The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the NYBG

  • Post published:04/14/2011
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The March-April issue of The American Gardener published by the American Horticultural Society includes a wonderful article about the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and its curator, Peter Kukielski, by Patricia Taylor. The article explains how this famous rose garden at the New York Botanical Garden became sustainable. I interviewed Peter Kukielski in the fall of 2009 and wrote about him here. The article gives the names of rose breeders who have developed disease resistant roses, roses that need…

Garden Conservancy in Houston

  • Post published:04/09/2011
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A garden is an ephemeral thing. It is created by the vision, knowledge, skill and passion of the gardener. When that gardener must give up the garden it will not last long without a careful intervention. In 1989 a group of passionate people who recognized the importance of gardens in telling the history of a time, place and culture founded The Garden Conservancy. Since then the Garden Conservancy has provided that intervention for ninety exceptional gardens across the…

Flashing Flowers

  • Post published:04/05/2011
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During our visit to Missouri City Anthony, my 14 year old grandson, volunteered to do a Flash project for my blog. He took four of the flower photos I took during the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Tour and at Cindy's garden in Katy and turned them into a twirling delight. You can see each photo 'full size' by clicking on the thumbnails at the bottom.  If only he lived closer we could collaborate more often. [swfobj src="http://www.commonweeder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Grannys-Picture-Viewer1.swf" align="left"…

Garden of Fresh Possibilities

  • Post published:03/17/2011
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Fresh Possibilities are just what I am looking for at this time of the year, so it is no surprise that I have been spending happy evenings with Kim Smith's beautiful book that includes so many of her own delicate paintings of flowers, birds and butterflies. Kim Smith gardens, and paints, in Gloucester.  Over the years her garden has grown, as has her concern about conservation and her delight in the roads to literature and art that her…

Three Dreams for Thursday

  • Post published:02/24/2011
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Every year I add a few roses to my garden. The Rose Walk has expanded, the Shed Bed was added and now I have a Rose Bank. Many of the roses are shades of pink; Blanc Double de Coubert, Mount Blanc and Madame Plantier are white, but aside from the spiny Harrison's Yellow, yellow roses have been missing. I am trying to add  that range of color this spring. April Moon is a soft yellow Griffith Buck hybrid…

Remembering the Dead – Roses

  • Post published:01/28/2011
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As I surround myself with rose catalogs and make my final decisions about this year's purchases, I can't help remembering all the roses I have bought and killed.  When I was a new gardener I was ashamed of every failure and knew, rightfully so,  that it was caused by my lack of knowledge and skill.  It took time to realize that knowledge and skill grow from our failures.  We learn about proper planting, proper siting, and proper maintenance.…

Who Was Madame Hardy?

  • Post published:01/22/2011
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Many of the plants in our garden have a name attached to them. I have grown the Madame Hardy rose, and assumed she was a real woman. Others have a name that is less obviously that of a real person like Anemone nererosa 'Robinsoniana'.   But who are these people whose names are attached to plants. Who was Perry, or Mrs. R.O. Backhouse or the Vicomtesse Byng? It is easy to know who is being honored when you…

Review and Renew in 2011

  • Post published:01/08/2011
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Janus, the Roman god whose two faces could look backward to the past, and forward to the future, gave his name to the month of January. He is a god of doorways, and the special patron of all new beginnings,  a perfect symbol for the new year, when all things seem possible and sure of success. The month of January is a good time for the gardener to look backward to review the events of the past year,…

Diehard Roses

  • Post published:10/26/2010
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Late June is rose season, but a few roses refuse to give up. 'The Fairy' is a familiar stalwart from June through October. That is five months of bloom high on our windy hill. Pink Grootendorst, an old rugosa, is almost as dependable. This bush has several little sprays of blossom.  I love the frilly, pinked edged flowers. The new family of Knockout roses are proving to be equally hardy and determined. Notice the two buds at the…