Behind the Private Gates, Design, In the Garden


Over the Moon About Roses

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All the rain that we’ve been receiving must have been laced with Miracle Grow! I have never seen such bountiful blooms or healthier plants, with canes that were as thick as my index finger. A longtime favorite that never disappoints (maybe because it’s named after Julia Child) is a rich butter-colored floribunda.

Between parties and threatening rainstorms, I gathered enough roses to partake in one of my much anticipated summer pastimes — flower arranging. It is such a perfect way to “get in touch” with your flowers and appreciate them on a whole ‘nother level.

With roses I often think French, so out come the wire baskets. The featured arrangement (top) represents 9 different cultivars…Ancient Mariner, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Boscobel, Alnwick Rose, Jubilee Celebration, Carding Mill, Olivia Rose, Liv Tyler and Tiffany.

No surprise that I decided to move my peonies to a new set of beds in the back courtyard and add more roses to the cutting garden! They now take their place in cobblestone-detailed squares with the 20 year old pear espalier on the east side as one backdrop…

and new lattice borders on the west side as another (sharing space with a complimentary clematis).

Outside the cutting garden, roses serve double duty by contributing their charms as design elements in addition to those blooms for decor within the house. The rose chain adds so much to the back courtyard where I drive in and out many times a day. ‘Crown Princess Margaretha’ (suggested in person by David Austin, Jr.) presents the most delicious picture come mid-June… especially with the majestic weeping beech in the background. This image always makes me feel like I’m attending a wedding, with rose petals lining the bride’s path.

Eden Rose (or originally known as ‘Pierre Ronsard’) fronts the wall posts leading into the backyard and will one day soon complete the climb up the tall iron arch…while iron trellises dress up the walls of the small out building showing off my first, and still favorite rose, Abraham Darby.

And finally, Falstaff is a happy climber on the lattice “shutters” of the garage window that looks out on the cutting garden.

From shell pink to peach, to apricot and warm yellow, soft cerise, salmon blush, brilliant pink, and fuchsia…roses never disappoint (or at least their colors and fragrance make up for their maintenance challenges).

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About Bettie Bearden Pardee

Author of Private Newport and Living Newport, garden furniture designer (The Parterre Bench), national lecturer, and entertaining expert. An honoree for the second year on "The Salonniere 100 America's Best Party Hosts", she was also the host and creative producer of "The Presidential Palate: Entertaining at the White House".

22 thoughts on “Over the Moon About Roses

  1. Lovely roses!! Could you please tell us what the orange rose name is in your second picture? They are in a black fluted cache pot.
    Thanks so much,
    Theresa

    1. That is David Austin’s ‘Crown Princess Margaretha,’ the same rose that is on the back courtyard rose chain on the blog.

  2. My mother was a rosarian as are you. Love the layers of growth! Exquisite! How beautiful is this garden. Very dry in Atlanta.

    1. Thank you, Lynn, but I can’t call myself a rosarian…it was all in the hands of Mother Nature…bless her heart!! xB

  3. There was no way I thought your garden could be any more exquisite than it was on my last visit, but you have outdone yourself! I can smell the roses from here!

    1. Truly, they are a kaleidoscope of color; soooo glad I added more bushes last year! xB

  4. Absolutely stunning! I love the way you created and displayed your floral arrangement.

    1. Hello dear Diane, adore hearing from you; when are you coming back this way? xB

  5. Bettie, they are lovely! We are just getting a second bloom on our newly planted David Austen Harlow Carr roses here in St. Louis, and they are lovely with our Parterre Bench.

  6. Where to you buy your lovely iron trellises? Particularly the ones the dress up the walls of the small out building showing off your favorite rose, Abraham Darby?

    1. Hello from Newport, I’m happy to say that I think I have the source on record, even though these have been in place for 20 years. Good luck!!! xB
      Start with:
      Spring Hill Nursery…Jackson and Perkins… White Flower Farm And if no luck try:
      Charleston Gardens…Gardeners’ Supply…Kinsman Garden…Gardeners’ Edge

      1. Thank you so much for all the great information. Is one of those recommendations your favorite for ordering roses from?

        1. Those sources were predominantly for trellises. And it all depends on what’s in their catalog at the time.
          Rose sources are David Austin, Jackson and Perkins, Star, White Flower Farm. Enjoy!

          1. Thank you! It’s been so fun to go through your recommended websites. There is a beautiful picture above of all peach/apricot colored roses. Could you share which varieties those are?

            Thank you

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