I had a plan for the…

I had a plan for the side garden on the south side of my house, that it would be a rose alley. I learned, to my sorrow, a year or so in, that in half the spots I'd planted roses, they didn't get enough sun to thrive (stupid houses, don't they realize they're getting in the way of the FLOWERS?), so I've now moved most of those roses elsewhere and replaced them with dwarf hydrangeas and boxwood. (Still need to move one Christopher Marlowe, but am waiting 'til fall, so as not to stress it too much)

But it turns out that some spots do get enough sun, so that if you're standing in the right place, you get some of the effect I was hoping for. I'm not sure how clear this photo is, but if you start closest to the camera and move forward, you get:

• a John Cabot, a winter-hardy Canadian shrub rose (red, very floriferous) on the right)
• a Moondance white floribunda near right (which blooms late into the year, if I'm remembering right)
• a Zephirine Drouhin climber (red with a hint of purple, gorgeously fragrant and thornless) on the left, climbing the porch -- this was the first to bloom
• two more roses -- the one on the left isn't blooming yet, but the one on the right is, a dark red Tess of the D'urbervilles
• and there's a white Darlow's Enigma climbing the arbor gate, mixed with Jackmanii clematis which should open soon; it's just starting to bloom now, but should bloom profusely all summer.

Roses! :-)