Tag Archives: Zephirine Drouhin

Spring rain at the rancho

Posted on March 29, 2007 | Comments Off on Spring rain at the rancho

Nice shower in progress, aiding the grass already greening from the previous heavy rain. The catkins littering the patio, sidewalk, and pool deck, however, will get soaked and leach brown stain everywhere. Also may knock some of the petals off the heavily-blooming pink Old Blush. Always a downside. The blooms wouldn’t be in such profusion without the rain, but the rain hinders the blooms. Oxalis, or Wood Sorrel, a cool weather perennial, is nicely rioting in dark pink. And the misnamed Pink Evening Primrose (it blooms all day) is abundant under the Zephirine Drouhin which is well budded but not quite ready to bloom. So we’re pretty in pink and green, and awaiting the white and red roses to come.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Weather/Climate

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Thunderflies

Posted on March 22, 2007 | Comments Off on Thunderflies

The antique roses are budding like crazy, even Zephirine Drouhin, which has taken a leisurely four years to finally get settled, has thirty or more buds on it. Old Blush, always prolific, is already blooming away. But nature ain’t a greenhouse. Here come the thrips (also called thunderflies) to chew their way through a bud or five. We must await salvation: the ladybugs who will eat the thrips.

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Posted in Antique Roses

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Spring planting

Posted on February 24, 2007 | Comments Off on Spring planting

I do believe another Ducher (white) and a Souvenir de la Malmaison (pale pink) will do it for fresh antique roses this spring. Souvenir is a Bourbon and they generally aren’t disease-resistent enough to thrive at the Rancho, but Souvenir was doing fine before the deer ate it. Besides it’s one of the few roses named in my great great grandmother’s 1850s pocket diary as one she used to form an arbor near the house. The other Bourbon, a reddish-pink climber called Zephirine Drouhin, survived the deer, and looks ready to go gang busters by late March. The Ducher is a China, the hardiest of all we’ve found. Add a few perrenials, a Blackfoot daisy or a Barbadoes Cherry, and we’re good to go. Nandina frames them. Blue jasmine added for highlights. Local pictures when available.

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Posted in Antique Roses, Rancho Roly Poly

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