"Cottaging" in California

Really nice Doss. I have the nicest irises (all from DG co-ops BTW) blooming right now. Let's see if I can find some examples.....

I love the softness of these....

Really dramatic....

Another warm and cozy....

Oh, and my very first Nelly Moser bloom. Also from a DG co-op.

Very pretty! clematis Nelly Moser is one of my favorites. Here's a new combo in my garden. Clematis Proteus and rose Portlandia. Portlandia smells like heaven.

Oh the iris' are blooming, I need to come by Doss! And that rose is gorgeous, I had it on my wish list but I just bought too many :-(
Stella, love that shot! I think I need to get away for the busy clutter and go for more larger sweeps of color like that.

It would be great to see you Sue. They won't last much longer though. Give me a ring.

doss, that is the biggest, fullest Clematis I have ever seen. I tried clematis two different years but couldn't seem to find that sweet spot "feet in the shade, head in the sun", that they are said to like.

I have several "theme" mini-gardens, none are really cottage (maybe HOA-xeric-cottage variation???), but my sister is zone-envious of tender salvias, year-round lavender, and cannas.

My mom [BloomsWithaView] does cottage in Moab UT, where freezing winters with little snow for insulation, coupled with 110F, 5% humidity summers make almost any gardening a challenge -- and watering a full-time job!

Here is my "impact gardening" front walkway (looking out). Four or was it five flats of Salvia coccinea "Lady In Red"... has not stopped flowering since I put it in, even the HOA can't complain about that! The hummingbirds and the goldfinches love it. ~'spin!~

BEautiful impact of all of those salvias spin. I'll bet that the birds do love it. Clematis can be tricky and they take absolutely forever to get established.

I got 10 clematis in a co-op a year ago. Three survived and I wasn't sure even they would. They completely died back to the ground but then starting growing like crazy a couple of months ago. Well, not exactly crazy, but healthy and at least I got one flower! I can see they're going to take their time growing up. I have them in pots so I can relocate them if they aren't happy in a certain area.

I love your "Lady in Red" pathway!

It's good to keep them in pots until they are stabilized when you get them as small as most coop plants are. The rule is that they don't take off until the third year and I've had some take a lot longer than that.

So they'll be fine in their 5 gallon nursery pots for a while?

Definitely for a couple of years if they came small.

Here's another view of the perennial garden. The roses are so happy right now. Of course I've gotten off the track of things we grow that others can't but just the same.....

What great colors. This place came with mostly pink roses and geraniums. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of pink. I'm hoping to put so many blues, yellows, reds and whites (plus bronze foliage) in there that you don't notice the pink so much.

That's too bad that you don't like pink. I do tend to do more bright colors but this pink rose is worth it's salt. It's called Peach Silk and it's planted to the right of the other two in the photograph. I have to take a photo of them all together but I have to get it at the right time.

That's a beautiful pink....actually it is really more peachy. It's the poke-your-eyes-out fluorescent pinks I'm not fond of. Let's see if I can find a shot. Here ya go, even the camera hates it, lol.

Doss, your 'Peach Silk' is stunning!!! It's exactly the kind of look I like in roses.
Would you mind uploading your photo on the HelpmeFind site? They do not have a single photo of this rose.

This message was edited May 12, 2008 1:56 PM

Doss, wow! I love your roses! Yellow roses are to me the most beautiful of all rose colors....too bad I haven't come accross any fragrant yellows yet...

Gold Badge has a fragrance - not like the really heady ones but a fragrance. It's a climber.

I tried to upload some photos to Helpmefind and I don't know if it worked or not. The photos weren't posted as yet - probably have to go through editing first.

Stella - I get it. Neon pink is pretty hard to take.

They post instantly on HMF but only if you are registered and logged in. I don't know why they even have the option showing to upload when one is not logged in.

Thanks Sue,
I'll register and try again. Done!!!

HMF is the BEST rose searching engine I've ever seen! Doss, I like the roses that make me "dizzy" with their fragrance! : ) I have one I recently planted called "lavender simplicity" that makes my head spin everytime I smell it!

Helpmefind is a great website. I used it extensively in picking the roses for my perennial garden.

My favorites are, flowering tobacco,and abutilon. the tobacco goes all year very heavy flowering. very "cottagey"

You are right. That is pretty 'cottagey'. The tobacco plants aren't too happy here when it gets really hot. I think that they do better over on the coast - or maybe I just haven't given them optimum conditions. Yours are sure beautiful.

Hummmm, I can smell your nicotianas from here! I have the wonderfully scented white ones...are the purple ones as fragrant?

also I love blue cerinth, and viscaria (blue german catchfly) for winter color that looks like springtime. the viscaria is the lavender on the left and the cerinth is just small under the rose bush.

They are all very fragrant. I'm also surprised at how much shade they can bloom in. I find they are the most fragrant in the heat.

Doss, definitely try again, more shade. With that heat can you do moonflower vine?

blue cerinth with renuculus

Who would have guessed more shade. I'll have to try it.

Yes, mine's in the shade too.

Can I just say. I LOVE THIS THREAD! hehe. Strobilanthes is new to me. Beautiful. I'd love to get one of those. All those iris' are gorgeous. I planted a clematis the fall before last and cut it way back. It had been suffering in a pot for a couple years, almost dead with only a few leaves. I finally planted it in the ground against an east facing fence and voila!

oops sorry guys. hope that doesn't give anyone a kink in the neck.

speaking of orchids has anyone tried dendrobium kingiatum ( I think that is the species), supposedly likes weather similar to cymbidiums. I got one for easter and I'm a little nervous about it. It was sooo beautiful and dainty.

Stella, I just love your beautiful yard.. You helped me make a decision by looking at your walkway and broad sweeps of color. Thankyou so much. Where's the tropicals. LOL

Beautiful clematis. It sure looks happy where you planted it.

Glad I could help drapelady. The tropicals are all in pots waiting for the perfect spot. I want to be here a full year before planting them so I see exactly how each part of the yard responds to the different seasons. Already I'm noticing there's a bunch more sun under the trees on the west side of the yard than there was in the fall. And the wind (oh boy do we winds!) comes from different directions at different times too. Just watching and waiting. They'll find their perfect home eventually.

wonderearth, your clematis seems overjoyed to be where it is. I'm moving mine around to different locations to find where they'll be happiest. The nelly moser has much brighter blossoms with light shade than when it was in the sun.

Nelly Moser certainly fades fast even on my East wall. Beautiful anyway - It's one of my favorites.

Yes, Stella, I think we all do the pot dance to please our plants. LOL

jkom51
I'm not far from you-'m in Fairfield where the gale force winds last night stripped almost ever bud and flower from most everything I just surveyed. I see many fences down, tree limbs, and many sad plants on the street. Good thing I'm off today and can attempt some damage control but the brugs, hibiscus, roses, peonies are stripped of not only blooms and buds but leaves too. Even the cottage annuals appear to have surrendered.
I think this calls for a trip to Annies to cure what ails me. I've never experienced winds this strong and prolonged in my many decades here.