Silverado Rose in My Autumn Garden

Certainly there are many pink-colored roses, but the Silverado rose has a color that echoes the Spring season to me, so vibrant and also very fragrant, a truly wonderful member of my backyard garden, especially in the autumn and winter months!

Autumn Garden: A Season of Review

I just finished watering my front and back yards. The front looks fine, lawn is still green and my various bushes and plants are thriving. That’s the good news.
The bad news? My back yard had a combination of hits and misses.
The hits:  Most of my roses (primarily hybrid tea) are standing strong (a few perished), [...]

Rose Hips

My Sunblest rose is producing an impressive amount of rose hips! Here is one example. I’m hopeful that it will ripen into a shade of red or orange because I’m curious about using them in tea and possibly making jam (if I have enough for the latter, that is!).  An added benefit is that rose hips are [...]

Roses: To Cut or Not?

I just finished this round of deadheading my roses. I have several roses blooming, all beautiful. But for me, it’s a bit painful (and I don’t mean the thorns this time!) to cut my roses in order to have cut flowers in my home. I have some roses that would look great in a vase, [...]

My Backyard Spring Garden

Oh, this is the reason I enjoy gardening so much! This section of my backyard consists primarily of roses, but also features alstromeria (Peruvian lily), lantana, and French lavender. A bit of maintenance and patience pays off during these days!
CONSUMER ALERT UPDATE: There have been reports that alstromeria or Peruvian lily plant is poisonous if it is [...]

Golden Celebration Rose, in Bloom!

This rose is simply divine.  My rose garden is in various stages of bloom, which ensures color every day! I snapped this photo about an hour ago, just after sniffing its oh-so-sweet fragrance. Notice the stunning red color of the flower bud that is destined to bloom into this golden loveliness!

I Support Roses!

Two canes of my Sunblest Rose plant have grown very tall, very quickly. It’s been windy here for the past few days also, so to reduce the likelihood of  canes snapping in half from the frequent swaying, I tied each tall cane to a bamboo support, using green plastic tape. It just takes a few careful minutes to [...]

Rose Garden: Spring Awakening!

It’s been just over 2 months since I hard pruned my roses for the winter.  The warm sunny weather in my area, and twice a week waterings,  have provided the right conditions for my rose garden to awaken in such a short time. Already, some canes, which were cut down in the winter to about [...]

Tree Saplings: Fit to Be Tied!

I just came in after tying green plastic ties around my four new fruit tree saplings, just as the winds started picking up! I had already placed wooden stakes up against each sapling last weekend but had not secured them with the gardening tape. I did not know that it was going to be gusty just one week later!
From my [...]

Radiant Perfume Rose

Before planting my fruit tree saplings, I will be planting a bare root rose: the Radiant Perfume rose. No flowers on it, yet (!), but it has evidence of new, healthy green sprouts. This hybrid tea is supposed to be very fragrant and yellow, with long stems.
Until last year, I’ve always left my rose flowers on the [...]