Monday, May 19, 2008

Some beauties from our front yard

I took these photos about two weeks ago. That was when this azalea was in its prime. And then last week's high temps did it in. It definitely does not look like this anymore. I guess it will be another year before I will see this plant in full bloom again.
Meanwhile, the roses were doing fine, and still are. This photo is an ideal blossom from one of our miniature roses. I love this coral color; it's so different from most roses. And the leaves on this plant are such a beautiful dark green. I'm sure it helps that my husband fertilizes these plants.
Here is another beautiful mini rose. Not exactly coral like the one above, but not really pink either. This was the first year I've seen so many blossoms on it at the same time.
Now here is another mini rose that is different. I love those stripes in each of the petals. Doesn't it look like a piece of candy?
And since I mentioned candy - I think this one is called candy striper, or something like that.
And this beauty reminds of some dahlias.
Another one with such beautiful colors. I love this two-toned "sunburst."
Can you believe all of these roses did a better job tolerating the heat we endured last week. Temps yesterday and today were more normal for the season. Yay!

9 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Such pretty roses Mary! I always plant 2 or 3 mini-roses around my little pond in the back yard every spring. Our winters are too tough and they rarely come back. (I don't mulch them either) I think I'll look for two-tones ones this year. Thanks for the inspiration!

Aunt "B's" Backyard said...

Mary I love your roses! I would love to grow one but I'm afraid since they are so delicate. Any advise??

Anonymous said...

What nice roses you have! The candy stripe one reminds me of a dahlia too.

Mary C said...

Hi Lynne - I love the idea of planting mini-roses around a pond. Maybe some day I'll have a pond or fountain in my yard and I could plant a few more. Right now, these mini-roses are along the pathway from the sidewalk to our front door. Are you in horticultural zone 3? I was noticing that roses in general can withstand cold in zones 4 through 9.

Hi Aunt B - thank you. Actually, roses are pretty hardy -- even mini-roses. Like I told Lynne, roses will grow in zones 4-9, and I think you are probably in zone 5. Zone 5 can get as low as -20F. So, if you get winter temps above that, you could very well try. I haven't seen very many birds hanging around rose bushes, but I have seen a couple of hummingbirds first think they can get some nectar from the pink/red blossoms.

Hi Adam - thank you! Those two-toned and sometimes 3-toned flowers are so attractive. Aren't they? We are so fortunate to live in this climate where we can enjoy flowers like dahlias, camellias, and roses. And it's nice to know that when one of them is blooming it won't be long before the other will bloom.

Heidi said...

I concur... we live in the best garden spot in the world... the garden state of NJ has NOTHING on us :D

and woohoo for roses! they are so easy to grow... what's a little powdery mildew when the blossoms are more prominent... and they are heat and drought tolerant too and for us 10 month flowers :D

Anonymous said...

Mary, what a perfect use of colors in your front yard!

Martha said...

Wonderful blooms on all your plants. My rose arbor is full of buds but only two are showing any sign of blooming so far. I envy you your nice weather but not the high temps. Looking forward to seeing more.

Mary C said...

Hi Red - yes, I forgot that we can have roses most of the year. I don't think we get them for 10 months - possibly 9 months.

Hi Monarch - Thanks. I've been reading your posts, but haven't left any comments. I'm always two or three days behind. I'll catch up one of these days.

Hi Martha - good to hear from you. Thanks for the compliments. When the weather gets hot around here (which isn't very often) we do grumble because we are so spoiled with great temps and lots of sunshine (except for morning marine layer during spring/summer months).

RuthieJ said...

Wow -- what a riot of color in your yard Mary.
I have a crabapple tree blooming right now with blossoms almost the same color as your azalea. It's beautiful!

 

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