Peggy Martin Rose

This is a beautiful climbing Rose

It blooms in clusters and reminds me of Seven Sisters but..

It is not thorny!

I planted this last year and it is very happy where it lives here at my house. And it's blooming prettily.

I had seen this (kind of ) Rose blooming for the last 10 years hanging over a fence behind my shop and it  trailed all over the fence and trees and bloomed several times during the summer.  So I found the street it lived on and went door to door until I found the owner.  I did get some funny looks, I don't mind telling you!  I didn't care.

It is a dark/light pink if that makes sense.

I did find the owner but she was a very elderly lady who had no idea what "her gardener" planted all those years ago.  And she allowed me to see her garden.  The roses were even more spectacular on her side of the fence even though it was somewhat shady.

And it has tons of buds!

Well, the end of the story is... I saw an article about a Rose that lived through our hurricane Katrina

and they named it after the lady whose home it was growing at. So it is called the  Peggy Martin Rose.  I guess it has been an old rose growing in this area for many, many years but because of Katrina has become available through growers.

And I am happy!

Is This Climbing Pinkie??

Do you think this is Climbing Pinkie??

I didn't write down what I planted and can not remember for the life of me what this rose is!  I was looking for a "mannerly climber" that blooms most of the time.  So I know that much about it.

I planted two last spring.  One on either side of the trellis.

Last year it grew some but this year it has taken off and has lots of buds.  It's pretty.  And the flowers are a deep enough pink that I can see them from my kitchen window. 

 You can't see them all here but if I were a better photographer and used the right filter you would be able to see them.

Help me "Name This Rose" if you can!!

Sweet Peas In My Front Garden

My Sweet Peas in the morning.

This year I planted Sweet Peas in my Front as well as my Back garden.  I love them so much, I want to plant them every where.

I love that there are different colors planted together.  And it's a surprise to see what color they will be.  This is a marvelous blush color.

The smell is amazing!

Duchesse de Brabant Rose

Duchesse De Brabant rose.

A friend gave me a cutting of her rose. 

 But I was so impatient that I went and bought myself one that was larger!

The flowers kind of droop.  I can't help but get down on my knees to see the pretty faces!

It is so beautiful and sweet smelling.

Imagine my surprise to learn that it is a Earth kind rose!!  That means easy to grow.  And that it gets to be 6 ft. tall!!  I certainly planted it in the wrong place.  oops.

Trailing Pansy

Such abounding beauty!

Claire, my garden lady helper, gave me this plant.  It is a trailing Pansy.

I am going to be sad when it is too hot for this flower's comfort!  I love the color.  

And I love the trailing-ness of it!!

Visit Tootsie for more Gardens!

My Front Door

I love the flowers that bloom around my front door.

I love the wonderful smell from the flowers as I walk up to the door.

 On the right is my Crepe Myrtle Tree.  It will only get about 12' high.  On the left between the two windows you can see my Sweet Peas.  

Louisiana Iris

My Louisiana Iris in my front garden.

Dearie me.  I don't even remember planting it!!

My Visit to Afton Villa Gardens in Louisiana

We visited the gardens on March 9.

This is the entrance to Afton Villa Gardens.

You can see the Azaleas are just beginning to bloom.  In a couple of weeks they will be magnificent on either side of the road.

Afton Villa was a Plantation Home in Louisiana along the Mississippi River.  But it burned down in the mid 1900's.

A beautiful Garden was planted among the ruins of the house.

It is my favorite place in Louisiana.

And one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.

You can visit at anytime beginning in March 1 and it is in bloom with something!

We came across the owner of Afton Villa Gardens working with one of her gardeners.

Can you believe this is her gardening garb??

She was a gracious hostess.  Very Southern Lady!

There had been a downpour the day before and she told us she was "fixing" the pansies.  Some of them were mashed in the rain.  Then she apologized because the Tulips were not all blooming yet! Some of them were blooming but she told us she liked for them to bloom at the same time!  Meeting her was a unexpected treat and added a personal touch to the day.  It was obvious that this was her garden.

The grounds were all so lovingly tended.

Coming off of what would have been the house (Afton Villa)  was the Formal Gardens.

This is a view from the Formal Gardens down a sloping hill to the Music Garden.

This is one of the statues depicted playing music.

In a week or two the wisteria will begin to bloom.

My favorite was the field of Daffodils.  There will also be Tulips later.

A trail leads you among the Daffodils.

Three Friends in the Daffodils!  I am on the right.

Daffodils are such a happy flower!

William Wordsworth wrote a wonderful poem about them!

The Family Cemetery is surrounded with Sweet Olive which was in bloom.  It is the most wonderful scent you can imagine.  Very subtle and elusive.  You get a whiff of the scent and stop and wonder if you really smelled it.  Then a breeze brings it to you again and you find yourself trying to follow the scent to get more. I love it!!

If you love to tour Gardens you should not miss this one.

Afton Villa Gardens.

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they 

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed...and gazed...but little thought

what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

and dances with the daffodils.

by William Wordsworth

My Garden in Early March

Have you ever seen a Pansy that didn't look happy?

And my Petunia's are pretty. I planted these last fall.

I will tell you the way to a woman's heart.

It is doing things for her in her garden!!

My husband put up this trellis for me just in time for my Peggy Martin.  There were already canes that needed something to hang on to.  I am so happy he did this for me.

And we replaced our two Satsuma trees and one Lemon tree that we lost in the hard freeze in the last winter.

Nothing to do with my garden.  Just my two lazy cats!

March 1 Photos! Can you believe it?

I haven't even put up my post on pruning my roses. Which I did last week.  And Old Blush is flowering amazingly!!

Of course you don't prune the Antique roses like the newer ones.

But everything just went crazy with leafing out and buds.  

It's like I closed my eyes for a second and Wham!!  A glimpse of Spring.

Which is coming your way, too.

You will never be sorry when you plant Sweet Peas.

I loved them so much in my back yard that I planted them in my front yard too.

And on March 1 they first bloomed!

I think Sweet Peas should be everywhere.