07/11/09

Roses with Rose of Sharon Trained as a Small Tree

Roses, Rose of Sharon, small city garden
Roses, Rose of Sharon, small city garden

Isn’t this a beautiful garden? This photo was taken today, July 11, when gardens in the Desert Southwest frequently look like crispy critters.
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09/1/08

‘Distant Drums’ after a Gentle Rain

Distant Drums

This Griffith Buck shrub rose is both hardy and rapidly repeating.

08/15/08

‘Gemini,’ A Great Rose for the Desert Southwest

Spray of hybrid tea 'Gemini'

‘Gemini’ is a great rose for the desert southwest. This photo was shot on August 15, 2008. You can see that the rose does not lose its size, form, or color even in the heat of summer. Flowers generally appear singly, one-bloom-to-a-stem, but ‘Gemini’ is capable of making very large sprays. One year I had a spray with 13 florets; this spray has “only” five.

If you want to grow only one hybrid tea in the desert southwest, ‘Gemini’ is a great choice!

07/26/08

This Is Why Gardeners Garden!

It's the Simple Things!

The reward for the time and effort spent gardening? It is the simple joy of spending a morning like this enjoying the beauty of the flowers and the birds and the clouds and the sounds!

The rose in the foreground in ‘Cesar E. Chavez,’ a hybrid tea.

The two larger birds are house finches.

The cute little black-and-yellow birds are a pair of goldfinches.

Sheer joy in a Saturday morning!