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ingrid_vc

Report on my Roses in Droughtland

I thought I'd comment on how well (or not) my roses are doing at this time with the idea of informing others in similar circumstances, although I realize that soil, elevation, method of watering and umpteen other factors ensure that no two gardens are ever similar. Still, I hope this list is of some use.

The Good Ones (so far):

Souvenir de la Malmaison
Le Vesuve
Mutabilis
Rosette Delizy
Mrs. B.R. Cant
Mlle. de Sombreuil
Bishop's Castle
Annie Laurie McDonnell
Miss Atwood
Marie Pavie
Aunt Margy's Rose

Pretty Good:

White Pet (still quite young)
Potter and Moore
La France
Belinda's Dream
Heirloom
Cl. Lady Hillingdon
Marjorie Palmer
Kronprinzessin Viktoria von Preussen
Mme. Cornelissen
The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild
Bonica
Poulsen's Pink
Wild Edric (too young for a final judgment)
Carefree Wonder
Pink Rosette
Pretty Jessica
White Meidiland
Hoag House Cream (still very young)
Lavender Mist/Blue Mist
Madame Dore
Mrs. Dudley Cross (has mildew issues, though)

Pretty Darn Crummy:

William R. Smith
Souvenir du President Carnot (magnificent last year)
Young Lycidas
Pink Lafayette
Spice (only good in cool weather)
Lady Alice Stanley (just will not grow)
Sophy's Rose (great every year before this)
Mr. Bluebird
Baptiste Lafaye (would do better in afternoon shade)
Romaggi Plot Bourbon (almost in Pretty Good List)
Emily (just won't grow, has been transplanted)
Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux (also in stasis)
Bermuda Kathleen (in a very difficult spot, looked good earlier this year)

Ingrid

Comments (12)

  • fogrose
    9 years ago

    Glad to hear there are some good roses for you, Ingrid. Let's hope this next winter brings back the rain.

    Diane

  • Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
    9 years ago

    Ingrid,

    My Young Lycidas is stellar, but it is in a pot, receives timed irrigation from emitters and only about 5 hours of sun. We have just started consistently hitting the low 100's, and July through the beginning of August is Hades. I am curious to see how well it and so many others make it through those awful 6 weeks or so.

    Mme. Joseph Swartz, what I believe this rose is at this point, has been amazing!

    How is Reine des Violettes performing for you or us it still too soon to tell?

    Lynn

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Lynn, I don't know why my YL is sulking, but I have hopes for next year (sort of).

    RdV is still much too young, but is slowly putting out new growth. By next year it also will have either been a success or a disappointment.

    I'm posting a few picture of my less than stellar garden without a great deal of enthusiasm. I hope to visit the native plants nursery soon to see if I can find some attractive specimens that will give some excitement back to my garden.


    {{gwi:281276}}
    Le Vesuve, a winner of a rose here


    {{gwi:281277}}
    The Crape Myrtles have begun to bloom


    {{gwi:281278}}
    Aunt Margy's Rose


    {{gwi:281279}}
    Le Vesuve, showing off its nice growth habit


    {{gwi:281280}}
    The wild mountains are now a vineyard. The empty spot in Tea Rose Row will have Duchess de Brabant there in November


    {{gwi:281282}}
    Wild Edric in its "squirrel proof cage"


    {{gwi:281283}}
    Souvenir de la Malmaison flowers....


    {{gwi:281284}}
    .... and as a stalwart shrub

    Ingrid

  • boncrow66
    9 years ago

    Ingrid I am glad to hear that some of your roses are doing well. I have been praying for rain for you and everyone in California.

  • portlandmysteryrose
    9 years ago

    Ingrid, thank you for the update! I know your data will help others who garden in similar climates make wise rose choices. Something that I appreciate on this forum is the real, hands on information presented from very real gardens growing in very real conditions and surviving very real challenges. No vague stats from theoretical locations. Your garden looks lovely to my eyes. I used to garden, and still have friends and family who garden, in N Texas. Summers are rough and I remember my mother struggling to adequately water during the heat (which begins in spring) and to keep her soil healthy and her plants alive, even when they weren't exactly thriving. She managed her garden for over 50 years and, like you, surrendered many plants she loved and filled in gaps with multiples of those that tolerated the difficult climate and amended caliche-based beds. The result was a unique, waterwise flowering greenspace that was truly her own. Someday, I'd enjoy seeing a gardening book with your name on the cover. Your careful planning, your progress and failure data, and your wonderful prose and photos would make for an informative and engaging read. I am becoming more and more curious about Aunt Margy's rose. I am assisting my sister with garden plans, and I have a hunch that roses that survive your gardening conditions would also perform quite well in Dallas. Once again, although we all see gaps in the perfection when we view our gardens (just as you noted that we also see envisioned perfection and completion of our imagined designs), I see a delightfully cool, colorful and fragrant paradise when I scroll through your images. Carol

  • Vicissitudezz
    9 years ago

    Oh, I do like that Le Vesuve and its nice growth habit. The best plants are attractive even without flowers on them.

    I think your garden is beautiful, BTW. It may not be exactly how you want it in your mind's eye, but to outsiders it is a sight for sore eyes, and I hope it still gives you pleasure, even if it falls short of your ideal.

    More photos, please!

    Virginia

    PS Your squirrel-proof cage made me laugh; squirrels around here might be confused for a moment- "which am I supposed to demolish first?", I can hear them wondering...

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    boncrow, thanks so much for your good wishes and prayers. I'm still hopeful that El Nino will come and revive my garden to some extent. It would be such a joyful experience if that happened.

    Carol, I've so much appreciated your encouragement and praise, and want to thank you for your unwavering support. The story of your mother's efforts and struggles truly resonates with me, and anyone who gardens in caliche, amended or not, has my total admiration. It's not as though the caliche amends itself, and that alone must have taken grit and hard work. I think Aunt Margy's Rose deserves some consideration. Mine is not as lush as it was before, but it's backed against my house wall and even in the earlier hours the heat transfer is huge, and still she does her best to bloom. I'm wondering whether I should have a second one which I'd plant in a more benign location.

    My pictures look cool since I rarely venture outside before the sun begins to set except to fill up all the birdbaths and water bowls for the animals. The young squirrels have decided the bowl are perfect bathtubs and several times a day I'm looking at empty or near-empty bowls except for the layer of dirt at the bottom.

    Carol, thank you for the compliment, but you or Melissa in Italy or Daisy in Crete should be writing books. Compared to all of you my prose seems dull and prosaic, just the facts, ma'am. I don't know who would read it either, except for equally obsessed forum members, since hardly anyone comments when they see my garden. My idea of nirvana would be to have everyone's gardens here grouped together in one spot, so that we could all walk from one to the other. We'd probably all come away with thousands of pictures, major sunburns and beaming faces, secretly telling ourselves that ours is still the best!

    I've wondered several times how your garden redo is coming along and what exactly it is you're doing. I would love it if you'd let the cat out of the bag, assuming you're willing to reveal all before it's actually completed, and tell us all about it. What part do the roses play in the overall scheme; are they the major theme or just one of the players of a much larger orchestra? Is there a central theme (of course there must be), and what part does color play in it? Also, how close are you to completion, although of course I use that word advisedly, since gardens are never complete? Pray tell all, if you want to.

    Ingrid

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    boncrow, thanks so much for your good wishes and prayers. I'm still hopeful that El Nino will come and revive my garden to some extent. It would be such a joyful experience if that happened.

    Carol, I've so much appreciated your encouragement and praise, and want to thank you for your unwavering support. The story of your mother's efforts and struggles truly resonates with me, and anyone who gardens in caliche, amended or not, has my total admiration. It's not as though the caliche amends itself, and that alone must have taken grit and hard work. I think Aunt Margy's Rose deserves some consideration. Mine is not as lush as it was before, but it's backed against my house wall and even in the earlier hours the heat transfer is huge, and still she does her best to bloom. I'm wondering whether I should have a second one which I'd plant in a more benign location.

    My pictures look cool since I rarely venture outside before the sun begins to set except to fill up all the birdbaths and water bowls for the animals. The young squirrels have decided the bowl are perfect bathtubs and several times a day I'm looking at empty or near-empty bowls except for the layer of dirt at the bottom.

    Carol, thank you for the compliment, but you or Melissa in Italy or Daisy in Crete should be writing books. Compared to all of you my prose seems dull and prosaic, just the facts, ma'am. I don't know who would read it either, except for equally obsessed forum members, since hardly anyone comments when they see my garden. My idea of nirvana would be to have everyone's gardens here grouped together in one spot, so that we could all walk from one to the other. We'd probably all come away with thousands of pictures, major sunburns and beaming faces, secretly telling ourselves that ours is still the best!

    I've wondered several times how your garden redo is coming along and what exactly it is you're doing. I would love it if you'd let the cat out of the bag, assuming you're willing to reveal all before it's actually completed, and tell us all about it. What part do the roses play in the overall scheme; are they the major theme or just one of the players of a much larger orchestra? Is there a central theme (of course there must be), and what part does color play in it? Also, how close are you to completion, although of course I use that word advisedly, since gardens are never complete? Pray tell all, if you want to.

    Ingrid

  • KnoxRose -7a
    9 years ago

    Ingrid, I am so happy to see your update! These photos are lovely, your property is jaw-droppingly beautiful. I am still a newbie on this forum, but when I saw the post from a few weeks ago where you spoke of your endless struggle to keep your roses alive, and that you were considering giving up on growing roses altogether, it just broke my heart. I have enjoyed reading many amazing posts from you on this site, your knowledge and dedication amazes me, as well as your endless help & guidance given to people whom you have never even met. I am praying for rain for you and your neighbors, & I truly hope that you never give up on roses, because it is very obvious when reading your posts that you love them. Thank you for dishing out endless helpings of advice to newbies like me, I have learned so much from you & I am very grateful.

    Jessica.

  • boncrow66
    9 years ago

    Ingrid please don't stop posting pictures of your beautiful garden! When I rst joined the forum I was a little intimidated and didn't comment on many things because everyone else is so knowledgeable and eloquent in their writing that I felt inadequate but I have gotten over that and found my voice lol. I am working on expressing my self better in my writing. So please keep the pictures coming so we can all enjoy what your fortunate enough to see everyday. I admire your determination and I know you will make adjustments to your garden and it will thrive and survive.

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Jessica, I don't know when I've been so touched and honored as by your kind comments. You make me want to keep on with my roses, and certainly to stay on this forum to give back some of the help and kindness I've received since I first began here, and was given so much wonderful advice and support. Passing on that help to newer people here is a privilege and a joy to me. Thank you so much for your positive comments about my garden and surroundings. That truly warms my heart, and gives me the desire to make it better to the best of my ability.

    boncrow, I'm glad you've gotten over your initial trepidation about speaking out, because your presence is very welcome here, and it's a pleasure to see your interest in roses and hopefully to watch your garden grow in the future until it is what you want it to be. Thanks for your encouragement which means even more when things aren't going as well as one might like. The support of people who understand exactly how I feel about my garden is priceless, and not to be found anywhere else. I'm sure it's what keeps many of us coming here on a regular basis, plus that this is the nicest group of people one could ever have the privilege of knowing.

    Ingrid

  • kittymoonbeam
    9 years ago

    You have roses going on into July and I'd take that as success no matter what happens the rest of the year until the end of the year cool season begins. Something I've been doing and is working very well is collecting bricks,rocks and flagstones and laying them down over the mulch around the root zone to keep the soil cool. It makes a big difference for me. I noticed one rose doing so much better where the flagstone path was and the soil was cool when I pulled up the stone. There were plenty of worms too.

    I know some of these are going to only get better over time as they build shade for their own root zones.

    My crazy hyb. bourbon Charles Lawson gets no water but what nature gives it and still it tries to expand and take the bed over. Anything else would have dwarfed and fried long long ago. Some roses are just ultra tough.