12 October, 2012

Paradise and Roses


When I hand-water our roses, 2 five litre cans in hand,
I walk a meditative labyrinth
– circling back to the grey water tank.
All my roses come from Ludwig's Roses Winelands branch.

Edited in September 2014

1 Pushed out of Paradise
Anna in her fuchsia gown met the Black Prince (an Old Cape rose). He was first overwhelmed by her Perfume Passion, then introduced to little Apricot. A line of 3 Anna’s Red remind me how quickly three decades pass.

Pushed out of Paradise
1 Anna's Fuchsia
2 Black Prince
3 Perfume Passion
4 Anna's Apricot



2 Autumn Fire
Papa Meilland, a traditional red velvet rose, reminds me of my father. Karoo Rose is a token of my parents’ choice to come to South Africa. Burning Sky for the African blazing sunsets we saw, when I lived in Camps Bay looking across the Atlantic Ocean. Alec’s Red – takes me back to waiting for a physics lecture, chatting about a Rousseau painting of the jungle, and how studying science returned our sense of wonder. Duftwolke, because roses should be fragrant and my other half has Swiss-German as a first language.

Autumn Fire from 'upstairs'
1 Papa Meilland
2 Karoo Rose
3 Burning Sky
4 Alec's Red
5 Duftwolke

Autumn Fire

3 Summer Gold
I begin with Casanova, because this house was once new. Tropical Sunset since that is the colour of the Tecoma cuttings I brought from the Camps Bay garden. 

Summer Gold from 'upstairs'
1 Casanova
2 Tropical sunset
3 Sheila's Perfume
4 Courvoisier

Summer Gold

4 Winter Chill
In the corner Great North stands for the roses coming from the northern hemisphere, needing life support thru our mediterranean summer. The roses draw me here for breakfast, or tea in Paradise. Pearl of Bedfordview – my belated wedding gift was a string of pearls. Baroque pearls, not smooth, not white, just barely cream.

Winter Chill from 'upstairs'
1 Great North
2 Oyster Pearl
3 L'Aimant
4 Pearl of Bedfordview

Winter Chill

5 Spring Promise
Chaim Soutine reminds me of Rosa mundi and the first time I saw roses in a garden – treated not as A Rose, but as a rose, or a Buddleja, or a Watsonia. Not a prima donna, but a member of the orchestra.

Spring Promise from 'upstairs'
1 Dainty Bess
2 Chaim Soutine
3 Spiced Coffee
4 New Zealand
5 Elizabeth of Glamis
6 Lavender Jade

Spring Promise

6 Indian Summer - sadly no rose survivors.

Indian Summer from 'upstairs'
1 Belle Époque
2 Rainbow Nation

Pictures by Jurg and Diana
words by Diana of  Elephant's Eye
- wildlife gardening in Porterville, 
near Cape Town in South Africa


(If you mouse over brown text, it turns shriek pink. 
Those are my links.)

24 comments:

  1. I enjoy thinking that it is spring in your garden while we slip slowly into winter. Christina

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  2. Hallo Diana,
    again beautiful garden pictures, so very exotic to a northern eye.
    Are your roses free of diseases, with the warmer, drier climate?
    Have a nice weekend!
    Elke

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    Replies
    1. I won't and don't spray. The aphids get happily sorted as food for ladybirds and white eye birds. Some of my roses get black spot - I mulch, feed and water - discarding those roses which don't rally. Buds everywhere when I walked thru today!

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  3. Love the way your roses intermingle with a variety of other plants. Your garden is bursting with colour, I could spend hours there and still not see everything.

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  4. Loved the tour of your roses. Especially appreciate your numbering and naming each rose. I loved how you chose each rose, and the stories behind them. Your pearl story is my favorite.

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  5. Beautiful photos and roses. Enjoy them and the spring time you have. We're slipping to the wintertime and darkness. Have a great weekend!

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  6. Hi there, it's been a while since i visited, it's been a crazy few months, enjoy the spring we are heading into the dreaded wet winter.. Lovely roses as always beautilfu pics

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  7. Gorgeous rose garden tour. Thank you. A few years ago, the local rose expert, and he actually is very good, wrote an article about companion plantings for roses. I am so pleased to see that yours, in a similar climate to San Diego, have flourished in companionship plantings. I wish I could have more roses, and you've possibly pointed the way to that goal.

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  8. Your under plantings are so nice. I like that 3rd photo. My strelitzias are are flopping over and I can't figure out why.

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  9. Nice how you gave every rosebed another name. I also have my roses in combination with perennials and annuals, it looks much more natural. Like your stories behind the different roses, makes the post really interesting.

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    Replies
    1. I couldn't chose just one colour, my list grew and grew, then I decided 4 beds, 4 colours.

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  10. Alecs Red! Beautiful colour, lovely rose.

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  11. Hi Diana, Your transplanting is done, quite a job physically, mentally and emotionally. In the last photo it looks as if Chocolat is also getting his autopilot reset. Interesting associations, stories about the roses - they are real characters inhabiting the garden.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, you were looking when I used revenge, and Summer Gold fought back. I ended up sprawled over broken plants, and looking at the sky. But I won, in the end.

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    2. I'm pleased to hear you managed to show them who's boss. Some roses definitely get ideas above their station.

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  12. Diana I loved this tour of your wonderful beds...to see how you work in the roses with other lovely blooms...and the newest bed will be a wonderful addition...great shape to it...I really liked seeing them from above and below to compare.

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  13. All of your garden is a wonder! The special thing about your garden, and mine as well as many others, is the way memories are nurtured up within it. I would love to spend an afternoon in your garden, smelling the roses and listening to all the stories.

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    Replies
    1. That's why we garden blog - I've never had a true gardener visit, someone who talks about the plants, by name, with interest ... but visitors do enjoy 'the garden as such'.

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  14. I finally started to get into my garden on Saturday. Behind the house by the pool will have to wait for the building addition to be done. Now just to get rid of the two palm trees in front of my house.

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  15. All of your care must be working because they look wonderful, Diana. They have filled in and are lush and beautiful. I must water all of my containers every morning in the summer, and it is very much like a meditation. That is a great way to see it.

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  16. I laughed at your comment about the 'that's pretty I'll have it' stage. I am definitely in that stage right now. I want one of everything.

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  17. Your gardens are so lovely, I always pick up inspirational ideas from you.

    And I have diligently filled out the questions on the side bar.

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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Photographs and Copyright

Photographs are from Diana Studer or Jurg Studer.
My Canon PowerShot A490

If I use your images or information, it will be clearly acknowledged with either a link to the website, or details of the book. If you use my images or words, I expect you to acknowledge them in turn.


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