Great photos of your roses, plants, & garden Boxofrox!
Love all your views from where you sit. lol
Gee, your still getting slimy weather, hopefully that improves for you soon!

Your flowers are beautiful as always, but I have to say I also love your rocks! I'm a big fan of stone in the garden.

Oh, wow, Boxofrox! Ginger Syllabus and Lyda are so beautiful! and I completely enjoyed the gorgeous outlooks into the garden.

The huge clematis and lilies are really making a great show too!

Whoops Boxo, I forgot to ask, what is that absolutely gorgeous pink bush that is in your last photo? It has plum-like foliage but the flowers almost look like roses at a distance...and there's another bush of it peeking out in the BBQ view....'so gorgeous!

Also I need your help! I didn't realize until Jim told me that rhododendrons can grow up to 8' yikes! yikes, yikes! My Penny Lane is sandwiched between my Dwarf Mountain Laurel and a PJM rhododendron. Will the rhody refuse to bloom if I keep hacking its branches to keep it contained?

Thanks Jim, the paper said this AM that yesterday was the darkest solstice in 15 years. That was the good news......the bad news is that it was one of the nicest days lately just because it didn't rain :-(

Thanks PMM, that's where it all started for me......with 80K lbs in the pond corner. I too am fond of stone, I think it's the random-ness :-)

Thanks KG. Rhodies can be all sizes, some medium sized trees. It doesn't mean they will be. PJM is medium sized if I remember and PJM Compacta more dwarf like your kalmia mountain laurel. I think I'd worry more about full sun for them two acid loving cousins :-) I'm thinking the bush you mentioned was the 'Coppertina' ninebark. I have several cultivars mixed around the landscape for contrast. Here's a close up of the bloom.........

Box, you have a beautiful garden! That LYDA is spectacular! And I love the lilies and clems!!

wow, your garden is so full and lush! I'm jealous! :)

Thanks for all the help Boxo. I am so hoping that I have the PJM Compacta! I lost the tag last year but only until you mentioned PJM Compacta did that trigger some sort of distant memory that this may be the one I have. There is no way on earth I could have remembered that Compacta part and that allowed me to Google and see that the flowers and foliage seem to match mine! So here's triple-crossing my fingers that it is Compacta!

Thank you so much for the beautiful closeup of Coppertina ninebark! I love the number 9 and Copper so hopefully my loopy terrible memory can keep remembering your gorgeous shrubs by name association.

Aimeekitty, you should see how I spaz out with Boxo's gorgeous rhodies and would have "jealousy" attacks, except I'm busy being the Energizer bunny in terms of ooing and awe-ing over them. It goes to show the huge contrast between my awful gardening skills too. I am a rhody's worst nightmare as I have finally discovered. My rhody is growing in alkaline, heavy clay wet! soil, and in full shade, yikes, yikes, yikes! Little wonder it can only bloom for 10 days before pooping out! lol! whereas Boxo's last for weeks on end! He is so Awesome! :D

Beth, how kind of you :-)

That Lyda has so many blooms and buds, it's unreal. she's about 8' in that pic and just a blooming machine!!! But I am always in awe of you and your roses so back at ya :-)

Aimee, Thank you so much because full and lush was my goal, that and 'different'. If I ever get as good at roses as I am at hardscape and other plant material, me thinks I will have arrived ;-) VBEG

KG, My pleasure :-)

Rhodies are like roses, you don't just plant one. You site just the right one (size,color,bloom time)in just the right spot. Remember they love water but hate wet feet, love acidic ph soil, and as a general rule don't like full sun (especially large leafed varieties).
I do love ninebarks, they have awesome foliage, interesting bloom, and great structure. Mine are all either 'Coppertina' or 'Center Glow'.

hehe, poor rhody had almost 4 months of gettin' drowned with the rest of my roses too! He needs waders!

But Boxo, for the very first time in months we've had REAL Sunshine! I am amazed! I still can't believe it! It's 5 days of hot, scorching sunshine-the very best killer of BS--sunshine and blazing heat combined! We were supposed to get another round of intense thunderstorm fronts but somehow it missed our region! Someone sent some lucky thoughts our way! I am praying that the hot blazing summer is here to STAY!

Anyway, here's a toast to your awesome Rhodies, Lyda, and the Coppertina Nineback. They are soooo cool!

Funny you should say that, we just got two days of 75-ish which at this point is like heaven and mirth :-) But alas all good things must come to an end and we are heading back south on the weather wheel to wet and cool :-(

I'm going to post part two tonight, I tried to shoot some new from where I sit sightlines today.

Enjoy that weather girl, you deserve a break today !!!!! !

What a striking garden! How big is your yard?

Masha

Thanks Masha :-)

I'm not sure how big, maybe a 1/3 of an acre or so. It's in one of those 80's subdivisions when you could still get a yard that was considerably larger than the house footprint. I think the different elevations and odd shape make it look bigger than it is.

Your garden looks so lush and well cared for. Thanks for sharing your paradise with us----

I too love my Lyda Rose---she just keeps pumping out the blooms and the bees love her----plus I can see her while standing at the kitchen sink----

Florence