Seggie.  Roses grow in my garden, Nautilus along with other beautiful flowers. Most of them are from cuttings from friends who have passed away thus making them extremely precious to me.  What a delight to have them. Remember those of you who make unpleasant remarks here. Life is short. Love while you can.   

Seggie, There are very nice black spot resistant roses about.  Pictured here is one of my favourites, Brindabella Pearl.

http://www.brindabella-gardens.com.au/BlackspotBusterRoses.htm

The new pinks, yellows including gold varieties are spectacular for fragrance.  I used to grow a lot of teas.

With the long dry spell, coupled with water restrictionss, Melbourne gardens now look far different than they did before.  If one was prepared to get up at 4.am to water , and recycle every drop of usable water, one could keep the garden up to par. But it was all too hard for me, and I've not got any flowers except iris in the front garden, and like you Nautilus, plenty of bottlebrush, which I don't mind as they bring the birds. Oh and a couple of fruit trees.

There is a beautiful park not far away, created in the 1800s, which for as long as I can remember, has been a showpiece, which people would visit from miles away. (ks away doesn't sound the same..lol.) It has a beautiful lake in the middle with lovely swans and other birdlife. The beds of annuals were huge splashes of colour, and there are some very old trees...even one that was planted in the first year the park was built.

The decision was taken during the dry spell, to stop planting annuals, and now, though still lovely, there are more native shrubs and grasses, and very little color other than green.  But still, the council gardeners work very hard, and it is still a showpiece.

Of all floral scents the one that reminds me most of early Summer is the snapdragon, which has a unique light, sweet smell. It has a complex blend I was told to appeal to more bees.  Not too late for a large pot of them I suppose.  Pity about the lost banks of petunias and so on though.  Amazing though how such fine seeds can still result in self-sown plants in the most inhospitable positions years later.

Many children will not experience gardens with bright floral displays and fragrances, which is a pity. 

I had to remove some citrus which was a loss and the veggie beds have gone.

Beautiful roses Nautilus. We have one out at the moment very similar. It IS really a lot of work saving every drop of water and watering only in the times alloted so like everyone else we have cut back but have managed to keep over 100 Roses and pots and pots of Gazaneas but it seemed a bit wet for some of those and we have lost some this year but still many left and coming out along with pots and pots of Pelagoniums so the garden is a real joy to see at the moment and glad watering may be eased this year albeit we use every drop of recycled water we can and  are the bucket brigade so we really do not need the gym all that much :)  but find it fun so who cares :)

How do you care for 100 roses?  My mother had more than that on the farm but she had me chasing the irrigation and carting truckloads of litter and manure.  Only rose garden outside of commercial production that was set up for a tractor. LOL  I wish I knew at the time that commercial growers prune mechanically too.

The gazania cultivars are astonishing for their array of colour.  Guess what though, they are an invasive weed in NSW, Vic, SA and WA.  We grow some too and of course would neevr dump garden refuse indiscriminately.  Fuchsia is a weed too, but only one of the many varieties.  Spread by birds I think.

I have mostly natives so they mostly look after themselves--they still need trimming but the birds like them as do I. 

Natives have a place, but isn't diversity the new measure of all that is good and 'progressive' in Australia?  - Just having a grin, that is all.

More seriously though, the abundance of natives and litter that goes with drought proof gardens are adding to the fire risk in suburbia.  The fire storm in Canberra that razed suburbs should have tipped off other councils to watch the risks of their environmental policies which can have unintended results.  To take an example, if a fire got a foothold in (say) the western suburbs of Brisbane, the Canberra experience would be repeated but for worse results because Brisbane doesn't have the same wide roads as fire breaks.  There are many eucalyptus trees and flammable bark in gardens and the constant litter on roofs guarantees a quick firestorm.

Not arguing against natives or against greening the 'burbs, just flagging some downsides that many councils have yet to deal with in their risk management and disaster plans.

I have natives mostly because they are good for the wild life plus I am not into roses and very  "neat" type flower gardens I like the bush and lush looks I also have palms and ferns

Yes I understand where you are coming from Nautilus I have a few BIG gums in and around my place also but the council have refused to let me cut them down even though they are very close to the house, they are so big now it would cost far too much anyway

For all those who still oppose the carbon tax and those that support the protection of this world from corporate (and individual) predators:

LINK

Carbon tax?!  You have posted to the wrong thread.