Rose In Bloom

As I keep mentioning (sorry), my yard is in full bloom! I know it's not that exciting to most people, but it makes me so happy. My Encore azaleas put on a beautiful show this year:

Over time, I've planted a variety of things in the front bed to ensure that something is always happening. The daffodils and hyacinths have already come and gone, and the azaleas are starting to fade, so now it's time for the hostas and salvia. I planted a whole row of salvia a couple of years ago, but this plant was the only one that took off.

The front bed doesn't get much sun and the soil is terrible (apparently the builders used the area as a brickyard :P), so planting there is always a gamble. I special ordered a dozen tiger lily bulbs last fall and can't wait to see how they do. They're already starting to pop up!

Meanwhile, I've never had such a crop of roses! I have three rose bushes - a Tropicana, a Don Juan climbing rose, and a hot pink Knock Out. Usually, we have a short window of nice weather, so I only get a few blooms before the two fussier plants give up in the heat. (The Knock Out is practically zero maintenance and will do its own thing until October.) But they're loving this early spring. I go out back to enjoy them every day.

I bought this trellis at the same time I bought the Don Juan, since climbing roses need support. But this is the first time I've actually used it. I think the narrow part is supposed to go in the ground, but that way, it kept falling over no matter how much I reinforced it. About a week ago, I was worried that the plant would break under the weight of its blooms, so I tried the trellis upside down and secured the stem to it. Success! Let's hope it holds.

Last weekend my brother took some portraits of me for a contest I'm entering (more info to come). We wanted to incorporate the roses somehow, but the shots in front of them just didn't look right. So he came up with this!

Happy weekend!