moving this down....

I definitely agree: * PLANT COMBINATIONS would be such a great addition to the 'Garden Galleries' category list!!!

Thank you, Sheila. We used to be able to post pictures to the ARF right from our Flickr accounts. But, of course, if you delete your photo storage account, any communication that might still exist between the two sites is lost! I still visit the "Antique Rose Forum" from time to time, esp. during the cold winter months when I need a pick me up. I don't post much any more. I do love my gardens and my roses and have had many triumphs as well as disasters over the past five years since I did these postings in 2013. Disaster 1: I now have numerous roses that are 15 feet tall/long. 20 feet tall. And even taller and even longer. And I now realize that, although the idea of giant roses seemed romantic when they were 3 feet tall, they have created a variety of problems in my garden and I am in the process of getting rid of all my monsters except a couple of my most favorite. Disaster 2: I have hundreds of roses. From almost every class. And I have lost track of what I have and what I have lost. Disaster 3: Invasive plants: Japanese anemones. Mexican primrose. Salvia. 4 o'clocks. Sweet violet. Blue globe flower. Black-eyed Susan. And even morning glory. I find poison ivy/oak sprouting in my pots, I invite you to imagine my garden plots. Disaster 4: Thrips. And, though, I love every single one of my roses, even those I am culling, I have found after growing so many, that above all, I love my David Austin roses most. Here are some photos from this year's garden. They may not be great since they were taken with my phone. Best of luck to you in your garden. May it bring you joy and very few disasters.

Very nice photos! You seem to do much better at getting accurate colors than the photos I take. Your clematis all look quite happy and healthy. You have some great color combos . . . 'Forever Friends' and 'Romantika' are stunning together, and since I have both sitting in pots waiting to be planted, I think that I will use your idea. You asked, "I was surprised how they mainly bloomed on the top parts. Is this typical?" Many of your clematis are type three prune (all those viticellas.) Did you prune them down to one or two buds this winter? These clematis bloom on new wood, so if you don't want all the blossoms near the top, you need to prune them pretty severely. As long as I prune them, I find that most of them bloom fairly much bottom to top. An exception seems to be my various C. texensis crosses like 'Gravetye Beauty' or 'Princess Diana' which seem to have more of the bloom near the top even though they get winter killed to the ground most years and pruned low regardless.