Here's a mixed bag of what's blooming now - just reds and pinks!

The Squire

The Endeavour Rose

L. D. Braithwaite

Miss Congeniality

Tradescant

La Rose de Molinard

Double Delight


Ann

Wonderful photos, Ann.

Beautiful blooms, Ann! Really love The Squire!

Ann your photos are amazing! If I may ask ,could you give an approximate location of your garden in California where you grow those beauties? I really am curious what roses people grow in respect to where they are placed. I'm gradually finding those locations that match with mine here, thus narrow down those roses that could /will do well here.I've been studying your state for quite some time already, both for its astounding native wildflowers and marvelous gardens. It is a huge state with also a great variety of climates and ecological types.Ty.
I was struck by two pinks: Miss Congeniality and La Rose de Molinard. Absolutely charming!
Arturo

Oh wow!!!! Glorious!!! I love your The Squire, Tradescant, The Endeavor, and especially your Rose de la Molinard!!! Swoon!!!

Thank you all! Your kind words mean a lot!

Arturo - I live next door to Napa Valley. My microclimate is a shade warmer than Napa in the summer and a bit colder than Napa in the winter. I'm in 9b but I think it's a cooler 9b than some other areas classified the same way.Temperatures are about 85F in summer which is nice but I happen to live in a very windy area in summer only which tends to dry out the leaves and petals of roses. We are in a Mediterranean climate so we only get rain from October through April so our roses must be watered. I have drip irrigation and I water three times a week for about 20 minutes each time. It seems to work well for the roses as well as the trees I have. It's 8PM now the outside temperature is about 64F and will drop down to high 50s. The cool nights help the plants, humans and other animals to rest and take a break.

Ann

Ann, it is amazing that we both are considered zone 9 and my climate is so different than yours. It is still in the 90's here at 8:30 at night. We will probably cool off to about 69 degrees but more likely in the low 70's by 7 am. Arturo, you can learn a lot from the Sunset zones for California. That is why I have both my "regular" zone and my Sunset zone. Both of them are nine. How about that! There are so many micro climates and conditions here in California. Take a look at the Sunset zones and see what might match with yours.

https://www.sunsetwesterngarde...

To both of thank you so much. I finally am understanding the why's of the Sunset Zone system. It is a much better descriptor. Mine is a Mediterranean climate with very long growing season, but a very cool summer ( my max high last summer was 86ºF for just a few hours...we call that hot!!) . Summers have at least once an undesired frost ( ), but knowingly one can protect if (not always) the forecast is accurate. I use the national met forecast, plus windguru, plus wunderground plus a climate disaster home committee meeting with my godson and finally pray... We live off the land (13 yrs with my godson in charge) so we must be doing things right...
But actually your precise information Ann is invaluable. It really gives me a point for comparison. I always felt that the hardiness zone was an inadequate descriptor when compared to my site.
Since I also garden beyond roses, including many of your wildflowers, then a much better understanding of microclimates is essential. It also helps me much more to understand what others do or don't, so now I'm in the midst of trying to figure out where I would be placed. Perhaps closest is Sunset 9. I'm not sure though because of the cool summers.

Arturo

Mustbnuts said:Ann, it is amazing that we both are considered zone 9 and my climate is so different than yours.

Perhaps, it would be a little more accurate if the system was based on one's zipcode???

It needs to be based on highs as well as lows, but I don't know how it could be adjusted to allow for sporadic frosts etc.

I probably did not explain myself well - what I am trying to say is:
divide the present zones into smaller districts by zipcodes because there are areas within specific zones that are microclimates. I am thinking it would be more precise. I think the present hardiness zone are too broad & don't address the microclimates.
.

Margie, your proposal is very interesting, but in my own property I can account for two different Sunset zones if I were to follow the various sets of criteria that I was able to measure here. The higher ground one and the bottomland a different one. It really puzzles me. One could argue against being that precise, yet it clearly defines what can be grown where. Then there's pushing zone practises that clearly modify the general microclimate pattern, like windbreaks in my case. I hope as more people interested in sharing their garden achievements chime in, perhaps someone comes up with a method of adjusting these broad categories to what can really be taken into consideration when deciding in favor or against a given plant.
Arturo

That is confusing!
I am in Zone 9B and it is a "rare" morning that gets below 80 here, until September.
Tuesday we had a nice rain a couple of hours before sunset. At dusk the temp was at 77. It was really nice. I got up at 4:30 to leave for work, and the temp was at 84.
The humidity is what I HATE!

It would seem like with more humidity, you would have to water a lot less than where the air is dry like where I live.

I hope that is true. I water very little once a rose is well established.

I overhead water at least twice each week unless we get a good rain.....

Paul, how many minutes do you overhead water?