Ingrid how wonderful. Both your SdlM and your BD look exceptional. I have shied away from SdlM due to worries about powdery mildew. Bourbons in general do not like my garden, but SdlM doesn't look like the typical bourbon foliage wise to me. Do you get PM on yours?
Nik

Beautiful, Ingrid! Can't wait to try Souvenir de La Malmaison!

Beautiful Ingrid! I am so excited about Spring. It is thrilling to see all the growth, fresh new leaves, and little buds.
Nik, I think that Souv. de La Malmaison is less prone to disease than the average Bourbon.

I always thought that SdLM looked very much like a tea if you don't consider the bloom form.
Nik

Oooooooh! So lovely. My heart skipped a beat when I saw SDLM, followed by Belinda in full bloom--and then those first shapely iris blooms--so lovely!

My garden hasn't even gotten into the daffodil stage yet. The early royal purple crocuses are glowing like crazy throughout the gardens, however.

Even your "starker" beds are gorgeous! Can't wait for my gardens to catch up.

Kate

Looks like the beginnings of a wonderful season, Ingrid, thanks for sharing!

The iris and other companion plants look wonderful with the roses. These pics brighten my morning, Ingrid.

I love seeing S. du President Carnot- beautiful color and form! I share your affection for the early HT's. I'm excited to see what happens this Spring with my own Mrs Lovell Swisher and Shot Silk.

Ingrid - Those pictures are gorgeous! Your Belinda's Dream is so heavenly and I can't wait to see your SDLM in full bloom, it is lovely. Your roses and other plants have such a perfect backdrop, you have such good taste!

Hi Ingrid! (Waves furiously)

Your gardens are gorgeous. So much open space to look at and enjoy from your gardens!

Thank you for the preview of your gorgeous blooms - I won't have any until May. I am actually still pruning off the winter damaged yuck.

Hugs,
Marleah

Ingrid, your garden already looks 200% lovelier than mine! My roses are just beginning to show new growth. What a heavenly opening to your gardening season. I would commit a crime for your Souv de la Malmaison! If a blush rose could be called perfect, your SdlM is it. Ooo la la! My ceanothus croaked this winter, darn it. That makes number 2. Can you grow them at your place? You're chucking Austins and I'm abandoning ceanothuses. I'll bet Kim has them coming up like weeds in the middle of his California poppies! Divine photos, Ingrid! Thank you. Carol

It's gray and gloomy here in Brooklyn but your BD and SDLM pics are beautiful and lifted my spirits. I appreciated seeing pics of the entire plant in addition to bloom closeups. Thank you.

Best of luck, Ingrid, with your garden this spring.

I really enjoyed seeing your pictures, Ingrid; your back doesn't look scruffy to me - the sweet alyssum overwinters for you, I guess? I start over every year with them; they are one of my favorite companions.

The bush shots of Belinda's Dream and SDLM are great - looking forward to more shots of your gardens through the year - here's hoping for beautiful blooms for us all this spring! Gean

Looks great, Ingrid!

Just beautiful! My Belinda's Dream never looks that good.

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for all your lovely comments. You're all so supportive of what to me seem my rather feeble efforts to have a garden. Fortunately the background takes everyone's attention away from the "frontage". Sadly, the garden is not nearly what it was before the two-year drought, but many of us are fighting bad weather of various kinds, and I'm not about to complain when some of you are finding dead canes and maybe even dead roses under the winter ice.

Nik, I can only speak for my climate and garden, but SdlM does not get a huge amount of mildew here, never to the point where it disfigures the whole bush. I'd give it a try if I were you. I stay away from all the large bourbons after having heard too many horror stories, and don't have the room for them anyway.

Carol, I don't grow ceanothus, it grows wild here in the hills and there are two bushes on my property. They wax and wane with the winter rains and lately they haven't done well. In a good year the hills are covered with a blue haze.

zjw, this afternoon I removed every single leaf off Souvenir du President Carnot, since they all had mildew and I was miffed. I now have a bald rose. Other early hybrid teas like Hoag House Cream, my two La France and Lady Alice Stanley are completely clean. The President has pulled this trick the first time; other years the leaves were fine. I hope your two early hybrids turn out to be lovely.

Gean, my alyssum is at its peak in the winter and dries out during the summer. I rip it out then and when it gets cool it comes back again.

I dearly hope that those of you who are having such horrible winter weather will get a break soon, and that very few of your precious roses will have been lost. The only advantage for your late start is that your gardens will be beautiful when mine is baking in the summer heat. I'll be looking forward to your garden views then!

Ingrid

Ingrid- do you have any pictures of your Hoag House Cream? I'd love to see what yours looks like!

Zachary.

Zachary, you'd be disappointed! It's a little stick with a few leaves on it since I haven't had it long and it was a band. In spite of babying it there's been very little growth and this one may be a bit of a challenge. Ask me again in two years and hopefully I'll have something to show you. I'm very curious myself about this rose.

Ingrid

Ingrid,

Thank you for showing full bush shots. The color of the rose is important but of equal and sometimes more importance is the growth habit of the bush.

Your garden is so serene and inviting!!

I am curious as to how your Annie Laurie Mc Dowell is performing and your opinion of Reine des Violettes? ALD has been in my garden since September??? And is throwing out 3' canes ( thin). RdV's new blooms were deep pink/ fuschia aging to a smokey purple.

Lynn

Lynn, your Annie Laurie McDonnell is far ahead of mine, that's for sure, even though I've had mine since last spring. It's about a foot tall with some very thin canes, still very much a baby plant. Has yours had any blooms?

My RdV just has one very small bloom that hasn't fully opened and to me it looks more purple than fuchsia. It's shaded from the afternoon sun. I'll be very curious to see whether it does well in my less than optimal conditions.

Ingrid

Ingrid, I still can't get over your Belinda's Dream--it's far lovelier than I had imagined it could be. Your photos should be on HMF.
If you want to see scruffy, you should see my back flower beds. Actually there's not much to see at all. Will spring ever come (I know it's already here, officially)?
I love the way you put together the elements of your garden, so well thought out, yet everything looks perfectly natural, not "arranged". Thanks for giving us a peek at your bit of springtime. Diane

Ingrid,

I just saw images of your RdV on another thread. Mine do not look like yours!! I wish:( maybe as the plant matures. I have three plants growing in different places. The one that has bloomed is own root and receives the most sun. The own root that receives filtered sun has not bloomed yet nor has the grafted plant.

I feed ALD a weak dose of fish emulsion weekly. 1/2 T to 1 gallon of water. It is a very happy rose bush. But that is what I am doing with all of my bands in my soil. Even the dreadful Paul Neyron is perking up and shaking off rust.
My garden is new and my soil was horrible. Yours is well established. It will probably be just a little amount time before you will see ALD "take off". Your patience will be rewarded.

Lynn