Everyone in the front is starting to take off with blooms, finally. In the back, extreme quiet.. you can hear a pin drop (well, not really). But you know what I mean. So, let's do the very few in the back before we mosey to the front.

On the west side of the house, I have an area approximately 25' long by 16' wide that I've put in.. can't think of exact numbers now, but there's about 35-40 roses in that section. That's where my Oklahoma, Blue Girls, Mr. Lincoln, Pure Perfume, Shockwave, etc are at.

And, speaking of which, here's a beautiful shot of Pure Perfume. She's the only one blossoming on the east side of this area.


On the west side of this area, Sir John Betjeman is finally blossoming.


On the east side of the back yard, only 3 roses are blossoming out of over 50. Here's Summer Sunshine.


In my pond area, where there are a variety of "blue" roses, a Sterling Silver is blossoming.


Across the way is a Singin' the Blues (got these at Lowes!)

In the front yard, I think almost everyone has bloomed at least once. So here's starting the area. As you walk through the fencegate from the back to the front (east side of the house), I have blanket flowers & butterfly bushes surrounding the old juniper stump.


Walking along the east side fence, that's where my oldest roses are at (they're a whole 3 years old.. woohoo). However, I had to get Blue Bayou first, which took George Burns' spot.


It's first Judy Garland (no blossoms), Blue Bayou, Mardi Gras (only spent blooms), JFK (spent), then Oranges and Lemons. But, this year, it's more Oranges than Lemons as there's little yellow.


That's it for the east side, now for the north side. There's a row of Europeana, Sunsprite, Artistry (replaced Purple Passion, which gave up the ghost), Sunsprite, and then Sonia. So here's the Sunsprite next to Europeana.


Sonia is at the end of this row next to the west side of the yard, next to the driveway. Perfect bloom, IMO.


Heading slightly south about 2 feet along the west side is Perfume Tiger (spent), then going east from there is Circus (spent), Korde's Perfecta, Purple Heart, and Scentsational (no buds now, just trimmed).

Kordes Perfecta was much prettier 2 days ago with the white reverse.


Here's Purple Heart.


About 3 feet south from Scentsational on the east side is Stainless Steel, then Othello (spent), Dolly Parton, Tuscan Sun (spent). So here's Stainless Steel.


Dolly Parton is definitely making a show of it!


I had to move Midnight Blue from the west side of the yard, it was blooming, but the blossoms weren't lasting a day. So I put Yankee Doodle in that spot, then (going east) Montezuma, and 2 from RU (can't remember exactly which ones). Beyond is Heirloom, Joseph's Coat (non-climbing?), then Clare de Lune and California Dreamin'. So here's Montezuma. It's blooming while still laying down, but it does have a nice up-right cane finally.


Joseph's Coat is really orange/red this year.


California Dreamin' is a dreamy rose, that's for sure.

On the north and east side of my garage, which is on the north side of the yard/house, are my minis. In this bed are a ton of minis, plus salvias, hyssops, penstemons, and big mums. In the front (north) is International Herald Tribune


Winter Magic is just down the way on the east side.


About 5 feet up from Winter Magic is the Apricot NoID.

boy, screwed that one up. Here's the Apricot NoID.


Back in the yard across the sidewalk from the mini bed is a row of RedGolds, Sterling Silvers, some white daisies, an orange coneflower, then it goes south again in a row with two Sunny Delights flanking Escapade. On the corner of this "L" shape is my tiny Moonstone.

So here's one of the RedGolds.


Between the Moonstone on the corner and Escapade is this Sunny Delight that's going CRAZY!


Escapade doesn't have any blossoms right now (but new buds), but the other Sunny Delight is giving me a nice bloom.

Last but not least, I still have some plants to put into the ground. Here's the Red Caroline Delphinium I picked up (1 of two). The purple thing is Purple Rain salvia (I think).

Looking good, Toni! That Sonia bloom, in particular, is exquisite.

I'd be much much happier if everyone was a bit taller. Last year, Dolly Parton was about 3' tall. As you can see from the picture, she's about a foot tall. At this rate, unless we have a mild winter (which I'm betting we're not, probably a wet one but not an early one as I'm not seeing geese yet), I may have some major losses next year. Don't know why no one is growing... :(

I forgot to post one of RU's roses, Cardinal Hume, that I got for free from RU with my last shipment.


I took a picture this morning of 3 cut roses that I was taking to work with me this morning.. Pure Perfume, Dolly Parton, & Sonia. Pure Perfume's scent will knock your socks off, Dolly's scent is heavenly, but, for some reason, Sonia smells like pepper to me. I have a lot of "pepper" roses.. and the scent stays on my hands all day. Any idea what I'm smelling?

What a nice combo that last picture is! Pure Perfume looks like such a perfect full flat bloom.