Rose Garden Tour

Hey there, garden friends. Today we have a great little tour set up for you. I'm here with my great friend, Linda Knowles, out here in Roseville, California. She is one of the rose queens of Roseville, California, and perhaps just the world, and we're gonna show you why. So come on in, we're gonna go for a quick tour of her garden. There's not a shortage of blossoms, so come take a look. Okay, come on in and see my roses. So Linda, how long have you been growing this garden? So I've been growing this garden since 2007, but I started gardening with roses when I was 19. So yeah, I have a couple of roses that are the same variety as when I was 19. But I start here in the rose alley, that's the French word for alley, with old garden roses. So most of these are in the 1800s, early 1900s. And I love having the arbors. I was inspired by gardens in France. And it takes about three to five years for a rose to get up and over. How many roses do you have out here in this garden? Let's take a deeper step in here. There are probably 315. Okay, 315 roses, and I wish you guys could smell right now, because as I walked in here, instantly just a wave of fragrance hits you. Is that normal for this time of year? It is. And the fun thing about having arbors is that you are in the roses. It's not so much you're looking at them, but you're actually going through the tunnel and you're in the roses, so you feel like you're a part of it, instead of just standing looking at them. This is probably one of the most amazing rose gardens I've ever been in, especially at someone's house. I know your good friend Charlotte is also a bit of a rose queen. We talked to her a little bit a while back. And this garden is just marvelous. Actually, it's just absolutely stunning. Thank you. What are some of your favorite roses? So this is my favorite climbing rose. It's called Eden. In France, it's called Pierre de Ronsard. And I love the colors. I love how the blossoms kind of nod down, and so they're looking at you. I love that one. That's a beautiful one. It looks like it's been just dipped in a little bit of paint. This is an old garden rose from 1897. That means the variety. And it is one of the most fragrant in the garden. Okay, I gotta do that again. I like having it on the arbor right by the roof. It's probably one of the best things I've ever smelled in my life. It is, it is. I think you'll have to rub some on me. It's called Madame Isaac Perrier. It smells so good. And then we have Cecile Bruner against the fence. So it will hide a fence. And that's one rose. And it could go farther, but I keep it in check. Well, I remember Charlotte said you're the queen of climbers. So I've noticed you use a lot of arbors. I like to hide the fence. It doesn't exactly hide the fence. That one does. But I love being in amongst the roses instead of just looking at them. I love it. And I like verticality in a garden. Oftentimes you go to a rose garden, everything's the same height. You know, you're just looking at it. So I like verticality. All right, use that vertical space. I love it. I do. I have a lot of hybrid teas in this area. They get a lot of good sun and some partial shade. So they do very well. So we extend, I extended the arbors and planted at least one on a side. A couple of places I have two on a side. And then I finally took out the grass. Yeah, there's not a strip of grass in the backyard. So that's actually pretty nice. Yeah, yeah. So I've noticed you use a lot of even non-roses. So we're in a rose garden. It's packed full of roses, but there's actually a lot of other plants in here. There are a ton of other plants. Is there a benefit to that or do you just like seeing other plants? The benefit is you get a lot more beneficial insects and birds and you get poly, you know, you get more things to interest birds and beneficials. So you don't just have a monoculture. Well, it's great. As you were saying that, there was a beautiful songbird just started chirping, flying overhead. Yes. It's a beautiful spot. I rely on the birds. Yeah, look at that. Your lavender is packed full of bees. I do. Yeah, look at that. Woo, they're going crazy in there. So I first saw a parterre garden, which means the geometric shape in France. And of course they have a lot of lavender and we have the same climate. So I love using those Mediterranean plants. Love it. Yeah, they're beautiful. They're going nuts right now too. They're blooming right alongside your roses. So is this a really good time for roses to be enjoyed? This is the best time. Roses are only dormant around here for three months. So that means you have nine months of bloom. But from mid-April to mid-June is your best. Well, Linda, I'm terrible at goodbyes. I'm really better at hellos, but I have to say ta-ta for now, but it's been a pleasure to be in your garden and I cannot wait to come back. Okay. Thank you, Kevin. It's been fun.