Flowers for Monday

 

I got my Covid booster shot today, and then went to the gym, so no sewing today. But I spent some time in the garden this morning. The very out of hand Wisteria is blooming so nicely it's hard to be mad about it.

The old reliable Peace Rose bush is blooming like crazy. All the remaining pictures are of different roses on the one bush.

Seems like a good time for a bunch of Peace to break out and show itself once again.

I love the variation in each flower's colors. 

And the colors change as they age too.

And one last super yellow one.

Wandering Wednesday - Portland Rose Garden

 This one really needed its own post, (so many pictures!) which was a visit to the Portland International Test Rose Garden on July 4th. 

We got there about 11 am so it hadn't gotten too terribly hot yet. But we had more than 10,000 roses to see.

The flowers were just a'bloomin' like crazy. I think the last time I'd visited it was early spring and not much had flowered, so this was wonderful.

What a wonderful place this is, no admission fee, the bus stops right next to it so even though it is up above the city it's somewhat accessible to people that need a break from the city.

We took a selfie before I got too sweaty and wrung-out.

All sizes of roses were there all the way from teeny tiny  miniatures to big blowsy singles.

I think this might be my favorite picture that I took of a rose on that morning.

Something about those shiny shiny dark leaves.

This luscious yellow-orange color is just so great.

A longer view of part of the garden.

There were little markers that told you whether or not a rose was "Fragrant" or not. That was nice so you knew whether to go in close and take a whiff or just to admire from afar. Every now and then a breeze would blow and you'd get an overall scent of roses which was lovely.

These are so abundant aren't they, like a full bouquet on just one stem of the rose bush.

There is a central sculpture art piece. Unfortunately the water wasn't turned on but it still looks cool.

This is the only one I remember the name of: "Ketchup & Mustard"

A perfect full white rose with those dark glossy leaves, ahhh.

Hey there's friend Jaye.

Another view of the central sculpture.

Some of the lower gardens have these glorious hillsides just covered in landscape roses. More like ground covers than the individual bushes.

Just so beautiful. There is a map that shows where to find each and every variety that is planted.

A yew bush I think? Maybe? I thought it was funny.

The three arches of blooming pink roses were gorgeous, there were people taking engagement photos and families doing group shots beneath them.

As you walk through the garden you head down the levels and then you have to come back up, so you get a really good view of all the covered steeper hillsides.

This was from the lowest part of the garden and you can't really see the top of it from there.

Some of the roses are in the test sections which is a whole arcane process that helps test new roses varieties before they're produced on scale for release to the public.

Red red red

It's almost too much beauty! So I'll leave you with this Very Happy bumble bee on a pretty pink rose.

Wandering Wednesday: Berkeley Rose Garden

 

Last weekend, we headed up to Oakland to visit our daughter and celebrate my DH's birthday. DD suggested we go walk around the Berkeley Rose Garden. So up to the hills of Berkeley we drove. It was a real treat to have all four of us in the car together. A real blast from the past!

I hadn't been to the rose garden in a very long while, and we luckily arrived a bit before sunset.

Truly gorgeous. So relaxing and removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. DD said when she first moved up to Oakland she used to drive up here to relax.

The rose garden is pretty well kept up, and easy to get around, but there are a lot of stairs.

The pathways are pretty wide so the roses have a little room to spread.

Awww, I like this.

My favorite rose picture of the trip. This variety had a little bouquet at the end of each stem.

Some of these color combinations were surprising. I was also surprised that so many of the rose bushes were still blooming. 

An almost fluorescent red here!

If I could move somewhere, it would be to this neighborhood. Then I could volunteer as a rosarian to help take care of the roses.

I really like the construction of the steep hillside amphitheater, rows upon rows of roses.

Big, blowsy, floppy, opened-up with a luscious scent.

The sunset was pretty red, so red that my two kids look like they're red-haired instead of brown.

Summer Roses

 I do so little for these rose bushes, but they give me so much back.





































Blooming again and again, filling the yard with their color and scent.

Benign neglect? Succeeding on just barely enough water?

June Roses

 Just because it's been awhile, here's some of the recent roses out in my garden.