I like that packed look. No, I take that back. I LOVE that packed look.

Gaw, must be nice... was screwing around w/my camera yesterday & took this one shot. It's a really horrible shot, but you can see how dead everything still is.

Beautiful, Sue! Got the mist off your showers down south here. Even droplets are appreciated!

What are those plants Toni? Roses? Are they dead dead? Or mostly dead?

Love blooms with rain drops, glad you got a little misting down there Julie!

Sue - That's winterkill. That's what my yard looks like from Nov-May. And that's primarily 100% roses in that picture. I don't prune them until I know that there's no more danger of a killing frost, which means I have to wait until a certain plant here, the forsythia, blooms. "Do not prune until the forsythia blooms". If I prune too early, I can kill everything because I have to prune almost 100% to the ground. That's why I mulch so heavily.. what's covered in mulch usually isn't winterkilled. I'll take a pic of the front yard so you can see how depressing it is.

Zuzu and I hit a couple of our favorite nurseries yesterday, primarily looking for clematis to add to the roses, (I love planting them together!)

This is the prettiest nursery around, always pristine and perfect, Cottage Gardens of Petaluma




Several of their clematis were already in bloom.



Picked up these striking new petunias


Zuzu's banksias are in full glorious bloom and all the roses are lush with new growth and full of buds!

She did have a few roses blooming, one was Rio Samba


And her Double-Flowering Japanese Kerria (Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora') is also making a bright splash, it has a Clematis (Clematis montana 'Rubens') growing with it.




And her cheap bag of tulips purchased years ago from HD Costco always puts on it's yearly show, doesn't mind not being in a colder zone, they have been reliable retuning blooms. My favorite was that peach-pink combo.





and more spots of color:


I really should get this spiraea I admire in her garden every time it blooms, such cute tiny double blooms.


And then of course it's always fun to take pics of the kitties.
Cookies decided to leave the neighbor and come live with her entourage. Roger keeps his eye on him but he's well behaved.


Oscar


Amanda



Having lots of glorious rain, finally!

Hurray for rain and stunning gardens and flowers. That nursery looks like a fabulous place to visit. Love all the kitties!

I just love seeing my garden through your camera lens, Sue.

The tulips, by the way, were from Costco. The ones from HD rarely come back.

One of the things that makes that Cottage Gardens nursery such a joy to visit is the crushed granite they use on all the pathways. We literally have to slog through the mud when we visit some other local nurseries during the rainy season. Some areas of Sonoma Horticultural Nursery, for example, are literally impassable at times and require long detours.

Zuzu ... at least you have nurseries to visit ...

Smiles,
Lyn

Too many at times!

Sue ...

Your photos are beautiful .... as usual. Zuzu ... your garden is simply a gardener's playground.

Serious envy about those nurseries.

Smiles,
Lyn

Thanks Lyn! The nurseries around here was one of the reasons I would do the 1.5 hr drive up a couple of times each year. We were so happy to move here! I hate going back down into the big city, the only thing I miss is my Mom, we are close, and great garden buddies and plant buying enablers of each other and it's painful for me to be this far apart now. I stress and worry about her all the time. We are both on the hunt for a house up here for her but in a small town, it's slim pickings.

another rose that was blooming at the nursery

Wow, I am so freaking jealous!! Spent most of the day mulching... I'm exhausted. Need to shower cuz I'm filthy. Here's my pathetic front yard fully mulched.. I need to flatten it out now but I'll get to that after I get my mountain out of the road. This was taken about a minute ago.

Great pictures Sue
Spring has not arrived yet and we have an unusual amount of snow cover. Too cold for even pansies

These pictures make me smile. And purr.

Gorgeous!

Almost April so hopefully winter is truly gone for the season. I have lots of crocus out so I am happy to see flowers at last.


I have that big raised daylily bed in my backyard. I planted 500 of these crocus Sieberi tricolor there along the base of that raised bed. Turned out looking really nice.

Rita - Wow, absolutely stunning with those crocuses! I love crocuses, but I can never seem to grow them.. squirrels always dig them up.

I planted some in a slope by my driveway and squirrels dug most up. This spring any ones in that slope that they missed they just chewed up. But up there they left them alone.

Hi everybody!

Bet you California rose junkies were jealous of our spectacular displays of snow and ice this winter. I had never seen so much snow. Winston the pug was not pleased. The snow was much higher than he was.

Just stopping in to see your beautiful blooms! I have been missing in action since I moved last summer, shivered thru the polar vortex and now I am moving again! The property where I moved is being sold. I found a new place and will be moved by May 1. (What a pain, guys grumbling about my potted roses and paving stones twice in one year).

I hurt my shoulder moving last year and didn't get everything in the ground before winter. Some of my roses overwintered in pots. This was the most severe winter in recent memory, but we had snow cover. All of my roses in and out of the ground have die back, but most survived! I am glad that I have consistently decided to grow hardy, own root roses.

The only plants emerging are my hellebores and crocus. Neither are blooming, yet. The forsythia don't even have leaves, yet. I hope the hostas do something soon so that I don't leave any behind. Roses are just starting to form leaf buds. Some have new canes starting at the base of the plant beneath the soil. Most of my roses are short, stubby sticks, but they are alive and ready to move again.

They were so healthy that they overpowered my tiny townhouse lot last spring, now I am grateful for any sign of life!