Texas, United States

My garden has a mixture of modern and antique roses. I also include daylilies, fruits and veggies, louisiana iris, salvias and little bits of this and that. I am definitely a laid back person, and my garden practices show that. I don't run around fussing over everything and plants really need to be able to defend themselves against the heat, humidity, chili thrips, blackspot, constant sea fog, tropical systems (including hurricanes), and my puppy pack of Winnie, Fiona and Indigo. My 12 year old pittie pup Charlie passed Fall 2019 due to bone cancer.

Our climate is humid sub-tropical with an extremely long growing season of about 300 or more days and an average of 50 inches of rain per year (we got this much during Hurricane Harvey 2017, but luckily didn't flood). Average temps in January range from 40 to 60, while during "Summer" we have six months or more of days above 80 degrees (80 is usually the overnight low temp during July, August and September). Our soil is clay gumbo and grows some REALLY big roses. I'm also dabbling with raising OP seedlings of various roses, mostly with those that do well in our conditions.

I have very little shade in my yard- sun from dawn till dusk. Performing best are generally the antiques, teas and chinas in particular. They bloom through the winter and sleep during the heat of summer for the most part, though Rock Hill Peach Tea and Trinity don't miss a beat. I don't care if blooms shrink during the summer, or if the plants get ragged in August, I just want them to survive. I do not spray or give any other treatment for fungal disease. Some things blackspot, especially in Fall, but I practice selective blindness with that and carry on.

Note: My garden has been hit very hard by freak weather events in the last two years. We don't get too cold here in Houston, but Feb 2021 and Dec 2022 brought crazy low temps that really devastated my antique tea collection. The ones who were badly damaged in 2021 were finished off in 2023 and that's got me wondering about the future of my little backyard paradise. 21 of my antique teas were winter killed in these two events. That... left some pretty big holes in my garden. Some of them were bigger than 10 feet around.

Experienced (24 years)

Breeder, Photographer

Last visit: Friday, April 19th