Sunday, November 1, 2009

A visit to the Antique Rose Emporium (the one in San Antonio)


Gardens are a form of autobiography.
–Sydney Eddison
A garden is never so good as it will be next year.
–Thomas Cooper



Monarch butterflies love verbena!



There were hundreds of them swarming over this patch of verbena



My daughter gets eye-to-eye with them
for a photo



There are so many sample gardens and lovely outbuildings on the
Rose Emporium property.  Very inspiring!


This vine resides in the corner of a lovely walled area
that is set up like a hacienda courtyard.



another Monarch spotted on top of a zinnia in the kitchen garden-area



an impressively huge Century plant!
My daughter is 5' 8"....



And can imitate the plant....

What a beautiful day!  Temps in the 70's all day, clear skies, low humidity:  this is why we endure summer in South TX!  I was in the mood to go to the Antique Rose Emporium.  I knew it would be beautiful due to the recent rains and cooler temps.  Sure enough, all the roses were blooming.
I was on the hunt for some things to plant in my winter garden.  I enjoy adding a few cold-tolerant plants for a bit of color when other things fade.
We found a new variety of lavender, Texas-grown, which I will plant in an area that is an inferno during the summer.  Up against a west wall of my studio, most plants simply can't take the afternoon sun and the radiant heat from the wall.  Let's give this lavender a run for its money.
 I purchased a dozen lite-brite swiss chard which is gorgeous when the sunlight hits the stems.  They truly look fluorescent!  Ornamental kale and a flat of snapdragons, along with some violas and some purple sweet alyssum, and we headed home.  I have my work cut out for me tomorrow.
Here's a link to Antique Rose Emporium website:  http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/

4 comments:

  1. What a beautiful place! And a lovely day to share in the garden. 70's sound wonderful, it was in the 80's today in SoCaL. Lavender is easy to grow and such a fragrant and gorgeous plant. I can see a meadow of it growing in your far back yard area.

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  2. That is my plan: to put a mass-planting of lavender behind that large berm out in the far back section of the yard. Today was another gorgeous day, mostly spent in the garden planting all the things I purchase yesterday.

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  3. Wow! What a fantastic place, were there any fantastic smelling roses? Just the idea of antique roses...

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  4. Melly, you would go crazy: most of the roses are antique or "found" roses, meaning cuttings were cultivated from old roses found in places like abandoned cemeteries. People who do stuff like that are called "rose rustlers". Ha! Personally, I am a rock rustler (I mean relocator).
    Come down and we will make a field trip. Natalie & I are thinking about doing some plein air painting there.

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