December Has More Than Two Colors

Things catch my eye. Today it was the apricot and peachy tones of Rosa 'Honey Perfume' still blooming at the gardens. It was not just blooming a little bit, it was covered in blossoms and buds.  By itself I am not sure I would have given it a second glance, but its neighbor's brought it to my attention.  The rose is surrounded by several dusty blue agaves, a patch of still colorful Itea virginica, and an especially spectacular Spiraea thunbergii 'Fujino Pink' with awesome fall color.






'Honey Perfume' is a floribunda rose with a very strong fragrance, long bloom time, and it has good disease resistance.  It is listed as only getting 3.5' tall by 2.5' wide, but the one I am smitten with is close to twice that size. Like most Spiraea thunbergii, 'Fujino Pink' is a very early bloomer, usually in February for us here in zone 8.  The flowers cover the stems and are a pale pink, instead of the normal white of the species. Even if it never flowered, I think I would grow it just to get such intense fall foliage. The ultimate size is often listed as 3-4' tall and wide, but like the rose, it does not read plant tags either.

I had thought my new life away from retail would make me more appreciative of the red and green season, but it seems I am still appreciating what fall has to offer.

Fog and Roses

Friday morning found me once again in Portsmouth for another TV segment, outdoors in the fog.  It was probably not the best weather to televise the "after" part of a garden renovation we did for the station, but sometimes you have got to go with what you have been given.  However, the weather was good for photography, unless you were wanting to get a picture across the river of the Norfolk skyline.

One bright spot on the otherwise gray waterfront were these Knockout Roses, which seem to be everywhere these days.

I came across lots of other roses away from the river in Olde Towne (I hate this spelling).  The ones below are more Knockouts and what I think are Graham Thomas, one of the David Austin roses. These were growing behind the Pass House where 150 years ago citizens in Union occupied Portsmouth obtained a pass to travel across the river to Confederate Norfolk.

This is likely Blaze blooming in front of the B.P.O.E hall, a.k.a. Madblood's mansion.

Peace maybe?

I am not sure which one this is, but notice how it matches the window trim.

Here are two more unknown-to-me varieties.

While I was taking the photo below, the homeowner came out and told me they have lived in the house for 40 years, and the white rose has been blooming and climbing into the mulberry tree each of those years.

Roses were not the only blooms in Olde Towne on Friday.  One of my favorite houses had a pomegranate (Punica granatum) in full bloom.

Oenothera speciosa, Pink Evening Primrose

Passiflora caerulea, Passion Vine

Philadelphus coronarius, Mockorange

(You can see the entire set of pictures here on my Flickr page.)

Moms Love Roses

I want to wish all the mother's out there a happy Mother's Day, and I would like to send each of you an electronic bouquet of roses.  All of these photos were taken on Friday at the Nofolk Botanical Gardens, which I visited on National Public Garden Day (and because of the free admission).  Though there were lots of roses to look at and to photograph, I focused in on the David Austin roses (with apologies to Jo).  It was nice to see the roses before our summer humidity begins messing with the foliage and before an army of Japanese beetles decends upon them.

Golden Celebration


Prospero


Wild Eve


Tradescant


Sophy's Rose


Charles Darwin


Benjamin Britten


Wife of Bath


Blythe Spirit


Tamora


There will be more to follow from my trip to the gardens in the next post.

Bloom Day - The Well Watered Garden

On the news yesterday, I heard that the Hampton Roads area is having the 6th rainiest year since records have been kept, and that we are nearly 18" above average. As we are less than half an inch away from the number 5 spot, we will likely end up there according to the meteorologists. A new fixture for many of the homes in my neighborhood is a garden hose, pvc pipe or some other tube trailing from the basement window or out of the crawl space. These are all draining into the street excess water from under the house, and you need to mind when you walk by them as sump pumps kick on without notice, giving you wet shoes. There are also several spots around the neighborhood where water is spontaneously bubbling out of the ground. Of course for gardeners this rain is a blessing and a curse: not a thing needs watering and the reservoirs will be full for next summer's needs, but if you step into the garden you will sink up to your ankle in soggy, unworkable soil.

On my own piece of wet earth the garden still has blooms and our basement is dry and holding. Although we have gotten as low as 28, and most of the annuals are gone, there are still some hardier blooms persisting, including the godsend for southern gardeners - the Camellias.

Camellia sasanqua 'Kanjiro'

Camellia sasanqua 'Showa-No-Sake'

Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide'

The Camellia japonica 'Les Marbury' is blooming very early this year.

Here it is again with the dark blue fruit of Evergreen Hydrangea (Dichroa febrifuga).

Another plant blooming early is my unknown Quince (Chaenomeles sp.). Though I am not sure - it could be 'Ore-hime', which I was told would be a long bloomer. We will see.

I still have several Roses blooming, which have all been shown recently, except for this 'Red Cascade'. I moved it this summer so it would get more sun, and it has responded well.

The Mahonia x 'Winter Sun' was seen two posts back, but it is so colorful it will be shown again.

Not all annuals have been killed by the cold, and I planted Pansies this year after taking last year off. Back then I was not sure if my crazed neighbor had reformed, and I was not willing to take the risk. She seems to be in a much better place now, so this year I put in a few. These pictured are 'Delta Tapestry'.

Finally a gratuitous pet picture in the garden. Miss Patsy's advanced age keeps her from going on adventures like she once did, so she has missed out on photo ops the other two dogs enjoyed. Patsy celebrated her 15th birthday last week with lunch meat and extra lovies.

A special thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Please visit her if you are interested in seeing what's blooming in other blogger's gardens.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

An Embarassment of Riches

After several days of above average temperatures, things in the garden are coming into their own at a fast pace. Unfortunately, my daily norm is to leave in a morning rush trying to get someone to school and myself to work on time and to arrive home late in the evening with little time to enjoy the garden. Its a shame, because there is a lot to enjoy right now.

I thought I was through with Narcissus, but this one popped up after all the others had faded.
Some of the few plants left from a previous owner are Azaleas (Rhododendron x), and since these are my favorite trio of 'Mrs. G.G. Gerbing', 'George L. Taber' and 'Formosa' - they were kept. These are all Southern Indica hybrids and they tend to have huge blossoms that remind me of orchids. I remember how large these grew down in Charleston, often hiding old garden sheds and abandoned cars under their blooms. Unfortunately they do not get nearly so big here.

How about a parade of Iris?

An unknown Allium, also planted by a previous owner.

The few Roses I have are starting to bloom. I planted Zephirin Drouhin (Rosa x 'Zephirine Drouhin') because of its shade tolerance, but I have since come to dislike its color and its general lack of vigor, but it smells nice and my wife likes it, so it stays.

The bright orange-red blossoms are from the Caramba Rose (Rosa x 'Tanabamar').

This is a David Austin introduction, Pat Austin (Rosa x ' AUSmum'), which I like with the variegated Forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia) foliage.

This Maynight Salvia (Salvia x 'Mainacht') was just put in this week and was a free sample from one of the companies I buy plants from. I like purple, especially when it is mixed with yellow or chartreuse foliage like the Sunrise Abelia (Abelia x 'Sunrise') behind the Salvia.
Here is another purple and chartreuse combo, Sweet Kate Spiderwort (Tradescantia x andersoniana 'Sweet Kate').

This path cuts through my side garden where many of my Hydrangeas are budding, and given this weather pattern we're in they could be blooming sooner than normal.

I hope some of this abundance will still be here for Bloom Day (and for when I have more time to enjoy it).