The Huntington Rose Garden Gets Upgrades

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A visit to the Huntington over the weekend, so the next few posts will be about that visit.

Due to budget constraints and the internal politics endemic to a non-profit institution of some age, the Huntington's rose garden has suffered somewhat in recent years.  This year it has received a minor but welcome upgrade in the form of a few new beds, some new plants, and repairs to the long pergola, which was crumbling from age.  The roses appeared to have just been cut back in the previous few weeks and were beginning to leaf out again.
The pergola may be in sad shape, but the blooming Magnolia looks healthy:
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New rose babies emerging from a protective layer of mulch:
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In colder climates roses require winter protection.  Here, our typical winter heat waves demand protective mulch to avoid dessication of vulnerable new plants that do not yet have an established root system.  

The sad Old Garden Rose section looks revitalized with some new signs, a thick mulch, and skilled light pruning.
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A fountain at one end of the long pergola was visually lost due to a backdrop of tall evergreen shrubs that overwhelmed it.  The shrubs have been removed and arches installed.  Climbers ('The Impressionist') have been planted to adorn the new structures.
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Plenty of ever-reliable 'Iceberg's remain in place:
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A bed of 'Huntington Hero' has been moved and replaced with floribundas underplanting 'Easy Does It' standards.  The new plants seem to be mostly prolific floribunda roses, to provide as much constant color as possible.  In a new bed, the 'Huntington Hero' roses have been paired with a group of the original 'Hero' rose, of which 'Huntington Hero' is a color sport (spontaneous genetic mutation).
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I hope to return to the Huntington come spring to see how the roses are doing. 

Comments

  1. Nice to see any garden getting a facelift. All those young roses look so promising! I tend to think the Huntington's resources are endless, but you provide another perspective. I'm perplexed to see the Jump for Joy rose sign tagged 2014... any insight?

    Now I'm reminded I must make some time to groom the roses at Overlook House, my neighborhood community center!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roses take 7-10 years to introduce into commerce, and lately due to the bad economy effect on the rose business, Weeks & others have been selling preview quantities of certain roses a year ahead of schedule as a kind of "sneak preview" promotion.

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