Roses!!!!

I went to Select Roses  today. It is out in Langley and a 45 minute drive with no traffic. It was worth every single second on the road.
Brad Jalbert is the rose expert. He hybridizes his own roses. Select Roses is a family business. I spent a fair amount of time chatting with his mum and met his father. His mother told me all about the roses that I bought. When and how to water, fertilize, prune and pinch off heads. She was charming, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. How wonderful.
I actually researched the roses on Brad's site before going out to the farm. I kept phoning until they were open and then it still took me a few weeks. If you have the opportunity, go for a visit. It is just incredible.
This is what I bought. The mossed rose is so so special. I am thrilled to bits. The other two are healthy and I am looking forward to them blooming.

I am pasting Brad's descriptions from his website Select Roses. The pictures are all mine.

• Coral Reef

  Miniature Moss • Light fragrance • 12-14" tall • Created by B. Jalbert

  Coral Reef is the most heavily mossed miniature rose in the world. Moss minis were first created by Ralph Moore, USA's father of the modern miniature rose. I met him years ago, and he encouraged me to breed unique and interesting best-in-class roses. I did some work with his moss mini roseses and came up with this baby. It is very heavily mossed, and in fact, has more moss than most of its old-rose ancesetors in the moss rose family. It has a frilly old-fashioned style flower in rich coral pink. The flower is 100% rain proof. Wonderful collector's rose, growing to about 12 to 14 inches with one inch flowers.

David Austin's "Princess Alexandra of Kent"

• Poseidon

  Floribunda • Moderate rose scent • 2.5' wide x 3-4' tall • Created by Kordes

  Finally, a truly healthy, easy to grow and highly disease resistant rose in that beautiful lavender blue colour that gardeners love. It took the master rose breeders, Kordes of Germany, to bring us this new wonder rose. Another step forward in the quest for easy care yet beautiful roses.  Our test plants were disease free with no spraying and produced the most beautiful bouquets of roses! This is a must have new rose. Strong and upright growing to around 3 feet.

I received my delivery from Botanus!

I have no idea why I am so organizationally challenged. It is not natural!
All I want to do is get the plants, shrubs, whatever into the ground... and I did! Woo hoo! And... by myself. Sort of. Mike came out and moved soil, pots and anything heavy before I started and it was still totally rough. It took hours and hours.
Liz, my girlfriend and beloved neighbour, was too injured to help out. She goes all out in her gardening jobs and life in general and hurt herself. Poor woman.
The most challenging items were the "Claire Austin" rose and the Weeks rose "Anna's Promise". I dug holes and moved other things to get them into ( I hope) the perfect places.
The Itoh peony (so excited....it better bloody take at that price) is in the ground and fed as is the herbaceous peony.
Siberian iris and bearded iris are in the perfects spots...maybe.
I find it difficult to plant at times. Decisions, decisions. Arg. Man, I sure hope that I chose the best spots! Pictures? Yes, I took them. I really don't know if they will help anyone visualize the end results. In fact, they are pretty useless. Sorry.

 I panted a herbaceous peony to the right of the iris.

This is a rose soaking its roots. It is a Weeks rose and is called "Anna's Promise".

 And planted.

 I planted the gorgeous "Itoh Peony" left of the lavender.

Oh my, how embarrassing. This is a before shot of where I was going to plant my David Austin rose "Claire Austin". His daughter.

There is no after picture. Sigh.

I am not proud of this. I replanted a rose and was too tired to dig a deep enough hole so...I mounded up the dirt. Very poorly done.

Ooh ahh. Stunning 

This is nothing new but I am including it in this post because the other pictures were awful. Purposeful...sure but nowhere near gorgeous.

This is the "Snowball Viburnum".

Look at this!!! My garden is blooming.

My tulips. The ones that the fat happy squirrels didn't get. Next year I will plan much better.  I am thinking chicken wire.

The rest of the garden is coming up. These are 2 of my Auntie Dot's plants that Liz and I dug up last year

Do you see the clematis blooms? I cut it back this year and was so nervous but all is good. In fact, it is better.

 Hostas are starting to come up.

A Pacques (Pusatilla) flower. I bought 2 last year. I will have to find out if they multiply. hmm

My Auntie Dot's trillium. I moved a small piece and it has survived. Stunning.

My daphne. Lovely. Fragrant beyond your wildest dreams. They do not like to be bothered.

Bloodroot. Its here and then...blink...gone.

Hellebore. Glorious and strangely long lasting. huh.

Iris and lilies.

My newest rose. David Austen.

My one and only remaining tulip in my downstairs pots. Greedy little rodents (squirrels).

Viburnum. The green blooms are from the snowball and the pink are Korean Spice. They are highly fragrant. The snowball is covered in blooms as you can tell by the picture. The blooms are pure white globes and they are not fragrant.