A Rose Is A Rose

I guess I am a rose person because I have many.  The roses I grow are mostly shrub roses with only one hybrid tea that I have struggled with over the past few years.  It was the Rose of the Year so I figured I had better keep it and try to work it into the garden.

Pink Promise had a little frost bite this year but overall rewarded me with some beautiful fragrant blooms poking through the Becky Shasta Daisies.

Carefree Beauty is a favorite, loose and casual with very large flowers.  It can get a little floppy and I have seen this variety tied to a trellis.

Mary Rose is from David Austin beautiful and fragrant with peony like flowers.

Roses do require pruning and fertilizing if they are going to look their best.  I know they say the shrub roses do not need to be pruned, but I find they sometimes need it the most to remain controlled and to produce multiple flowers.

Carefree Delight is a taller rose that blooms in clusters, great for peeking out over lower growing plants.

Roses look good in the border together and with other green plantings.  Mary Rose, All The Rage  and Carefree Delight are intermingled.

Rainbow Knockout in the back perennial border, the best performing shrub rose ever.  It is the first to bloom in the spring and the last to bloom in the fall.

Rainbow Knockout

You won't see Rainbow Knockout at the shopping malls, although it would have been a great choice.  It has now become difficult to find in my area because the public didn't think it was eye popping enough in the containers.

Double Knockout does better in my area than the single but I grow both.  I prefer the shape of the single one.  You don't have to deadhead but I usually snip off the wilted flowers like the ones in the photo!

Sunny Knockout is the only fragrant Knockout Rose.  However, this one has not been a great performer for me.  It may not like being in the border peeking out.

I have all of the Knockout roses, including Blush, Single Pink, Double Pink and Single Red.

Knockout Blush is a light pink with the petal structure of Rainbow.  I have not seen this one on the market for a few years.

Knockout Double Pink

Single Red Knockout

It is important to note that not all Knockout roses perform the same depending upon the zone in which you live.  The original single red is a beauty but did not do as well in the colder climates as the double red.  The double is more upright and in my opinion does not have as pleasing a shape as the single.

Pink Meidiland is a wonderful rose, tall, light, a free spirit

This rose is difficult to find and I have ordered it from California bare root, has never been a problem.

Cinco de Mayo

This is also a Rose of the Year winner, shrub rose, and looks better this year than ever, subtle smokey tones.

This is Home Run Red, one of roses I trialed last year and so far it is a winner.

Home Run Pink

I think this is my favorite because I like pink!

Roses in the border mixed with later flowering perennials are a great pop of color when the spring perennials are done.  They also help cover up the foliage of the Bleeding Hearts, Daffodils, Tulips, Iris and Allium.

Try some roses in your border!

That Certain Look

This weekend found me back at Northwind Perennial Farm in Burlington, Wisconsin.  It was exactly one year ago that I wrote a post on Roy Diblik's extensive gardens based on the philosophy of Piet Oudolf.

This year I was definitely after something other than a garden tour.  I was in search of a look, the look of a non-patterned garden design, a feeling of form and texture with surprises of color.

The gardens are very different than this same time last year when it was a true springtime garden.  I was so glad to see many plant varieties that were not in bloom last Memorial Day.

Geranium Magnificum in the foreground

The layering is extensive, plants packed closely but with enough room to flourish and the use of many types of grasses to always soften the effect.

There is a great deal of room to plant at Northwind but I am realizing that layering is not just for the smaller garden but for any garden that wishes to have continual seasonal interest.

A smaller draped conifer is wonderful along a pathway, wish I had room for one of these!

A large spreading conifer, striking yellow and mirrored in the pond below.

Color is repeated throughout using dissimilar plants.

The allium is Star of Persia.

Large twisted conifer with pink chives

Garden decor is incorporated so it peeks out of the garden.

The piano doesn't exactly peek out but it surely is a garden surprise!

Persicaria Polymorpha

I have this plant along my fence and it requires support because it does not have the full sun all around to give it structural strength.

Philomis was in full bloom and it made me think of the last time I tried to grow this plant.  I am now attempting it again with Philomis Russeliana the yellow variety.

Amsonia Northwind Select

(not on the market)

This is not an easy concept to understand and execute but I think I am finally getting it at least on a small scale.  It is not your normal garden design, three of this five of those and repeat across the landscape. 

Water is an important feature at Northwind.

I will be visiting Millennium Park in Chicago (July) which is one of Piet Oudolf's largest designs, can't wait to see this philosophy on a large scale!

Looking For Beauty

It is not difficult this year finding beauty everywhere as I look around the garden.  The roses are bigger and better than ever (although I do notice some brown fringes on the petals from the frosts that occurred before they opened).

Carefree Beauty is huge this year!  There were years I almost pulled it out because it just didn't seem to be flourishing.

Pink Promise is my only hybrid tea that I purchased packaged with a shrub rose.  Both were All America Winners.  This one was almost pulled because for the last few years it did nothing, small flowers and very few branches.

This year Pink Promise certainly deserves the award, huge blooms with a wonderful fragrance.

Cinco De Mayo

This is the shrub rose that came packaged with Pink Promise.

I have decided not to use annuals this year in the border.  The impatiens were getting so large that they interfered with the roses.

Rainbow Knockout

This is a rose that is the first to bloom in the spring and the last to bloom in the fall.

The back border is full and just about ready to give up the spring blooming flowers to make way for summer blooms.

I was surprised when I saw the fritillaria coming up because I did not remember planting them.  I think I bought them at the Morton Arboretum last fall.

This small border is to the side of the veggie garden and has really filled in this year.  Geranium Magnificum is a short bloomer, so it will be cut down to make new leaves which turn red in the fall.  The space is shared with Heuchera Carmel and Miracle, Max Frei Geranium Sport and spring flowering bulbs.

Mary Rose( David Austin Rose Shrub Rose)

This is my favorite rose not just because of the way it looks but the fragrance is intoxicating.  It is a rebloomer.

Celosia Intenz

This is a new introduction that is supposed to grow about two feet tall and wide.  I have never had much luck with celosia but I couldn't resist trying this one because of the flower and leaf color.

La Bella Snapdragon

I grew this from seed last spring but it got crowded out last summer in the south border.  It came back this year because of the mild winter, moved it to a better location, and it is just beautiful.

Krinkled White Peony

This is my only peony, might find room for some tree peonies that rise above the other border plants.

The best of the best petunias, Bordeaux and Bubblegum!

Gaura Picotee

Sometimes a perennial, sometimes an annual but I am trying it in my south side raised bed to add some color before the daylilies bloom.

Dicentra Spectablis Red Valentine

These are new this spring and in a bed on the north side where they can die down undisturbed without affecting the growth of any other plantings.  I think I will move the pink ones into this area, another redo!

Rouge Cardinal Clematis (Type III)

The Type III clematis are just beginning to bloom.  Now is the time to cut down the Type II's as they finish their major display if you want to rejuvenate them for next spring.