I am going to be doing some traveling in May so I have been taking advantage of every moment of good weather to get the roses on their way to a spectacular growing season.

The existing roses have been trimmed, fertilized and prayed over! 🙂 The new bareroot roses have been soaked in moo poo tea and planted.

Of the new ones, there are 4 beautiful new roses from Star Roses and Plants that I am trying this year. I am very excited about these beauties and can’t wait to share them with you…

 

• The Icecap™ Rose is a pure white landscape shrub resulting from the combined breeding efforts of Will Radler and Meilland international.
• Look-A-Likes® Apple Dapple is a new addition to the popular Look-A-Likes® series.
• The Pretty in Pink Eden® Rose is a climbing Romantica® Rose with all the great qualities of the Eden® rose.
• The Peachy Keen™ Rose, an exceptionally disease-resistant landscape shrub, so impressive you’d swear it was a Knock Out® Rose!

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Many of the Hybrid Teas and Floribundas had to be cut back to the ground 4 weeks ago but they are coming back strong!

Gertrude Jekyll was cut back to about 3” from the ground and baby look at her now. She is ready to grow. And, if you know anything about this rose you know that when she’s happy you are happy. She is gorgeous! Classic old rose form and very likely the most fragrant of all the David Austins.

Here’s one that surprised me today…. The Queen of Bourbon rose appears to have a bud! This is the first “bud” in the garden so far. Exciting! Read more about her here.

Look closely. Yep, it’s a bud…

The frost came this week and those that were a bit taller like The Generous Gardener … had a bit of burn. I’ll just trim and she’ll be fine.

Next week the temps are going to soar into the mid 70s, so we could have an early bloom cycle!

ROSE FIREWORKS

Since I am that person who counts down the days until spring—starting the day after Christmas, I am looking for ROSE FIREWORKS when spring finally comes. My old garden roses and the rugosas are happy to oblige. They are very predictable “spring fireworks.”

Look at these Rugosas! Hardly a bit of winter die back. Lush, green and on their way.

Here’s a peek over the garden fence…

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What’s going on in your neck of the woods.

Any FIREWORKS to report? 🐝