Secret Garden Musk Climber

Colette

Gruss an Aachen

A cluster of Janet with all the ties:-)

Lyda Rose

Cecile Brunner

A gaura and cranesbill

SDLM

Bishop's Castle

A penstemon

Mme Berard

Old Korbel Gold

Baron Girod de l'Ain

Francis Dubreuil

We went to the San Francisco zoo yesterday and took some pictures of their exotic plants collection. I am sorry I don't know what this one is

But these next ones are leucospermum. It comes in different colors

Here is my 5-year old with Simba:-)(and yes, it was that cold in the city)

Masha

Ingrid

Lovely picture of your kid! :) When I was growing up, there were two lion statues near the entrance of local history museum - it was so much fun to climb and ride on those.

Went to the Royal Botanical grd. in Hamilton On. and was surprised, that most of the roses have already stopped blooming, but we hardly had a winter and spring was very early this year.
Inga

Thank you, huttnem, for identifying the plant. You are right, it is Protea. The Western Gardening Book says it is very difficult to grow, so I was surprised initially that it should be doing so well in a public planting, but I remember hearing somewhere that the zoo takes its plants very seriously and makes efforts to maintain them.

Thank you, elemire. The reason for Janet's ties is clusters of huge blooms on very thin stems. If I tie them up by the necks I can at least see them:-). I have never thought that Mme Berard is basically Reve d'Or. The blooms are a bit smaller, but the shape is classic tea and the color is pretty different to me.

Thank you, Inga, and sorry about your experience with the botanical garden.

Masha

great picture of your son-----

Florence

Elemire, my Mme Berard has a bit of mildew in spring, not too bad but definitely there. She blooms well though, and best of all, she is completely thornless so far, which is great as she is right next to the kids' play area. She is growing up an arbor now and I plan to let her climb an apple tree which is close by.

Masha

I didn't know it was possible to have drier summers than here - I thought no rain from April to November is as dry as it gets. Is it worse in the Netherlands?

Don't apologize for misspelling my name. I misspelled the title of the post (what was I thinking about) and I don't even have your excuse:-)

Masha

No rain from April to November sounds dryer than here - I guess the site I looked San Jose up had it wrong. :D Normally it is reasonably wet in most of NL, although not as bad as UK, but I am living in North top corner, which had a drought last 3 years and generally is somewhat dryer.

I am considering getting a tea climber for one spot in the South side, which just gets fried, no thorns sounds like a bonus, since it is near the path, but mildew I have to think about, since we get a bit of it so now and then. Generally teas are on the borderline here, some can do ok and some are too tender, Mme. Berard seems to be one of the few that should be possible to grow here. I still hope to find it growing somewhere here in the botanical gardens, to meet in person before I make decisions for the autumn orders. :)

I got Mme Berard thanks to your photos and my plant just bloomed, it's really gorgeous. I like it even more in person, if that makes sense.

Elemire, choosing roses is so much fun, I am sure you will make a good choice.

Masha

These are such a joy to view. Great coloring on your 'Gruss an Aachen'. Mine does that color in the spring sometimes too, and you captured it perfectly.

My favorite of the bunch however is your 'Lyda Rose'.

Great shot of your son with Simba. How that brings back memories. My daughter adored Simba. Hard to believe she's in college now :-) Seems like only yesterday, so be sure to appreciate every day, as I know you do.

Randy

Masha