The rose garden at the New York Botanical Garden is a little more than acre in size.
We still talk about last summer's visit to the New York Botanical Garden. What can I say -- it made an impression.
The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden was especially memorable. It's strange, I'm not really a huge fan of formal rose gardens -- I much prefer my roses mixed in with other flowers in a less-refined tumble of petals and shapes. But this one was so expansive and so well-kept, you couldn't help but be impressed. It was renovated in 2006-2007, and the roses growing there are being evaluated for performance as well as beauty. The New York Times has more about the $2.5 million refurbishing. What you can't do with a little money.
Visiting public gardens is a great way to get ideas for your own space. I especially liked how the NYBG surrounded pots of tree roses with salvia 'Victoria' and underplanted other tree roses with smaller, shrubby roses.
The blue of the salvia plays off the pink of the roses; and I love the repeating elements.
Pink Double Knock-out is underplanted with Pink Drift.
We do grow roses at sillydoggarden, but don't fuss with tea roses or standards like those in the pots above. Hardy, shrub roses such as 'Hansa' are more to my liking. We tried a shrubby 'Golden Wings' some years ago. It didn't survive, but it was one of the prettiest roses I've seen. After seeing it in New York last summer, I'm hot to give it a try again.
This pale yellow 'Golden Wings' is especially appealing.
Not only does the NYBG have money, it also has the staff to care for such a treasure. This gardener (below) was deadheading roses just outside the entrance to the formal garden. When we commented on the magnitude of his job, he just smiled and said "we're gaining on it." And so it goes, maintenance in a place like that is ongoing, never, ever really done. Kinda like it is here, too.
A little grooming goes a long way.
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