salvia greggii, among other things. Please excuse the blurry pictures; it was starting to rain:














Here's catmint drowning a "Bright Edges" yucca. The cat is particularly fond of this combo for some reason:











The cat, with a "Mutabilis" rose in the background. The stock tank is planted with bamboo muhly, which should fill in enough by fall to screen the seating area behind it from the street.









And yet another rose blooming is Blush Noisette. I love the graceful form of the bush and it's gorgeously fragrant, especially in the summer heat:










One of the most fragrant roses in my garden, with the prettiest blooms is the English rose, Abraham Darby. The color of the flowers varies quite a lot from flower to flower:



Right now nearly every rose in my yard is blooming with such abandon that I spend every spare moment outside wandering around smelling the flowers and staring. A complete list:

Marie Pavie
Thomas Affleck
Mutabilis
Republic of Texas
Star of the Republic
Mme Berkeley
Felicia
Gruss an Aachen
Belinda's Dream
Maggie
Souvenir de la Malmaison
Duchesse de Brabant
Louis Philippe
Zephirine Drouhin
Archduke Charles
Blush Noisette
Buff Beauty
Abraham Darby
Eugene de Beauharnais
Mme Alfred Carriere
Sunny Knockout
Pink Knockout
Pink Double Knockout
Rainbow Knockout
Double Knockout


Also blooming:

salvia greggii
yellow and orange bulbine
ice plant
'Homestead Purple' verbena
moss verbena
"Walker's Low" catmint
passalong peach iris from Annie In Austin
pansies
snapdragons
various ornamental cabbages
clover
bluebonnets


This is my favorite Bloom Day ever.

25 comments:

Rock rose said...

Your garden really is looking magnificent Lori and I am so glad we got to see it in person. Simply wonderful roses with wonderful fragrance. I'm sure your neighbor is out there sniffing every day.

Stephanie from GardenTherapy.ca said...

great plant combinations you have - I love how you have put it all together!

Sylvana said...

I absolutely am in love with that second picture of your back yard! OMG! It is magical.

And all those roses look like the perfect accessory for your sweet, fluffy kitty :)

Pam/Digging said...

If your neighbor is not out there sniffing every day, she must be crazy. Your garden truly is a lovely, romantic place, and I'm so glad to have seen it in person. Cute cat!

Iris said...

Being a gardener with only one rose, and a miniature variety at that (Red Cascade), I'm blown away at all your gorgeous roses! I particularly love the roses/artemesia combo.

mss @ Zanthan Gardens said...

Thank you for having us over last Sunday to see your garden at its height. I'm glad it was misty that day and in your photos too. Something about this weather just brings out the best in the soft, delicate tints of your heirloom roses.

Of course, no photo can convey the heady scent. They were all lovely. I'm especially glad you reminded me how beautiful 'Marie Pavie' can be--that's definitely the next rose I'm going to buy.

LindaCTG said...

This is a fabulous bloom day! It's just gorgeous (and so is the kitty). I know what you mean about a jungle: plants are so vigorous right now in my garden that some of them are drowning each other out. But what a celebration. You've got a gorgeous garden, that is for sure.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back, blogger, we missed you! That shot of your back garden really emphasizes the wonderful pink and silver palate. You have worked so hard, and finally get your just rewards. I love the image of you giggling your way around your garden as you scratch and sniff. And Killer is quite photogenic, I have to say! Love everything.

katina said...

Holy cow. As I was telling Bob (Draco Gardens) the other day, I'm not really a rose person...but if anyone could make me one, it would be you and your AMAZING yard.

Country Mouse said...

Your garden is soooo beautiful. Roses remind me of my grandfather. I don't grow them in my garden because it is a wilderness and the deer and critters like roses - I do have one tough old bush in one area and that is my rose fix!

Bumble Lush Garden said...

Hello Lori! I'm fairly new to gardening/garden blogging & I came across your blog from the May Dreams Garden GBBD post. I mostly plant veggies & in containers, so I'm just in awe of the space you have and your beautiful flowers, especially those roses! Your cat is also completely adorable! Looking forward to reading through the rest of your posts...

ConsciousGardener said...

Wow, stunning! I love, love the artemesia around the roses...nice contrast!

Houston Garden Girl said...

Those "blurry pictures" are my new inspiration for expanding my gardens. I love how deep you've made your flower beds. I love the picts called agave & rose border and birdbath view. Awesome!!!!

Annie in Austin said...

The layers of color, texture and scent are wonderful, Lori! Your garden was overwhelmingly gorgeous in person, and I'm still amazed at how established it looks in just a few years.

It was so cool to see Abraham Darby again, too ;-]

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

renee/renee's roots said...

Lori, what a glorious bloom day post! i'm really sorry i missed your garden gathering. I would have loved to get an upclose look -- and sniff. You have a lovely garden!

Anonymous said...

oh, that was a cat? i thought it was an exquisite looking flower. :p

Kari Lønning said...

Just wanted to say How Beautiful! (Now to go back and take a slower look!)

Sylvana said...

Holy floriforous backyard, Batman! What a sight!

I love the combo of agave with the classic English garden plants.

Garden Much said...

I love Abraham Darby - it has the most beautiful color gradient.

TheGardenCloche said...

You have a beautiful garden. I bet you backyard must smell so good.

Jeff
TheGardenCloche.com | Organic Gardening Plant Covers

Kamagra said...

what a beauty garden, inclusive your cat look great in the graden, what is your secret? what you use to make this? I mean you use some special fertilizer or something like that.

Anonymous said...

Simply stunning!

Marc O. said...

Wowsers. If it looked like this two years ago, I can only imagine now!

Unknown said...

Your backyard looks fantastic. Its so vibrant and full of colors. Thanks for sharing.
motorbike loan

Nelson said...

Seems like there's no word to describe how magnificent your garden is.