Gorgeous Spring Roses in Bloom

The transition from spring to summer begins...it's sad but also exciting for me. I'm such a bulb fanatic and my spring garden is always so pretty that I hate to see the season fade. The Dutch Iris were stunning and my bearded Iris bloomed gangbusters this year. The tulips and daffodils put on a great show. I believe there is one last lone white tulip still holding on to its petals, but I'm sure after last night's heavy rainstorm, it has expired. I wish I'd had time to get photos up of all the lovelies, but just didn't get to it quickly enough. Sigh. Ah well....ON TO THE ROSES!!!

For those of you who've read my blog in season's past, you may know I'm obsessed with peach colored roses. Now most varieties that fall into that color category are not always the best types for growing in my area (lots of English Austin hybrids, etc.). The Texas climate, with its heavy clay soil, scorching sun, but lots of spring and fall humidity, doesn't really suit these daintier specimens. But what does any professional horticulturist do? Well, we break the rules of course! Now there are a few better suited antiques that fall into my favored color range, so I have a fairly decent mix of the dainties and the hardies at this point. They've all started popping into bloom in the last two weeks.

The garden has smelled just lovely...here are a few photos 1. 'Abraham Darby' 2. 'Abraham Darby' 3. 'Perle d' Or' 4. 'Mutabilis' 5. 'Mme. Fraziska Krueger' 6. 'Pegasus' 7. 'Pegasus' 8. 'Tamora' 9. 'Pat Austin' 10. 'Ebb Tide'

Rose 'Abraham Darby'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Abraham Darby' on Trellis
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Perle d' Or'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Mutabilis'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Mme. Franziska Krueger'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Pegasus'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Pegasus' Flower Close Up
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Tamora'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Pat Austin'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Rose 'Ebb Tide'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

I took a quick trip down to Independence, TX last week to the Antique Rose Emporium. Was there to pick out an un-named seedling to be the new 'Ebby Halliday' Rose. I wish I could have spent more time, but did my work part of the trip and then a quick whirl around the nursery. It's a lovely independent garden center and wholesale growing operation that specializes in antique roses. Mike Shoup, the owner, is rose wrangler and breeder.

So fun to see all the pretty new un-named varieties he's working on. Of course a nursery devoted to roses smells pretty good this time of year...intoxicating. It was a gray windy day, so not the prettiest of days, but still nice. Problem is...when you go to a place like this...you want to plant one of everything in your garden! So many roses...so little time...and space...

Just a few more shots of the progression of spring color...

Just a little blurry shot of some of the front beds and their color..

The ornamental peaches 'Peppermint' are blooming. I planted three of them last summer. So they're still small, but they have lots of blooms. The flowers are double and are mixed white, white/reddish pink stripes and red. Pretty! Also got the first flower on the 'Ranger' fruiting peach I espaliered on the back fence.

As it warms up, the garden is really starting to pop (as are the weeds....)
I usually plant mid- to late- blooming daffodils, so they are just now starting to come into bloom. 'Thalia' my favorite white triandrus narcissus has just put out its first two blooms. They are also fragrant. 'Tete a Tete' is a great little fragrant jonquil. I love working edibles into the ornamental garden for the cool season. Curled parsley, bronze fennel and Swiss chard are great for this - and you get to harvest. Summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum, is in full bloom. Anemone 'Mr. Fokker' is blooming in a few places in the garden as well.

I'm a sucker for Iceland Poppies. But you know, they so pull their weight in the spring garden. And you get the most lovely photos. Here in Texas, plant them in the fall and they'll bloom gangbusters for you in spring. Just a few new photos from today.

Ok, let the veggie garden expansion project begin. Yesterday we build three new 6'x12"x12' new raised cedar beds for the veggie garden. I got one of them anchored in the ground, weed barrier in and filled with soil. Still have to decide exactly how I want to situate the other two and anchor them in. More soil to be delivered for those beds next week. Cleaned out the old beds and got a few transplants of tomatoes, peppers and herbs in. Started seeds of the tomato, eggplant, lettuce, summer squash and peppers I'm testing for the mag. In addition to the already built new beds, I'll still need to build a few smaller ones to balance out the garden, plus add some pretty containers. I have an above ground irrigation system I built for the garden, so I'll have to add a couple of zones and run it to the new beds as well. Not an immediate need, but I'll have to get that done before it gets too warm. Then finish off the pathways around all the new beds as well, which is a time consuming project in itself. whew... (oh, and ignore all those weeds in the yard...they aren't really there. really. just a figment of your imagination...) Oh, by the way, I use a combination of organic compost, humus and high quality topsoil for my soil mix for the beds.