Monday, July 18, 2011

Hardy Souls

Our yard has a few hardy souls! 
It is a pleasant surprise to see what has survived years of neglect,
and the ravages of weather and wabbit!

This reminds me of a native (Rocky Mountain States) rose.
The blossom is very simple, but oh, so beautiful.
A little research on the Internet (I am soooo in love with the Web and all of the information I can have at my fingertips!) yielded very little information. I found 'the' rose on one site. It is growing at Joan Franson’s (evidently she is a renowned rose judge) Laboratory of Roses and the author of an article about a tour of Fran's garden comments, "One vigorous rose that arches into the street, its long canes dotted with lavender pink sprays of blossoms, has remained a mystery species rose, although visiting rose lovers bend over an impressive cane, carefully scrutinizing the blooms. "No one knows what that rose is,"
So, we have a mystery rose in our garden. How fitting, since so much about our house is a mystery!

White Roses
We have about 4 plants that survived.
Sadly, they have no odor, and they turn brown quite quickly.


Russian Sage
Perovskia atriplicifolia
This is a weed in our yard. There were a few clumps, originally. 
Now it has spread in all directions. Russian Sage thrives in dry climates.
Shhh! Don't tell the plants that they aren't supposed to like clay soil!


This is a tiny red rose. It reminds me of the
'Valentine' roses that are sold in grocery stores.

Potentilla
This shrub is well suited to dry climates and therefore, it is no surprise that it survived years of drought at our house. The plant is also called Cinquefoil, Shrubby Cinquefoil or Buttercup Shrub.
The funny thing is that in the past my husband has pointed out this variety at stores and in other plantings. He has said he'd like to have it in his yard. He was pleasantly surprised when some of the dead-looking shrubs we noticed in the winter turned out to be thriving Potentilla.

Now, hopefully, everything will thrive.... unless we kill them with kindness!

6 comments:

  1. These are so colorful. Some plants are very good at surving the heat and still look good.

    I, myself, do not have that talent. I can survive but looking good at it is something I have not mastered.

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  2. I love the survivors, the plants that grow and flourish without the help of human hands. Looks like you have some tough beauties!

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  3. I'm pretty sure the first, "mystery" rose is a Fruhlingsmorgen Rose: here is a link
    http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/rose-garden/rose-fruhlingsmorgen.html

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  4. Shirley, you may be right. I've continued looking for this rose and almost all that I have seen have yellow stamens, not the orangish ones. Your picture sure looks more like my rose. Thanks!

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  5. That's a pretty impressive group of survivors. They will florish now!

    ReplyDelete

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