Rose Garden Tour Part 1 Spring 2026 Media

Hi folks! Welcome to my garden tour. I've actually been away for a couple of weeks and we had a heat wave so everything started popping a whole month earlier, earlier than usual. So, uh, everything's just going bonkers and I haven't deadheaded and haven't done anything but, uh, we're in peak bloom right now. So I'm gonna show you what the garden looks like. This is my backyard that I'm panning here and then, uh, after that we'll look at, uh, the roses that are blooming individually. So this is the overview and, uh, because of the unseasonably hot weather everything's just happening at different pace. Um, the roses are kind of blooming before the the peonies even start. Uh, the irises are in bloom. The orange tree is still bearing fruit and, uh, everybody is just on their own little clock. But hopefully there's still lots to see and, uh, an interesting exercise, uh, for you to just see what's going on in this Central California garden. So I start here with this climber. This is Edouard Manet. This is the Delbard Rose. It is also called Climbing Clawed Manet and it has just proven to be outstanding. Uh, these beautiful chalice-shaped blooms that are kind of a pastel stripe. There's some pink, there's some green, there's a little bit of yellow here. This rose repeats outstanding and, uh, it's extremely well-branched. I'll show you the whole plant from here all the way to here. Maybe spreading about eight feet and, uh, just loaded with bloom and, uh, extremely fragrant. A deep old rose fragrance and, uh, didn't expect this to be such a winner but, uh, bloomed all last season. Uh, repeat outstanding, production outstanding, and, uh, see the very deep cups here. Highly recommend people grow this one. Next up, this is Cosmic Clouds. Cosmic Clouds has a very nice ruffle to it. It is also strongly fragrant but, in this case, it's a citrus scent and it's very free-blooming. See these, uh, clusters are very tightly packed with buds. I'm gonna look at Red Eden and, uh, you see I've tried to train these roses as horizontally as possible and as much as my space would allow and it's the horizontal canes that produce the majority of the blooms. Here you see some really nice clustering on Red Eden. This one has repeated quite well for me as well as well and, uh, look forward to having it on its third year where it is living up to its promise and it's doing its, uh, beak thing. And then next is this, uh, Blue Moonstone Rose. I'll show you a cluster of Blue Moonstone. See how the cluster almost looks, uh, rounded and dense like a hydrangea? Um, I pruned this rose very lightly because, uh, I needed it to be tall because it's in, uh, partial shade and I need to deadhead it now. It would look so much better if it was deadheaded. Again, a beautiful old garden rose shape and it's really like a ring of light lavender, purple, uh, and white. So, a very interesting formation of bloom and, again, strongly fragrant. I mostly grow fragrant roses, uh, unless they have some really outstanding other characteristics. Um, and this rose next up is Henri d'Albard. It's kind of intertwined with the Clemetis. I had intended them to bloom together but, you know, they never cooperate. And, uh, Henri d'Albard, one of my very favorite roses. Uh, what I like about it is that the bloom is huge, it's petal packed, it's long-lasting, and it's super fragrant. Here, here's the bloom here. You can see how big it is, probably over five inches here. And if you, if you think about very long-lasting roses like florist roses, most of them are not fragrant. They have the thick petals like this escaping. Uh, so most really fragrant roses are rather soft petals. But in this case of Henri d'Albard, it has a really, uh, powerhouse citrus scent and it also has super thick petals. So, it can last like a week in a vase. It lasts as long as many of the florist roses. Uh, and the plant just does its own thing. I should try to show you the whole thing. It grows extremely thick canes and it just does its own whatever it wants. But, uh, on Earth, the space, like, when they open by the sun, it's a phototropic, right? So, uh, spreads through the flower as the sun hits it. And I'll show you these canes here. It is just really, really strong and thick cane and robust rose. And I think, uh, having a long-lasting, old garden rose form, multi-color, super fragrant is, uh, makes it kind of almost one-of-a-kind. This is Cathedral Bells. Cathedral Bells, I think I might also ask her to climb, also known as Sur Emmanuel, also known as Towering Rose Magic. See, there are plenty of buds forming, uh, but just starting to open. And then next up, move away from the climbers, I'll show you Osiria. This is the two-toned, uh, Cordes rose. And, uh, Cordes has, uh, two roses, at least two, that are very similar. Uh, this one, I think, is the better of the two. It's not as thorny. It's a little more productive and there's, uh, kind of a moderate spicy scent to this. And, uh, this rose, Osiria, at its prime form, you can really see that thick petal and very white reverse. Uh, this is a new rose for me. This is Esprit de Paris, and, uh, wonderful, multi-color, also very fragrant. And, uh, next up, of course, one of the most popular roses in my garden. You know, it's strange. Online, I get more compliments and comments about Juliet, this rose, than any other. In real life, I get more compliments and comments about Neil Diamond than any other rose. And, uh, this, I think, uh, people who collect roses, they really tend to these deep cups. And, and Juliet is outstanding, perhaps, the, the, in my opinion, the, the best of these cuppy roses. And, uh, Neil Diamond, very unique and super fragrant. So, it, it really stands out in a vase. So, they're both outstanding in its, in their class. But, of course, they're completely different roses, and I just find it very interesting how, uh, online, it's one rose that gets all the attention. But, uh, in real life, it's another different, very different rose. And to show you a couple of clusters of Juliet. Juliet always blooms in clusters for me. I would, you know, they're, they're decent size, but I think if you were to disbud, they would be, you know, very good sized. Uh, I'm certainly not disbudding anything. I've not even gotten to deadheading. So, Juliet still, I think, is beautiful as a cluster cloud rose. This is her neighbor. This is her sister, Beatrice. And, uh, Beatrice, perhaps the nicest form of all these, uh, old garden rose looking yellow roses. Starts off a kind of a deep buttery yellow and, and fades to almost white as it ages. Also very long lasting, and, uh, you can tell this is a florist type rose. Uh, Beatrice does repeat not quite as well as Juliet. Continuing on here, I've got one of the, uh, which, the repeat blooming Azaleas. And, uh, I find that, that even certain varieties that aren't specifically labeled as repeat blooming, uh, do repeat here in California. We have a very good weather for Azaleas and roses. And I think that the cool nights is, is what helps everything just continue to bloom and look fresh, even the pretty long hot summer. These are both repeat blooming Azaleas. And here I've got a Fuchsia to show you just starting to bloom. You know, when I lived in the East Coast, the Fuchsia was something you bought in a hanging pot. It would last about, oh, a month. And then you'd have to throw it away if it really could not grow there. But, uh, here Fuchsias become big and woody and, uh, they become, uh, just, you know, froths. Here I've got Bathsheba David Austin Rose. I almost have to look down on Bathsheba because, uh, her stems just droop, always drooping, for me at least. And, uh, the coloring is very subtle. It's got a little bit of apricot and, uh, creamy yellow and cream. It's very subtle rose, rather soft petaled. Uh, I've had this a couple of years and I think I had it in too much shade. Uh, thankfully the neighbor cut down their ugly tree. And Bathsheba has more sun and she's rewarding me with flowers. And, uh, this is Bathsheba's neighbor. This is Dairymark's, I think, very distinctive rose. It's the very deep blueberry, blackberry, violet center with the lighter edges that make, uh, Dairymark's such a unique variety. Uh, pretty good, pretty good bloom. People have told me the black spot resistance on this rose is excellent. I, I wouldn't know personally because, uh, I live in a place where we don't have much black spot. And, uh, Dairymark's has a good fragrance. Uh, not, not the strongest. If we're talking about the strongest, we might look at the neighbor here. This is Lavender Crush. Very purple rose. And I'm going to show you this, uh, massive plant here. Get a good distance from it. See that? Very big, very bushy rose. Uh, I think this is one of the most impressive varieties. Uh, just look at that color. Deep purple with a whitish reverse here. Under Crush, always strongly distinctly lemon fragrance. There, there are many, many lavender and purple roses that are highly fragrant and, and have citrus scent. Uh, but if I had to name which one was the most fragrant, I'd probably go with this one. This is, uh, always a knockout in the garden. The repeat is very good. And what I like about some of these newer climbers like Lavender Crush is that you see how many canes and how dense and how leafy it is. Uh, that's what gives this rose the ability to repeat very well. It just has so much going on. Um, this next neighbor is Claire Rose. Not much to show you. She's always late to the party. Uh, very beautiful rose, uh, and also among the longest lasting of, of all the Austins. Claire Rose can also last a week and a days, even though she's not specifically classified as a florist rose and, does make a very good climber with good repeat. While we're talking about florist roses, let's look at David Austin's, another of his florist roses. This is Constance Austin, florist cutting rose. Not much to see here, just getting started. But, but what I like about Kerry is that the individual blooms can be very, very large. And I think it will be a very satisfactory rose as it ages. And then skip over and we're going to look at Missora, a very bulbous looking rose. It's going to be a lot more impressive in a couple of days, I think. Just, uh, just getting started. See that very deep leafy, sort of a deeper apricot coloring. Here we go. That's a pretty decent leaf. And this is William Shakespeare, 2000. Uh, I grow this rose because I think the fragrance is among the very best. Uh, it has a very unique old rose and violet scent. Uh, so, you know, a different scent than Munsteadwood, perhaps not quite as free blooming and a little bit lanky and color ranges from a deep maroon or purple red, uh, through magenta. This next rose with the extremely dark, mysterious purple color is of course Twilight Zone. Twilight Zone has, you know, very pale foliage and that really sets off this deep purple color very well. A pretty good bloomer for me. And, uh, I think the color alone makes it well worth growing. Uh, we're going to look at, similarly colored rose, Ebtide, both bred by the same person, Tom Carruth, who kind of brought these purple roses into commerce and made them very, very popular and, uh, wouldn't have a garden without a deep purple rose. In fact, I try to get them all and, uh, can't choose between Twilight Zone and Ebtide, so I do grow them both. And you see Twilight Zone set off by this, uh, blue-purple Limonium. This is sort of a coastal seaside plant where if you live in a coastal or a Mediterranean plant climate, this is going to bloom 365 days a year, so very worthwhile perennial to grow and it's evergreen. Um, it's only hardy, probably Zone 9, but, um, where it's hardy, it's evergreen. And then this is Sensuous, very fragrant, uh, with very nice ruffling on it. And, uh, Sensuous repeats very well. The plant shape is especially attractive. I find if you cut it in a bud, as a bud, it might last four days. So not the best, but, but not, you know, as bad as I thought it was because it sort of does have a reputation of being a fleeting rose. So you need to cut it, like, a bud like that, and then you might have four days of Sensuous. And, uh, here we see those layers and layers like Phylodove, Sensuous, and then, uh, Coyoteone. This one is the one that's unfortunately named, uh, Scrumdiggly Delicious or something like that. But, uh, very nice, handsome native California poppies. They just, once you, once you get California poppy established in California, it just resets itself. It comes up wherever it wants, and it's your thing for, for life. It's, it's just gonna be everywhere. I'm working my way to the back of the garden. In the rear here, we have some ice plant, which blooms very profusely in the spring here. And then we have Pacific Blue, a new Tantal rose with a very strong citrus scent. I kind of wish they hadn't called it Pacific Blue because it's, it's just barely lavender. You know, it treads that line between lavender and pastel pink. But I do think it's an outstanding variety. The stems are straight. The plant is very dense. It produces a lot of bloom and repeats well. Home Depot liked it so much, they bought the exclusive rights to Pacific Blue. So now, uh, it used to be sold by Francis, and now it's sold by, uh, Home Depot exclusively. We thought they'd pick an orange rose. In fact, once they did have an orange rose called Orange Passion, but this time they went with a light pink tint. And then now we follow this kind of madam, Isak Currier. She's, more done than she is, uh, starting. But, uh, grand old bourbon rose, very famously raspberry scented. Look what he's doing. I think he's admiring his next rose. That's what he's doing. He's, he's admiring Golden Opportunity. And, uh, here we are, Golden Opportunity. This is another one of those newer climbers that's very bushy and very well branched. You know, it's almost like it's a giant floribunda that just happens to get to climber height. And, uh, repeat is, again, outstanding on this sort of rose. And I've got another of these, uh, young wedding roses starting to bloom. I forget her name. Um, Miranda, maybe? I'm, I'm not sure. I'd have to go check my records. But, uh, again, very sturdy bloom here. And just one, um, this rose just getting started. And from Golden Opportunity, more of a yellow blend. This is Impressionist, one of my favorite colored combinations in the rose world. It is kind of goldy copper with a pink flush. And this used to be a bush for me. I started training it as a This rose is, uh, Summer Song. It's a beautiful, deep, kind of brown-tinted tangerine. Unfortunately, in the sun, it just kind of shrivels up really fast. Um, it doesn't take heat very well. So I've got it in part shade. It's a little lanky, but it's either going to be lanky or burny. Uh, but, uh, either way, glad to have it. It's a little hard to find. And a lot of people, uh, seek this rose, I think partly because it's hard to find and challenging. If it's too easy, then, you know, maybe people wouldn't go after it so much. And got this, uh, another fuchsia to show you. This one would be purple and red. And these fuchsias are just getting started. They'll be a lot more blooming in a couple of weeks. And I'll show you that fuchsias are, are loose shrubs here. And, uh, they have a pretty good bloom season. So here's one of my bearded irises. I have maybe 30 of them. Usually irises bloom earlier than roses, but in this case, uh, everything's messed up by the heat. So many of the roses are coming up before the irises. And, uh, here's a complementary rose. This is English Perfume. It's a pretty large flower, like a five-inch flower. I can't show you the open bloom, which I think is its most attractive stage because it's not quite there yet. You can see maybe on this one, it is very, very ruffled. And, uh, I would say an above-average fragrance. Not super-fragrant, but, uh, very long-lasting. This is Scheherazade. And usually blooms in very large clusters, kind of one of those, uh, magenta, deep lavender roses, kind of set off nicely by these, uh, California poppies. And this is Evelyn. I've got two plants of Evelyn. Actually, I've got three of Evelyn. And, uh, one is grafted one and to our own root. I think it grows pretty decently either way. Um, what I like about Evelyn are these, uh, nice button centers. You can see this one really well. And the peach fragrance. Evelyn does last longer than most Austens, but, uh, not as long as something like, uh, Juliet. And then here I've got a rose that always does a number on me. Um, this is Earth Angel. Uh, it has, uh, fruity stems, poor repeat, uh, burns in the sun, blobs out in the rain. But this, this might be my best year for, for Earth Angel. Uh, it is a beautiful form. It's a very deep cup where it just sort of has a secret little complex center and it doesn't open up much more than that. Just, you know, this is what it does. And then it just kind of dries up and disappears. Uh, repeat is not really good either, but I keep it around. I think it's quite charming in its own way. And, uh, we come across Chicago Peace here. Uh, this is well past its peak flush, but you can tell that it did do very well this spring. Chicago Peace, one of my favorite, uh, color combinations, just these, uh, pinks and yellows and coppers and, uh, the bloom lightens as it ages. But the, in the ideal stage, I think it just has one of the most wonderful colors. And then this is the neighbor. This is larger than life. Um, very well-named rose. It's, it's huge. And, uh, sometimes it has a button center like Evelyn. For a yellow rose, larger than life is, you know, very strong-growing and long-lasting. I think it's very worthwhile in the garden. Here we come across the brightest color of rose. This is Chris Everett, really putting on a show here. Very stiff, upright, dense plant. Uh, it is, uh, tangerine with red edges, so just about as bright as it can be. Starts off with a steeper orange, then goes to tangerine, and then gets, uh, flushed with red as it ages. And, of course, uh, excellent garden performance here. Now we're gonna move, uh, in pots. Slobelia is just a wonderful plant here. Maybe only lives for three years, but blooms almost 365 days a year. And, uh, very few plants where you can find such a brilliant, true blue. Uh, this is from, uh, is it the Laguna series from Proven Winners? And this one is, uh, one of my favorites. I think the white eyes make the blue even pop more. Then we come to our peony-flowered rose. This is, uh, Yves Piaget. A giant bloom, very good ruffling, very excellent fragrance, and, uh, doesn't, you know, produce a huge number of blooms at a time, but a steady performer. I find this true about a lot of the larger-flowered Romantica roses. They might not be, uh, uh, just, like, covered in blooms, but the repeat is very steady, the quality is excellent, and I would rather have something like this than something else that, uh, you know, is not so full, and long-lasting, and fragrant, and has all these other great attributes. So this is Peace, together with its Sport Chicago Peace. Both very successful roses in commerce. Peace, of course, among the most famous of all roses. Don't know if I've got a one in a great stage to show you, but I think everyone knows what Peace looks like. And then here is Outrageous. Always an early bloomer, and, uh, it's mostly done with this show, but Outrageous is a Floribunda with hybrid tea-sized blooms, and, uh, very strong, uh, old rose fragrance. So, got a lot going for it. One of those roses that I think maybe more people would want to try, because it has a lot of good qualities. And here's another giant rose. This is Dolly Parton. Uh, the bloom is a very intense, fiery orange-red, and it can be up to, like, six, seven inches in diameter. The plant is strong-growing and vigorous, and the fragrance is extraordinary. Dolly Parton was bred by, from Fragrant Cloud, and has that same very deep, uh, clove and old rose scent. While we're speaking about giant-flowered roses, this is beyond its peak, but this is, uh, Buxom Beauty. Also a rose that can get, you know, six, seven inches across, and in this case, a deep, fruity kind of berry scent. And, uh, I think the last rose I'll show you from this section, uh, just starting to bloom, is Lady Emma Hamilton. She just has one bloom on her, but maybe a hundred buds, and very nicely rounded here.