The Releasing of the Roses

Since the horse fans have "The Running of the Roses" every May in Louisville, it only seems appropriate that we have "The Releasing of the Roses" in metro Atlanta.

I never knew it was such a big deal until I went to Autumn Hill Nursery this afternoon to pick up the new roses for "Missus." It was like a mad house there, with all of these people picking up roses! I almost got into it with the chick from Sandy Springs who though she was going to switch the tag on my tree form Neptune with hers! (The neighbors won't be hearing from her any time soon.........)

For those of you who don't know Autumn Hill, it is a really awesome nursery in the Hickory Flat area of Cherokee County, where all of those other growers and nurseries are. Autumn Hill is where to go if you're looking for some more unusual things (Cliftonia, Carolina Silver Bell, unusual perennials, etc.), and a great collection of high end containers, fountains, and such.

Pictures will follow once the new Abraham Darby is in place next to the Graham Thomas!

The New Climbing Roses

The garden where I spend most of my days is incredibly beautiful, and was well designed when it was newly installed ten years ago. As a result, my job is made somewhat easier, because I'm really nurturing beautiful things and "tweaking" as plants age and grow. I'm fortunate that the owners of the garden also appreciate that I do as much as I can organically, so it is a garden that actually benefits the surrounding area.

If there is a flaw in the original design, it is the placement of five espaliered camellias on a brick wall in full sun that must reach 110 degrees most afternoons in the summer. At this moment in February, these poor plants are gasping for breath, doing their best to push out some pretty amazing blooms, from their parched and fried trunks.... they are underplanted with vinca, which also struggles and has never looked all that good. (If vinca is struggling, it will give you an idea of how bad this particular spot is for plants).

Anyway, the plan for this summer is to replace the camellias with climbing roses, underplanted with creeping rosemary. For the roses, I'm installing Blush Noisette, which was originally developed in Charleston, SC, in the 1700's. It's a beautiful fragrant rose specifically bred for the heat and humidity of the southeast. Between the Noisettes, I'm planting Snowgoose, which is an amazing white rambler from David Austen.

Finally, we're adding in Clematis Princess Diana, and Clematis Roguchi, which should scramble through the two different roses! Not that I'm a competitive gardener or anything, but I can't wait to see this in summer! Even Patti (the rose hater) has got to like this combo!

Any Big Plans for 2009?

One of the bloggers that I follow has a list of winter projects that she reviews in the winter. Since she's in the great frozen north, that winter is much longer than ours (thank goodness!). The premise is the same, however, and one I thought was worth pursuing more.

Do you have any major plan for your garden this season? Anything you've identified as "missing" in your garden world?

Mine is STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE!!!!

As much as I would like to be organized in my plant purchases, I am inevitably drawn to those "I really need one of those" purchases, that manage to stay in pots behind the house for weeks or months until I discover the PERFECT spot for them. Mike Francis (the Japanese maple guru) accused me (unfairly, of course) at this year's Southeastern Flower Show of redefining "competitive gardening" with my purchase of the Aurea pine, and my delight when he ran out of them shortly after my purchase!

In any case, over the past few years, the perennial bed has gone from a specific color driven design to a "mixed border," to a somewhat hodgepodge collection of things that all happen to like sun. A few "must have" hellebores, a daphne odora and some sweet woodruff plants have found their ways into the "only ferns" bed by the front door. The Japanese maple island seems to have discovered a couple of exotic hydrangeas and a dogwood or two......you get the picture.

All that said, my commitment this year is to add some STRUCTURE to my garden, which is affectionately called the step child. I'm sure by September it will look like Versailles......maybe with a couple of quirks.......(Check out the photo of a "redneck Stonehenge".....that's my fantasy!)

So what are your major plans this year?