Done with roses

A special rose friend of mine in the hot desert of Southern California recently said she's "done with roses". By that she meant she thinks she's reached the "right" number for her garden space (somewhere in the 70 range, I think) and she's going to concentrate on adding companion plants. I knew exactly what she was saying.

I maxxed out my available rose space last year and have just been 'trading places' on occasion. Now the roses are truly getting large, and it's very unsettling. After nipping them back recently I'm not sure that's the way to go. Chinas and Teas are known for 'sulking' if they're cut back more than just a little.  'Le Vesuve' has actually sulked for the last 3 weeks after the thrips removal - no growth, no bloom. Can you imagine the bloom machine sulking? I couldn't until now. Also, the 6 to 8 weeks between flushes (perhaps lengthened by the thrips removal) - meaning no flowers - has been a little weird. It's really been NOT a rose garden, so something must take their place during these quiet times. However, the roses are just starting to bloom again.

My current passion is fragrant daylilies. Wow! Talk about wafting!! I only recently smelled my first Easter lily at Lowe's, and I was bowled over. Imagine my glee upon discovering the fragrant daylilies I have are very similar in fragrance and very strong, so I've been online searching for more of them to add to the garden.

As time goes by I'm guessing that a rose here and there in my garden will under-perform, and I may even decide not to replace it with a rose. 'Mme Antoine Mari' was looking awful with dying canes and only half the bush looking alive. Made the decision to take her out and what did I find? Fully 8"-10" of plant was underground. I don't know how that happened since I only put her in that spot less than 1-1/2 years ago, but that had to be bad for the plant, I'm sure. Well, I'm considering what to put in her place. I have a chance to get 'Souv de Victor Hugo', so that was my first thought, but then I thought of an Encore Azalea that is supposed to bloom sporadically through the summer (can't prove that by me with my other two). Then I thought how about more companions.

The roses in this area are either too small to see yet or are in between flushes, so it's the companions that make the statement. If they weren't there, the garden would be pretty much silent. I really like the interesting statement that the companions make.

In the front garden I may be faced with removing a couple of roses for space considerations and shifting others (oh, joy!). I do like the look of my salvias and would like more of them along with the daylilies.

Can you believe I have been looking askance at 'Bermuda's Anna Olivier'? It may just be her pattern of looking ratty before the real heat sets in, but she has been ugly! And Franny Kruger (Mlle Franziska Kruger) has been that way, too. I guess it's all cyclical. Everything can't look good at one time. It's a constant rotation of change to find what will look good more of the time. I've been very happy with the two old Austin roses that are new to my garden. They are a totally different look from the teas which has stolen my heart. We'll see how one of them does in its shady position.

Speaking of looking awful, this is how 'Souv de la Malmaison' looks bad. You can see she has lots of buds and a few flowers but also lots of yellow leaves. That's because she's holding back on nutrients to older leaves so she can supply nutrients to new growth which will then produce blooms. Shortly, these old yellow leaves will drop off and she will be full of blooms and looking very pretty. This cycling is natural for these warm-climate roses that bloom here 9 or 10 months of the year. After a while the yellow leaves become less noticeable. They're simply nature revitalizing itself.

Anyway, the garden gives me much to do even without more roses - often I think it's TOO much to do which is another reason for not increasing my rose numbers and perhaps even decreasing them. I'm learning that a garden can not remain static for long.