The rugosas and the old garden roses with their fireworks bloom displays and incredible fragrance are fading into the background, but there are other bloomers taking center stage.
Tom Carruth’s Anna’s Promise Grandiflora
Lovely / Vibrant / Easy Care / Fragrant
Another show of Music Box.
Ping Lim’s lovely Music Box is beginning to open.
Look at all those buds!
Dr. Buck’s Quietness is out of the world this week.
This rose is a part of the Earth Kind series.
Quietness up close … swoon … oh how I love this rose!
Keith Zary’s Gemini … One of the prettiest Hybrid Teas on the planet!
Tom Carruth’s Falling in Love … Another one of the prettiest Hybrid Teas on the planet!
Proven Winner’s Cherry Pie from the OSO Easy Collection
David Austin’s The Lady’s Blush … delicate and lovely
Keith Zary’s floribunda Our Lady of Guadalupe and her neighbors
If you are wondering what went on last week at the Biltmore International Rose Trials, below is a video just for you!
Say Cheese!
Chris (VanCleave) and I had so much fun (maybe tooooo much fun judging from the outtakes) seeing the roses, but also seeing our rose friends and having the opportunity to interview them! Look for additional videos on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and our Rose Chat Podcast.
Warning rose lovers, if we see you on the road, we just might ask you a question or two about your favorite rose(s) or your best tips for growing roses. Yes, we have iPhones with video cameras and Selfie Sticks and we aren’t afraid to use them!
Apricot Drift in my garden this week.
JUNE IS NATIONAL ROSE MONTH:
What a great time to plant a rose and join the American Rose Society where you’ll learn more about the world’s favorite flower and meet a ton of rose friends!
If you are local to me, join the Indianapolis Rose society–or come for a visit and check us out. Our meetings are open to the public! More info here.
While many o my roses are easy care, no spray varieties, I do have a few roses that are more diva like and require more of me. I love them and think they are worth it. They live in my Exhibition Bed (my only raised bed) along side a few that don’t require much at all so it all balances out.
I have an Exhibition Bed because I hope to one day have one of my roses crowned Queen of Show … someday! You gotta dream. If you wonder what beauties you might see at a rose show, check out the Indianapolis Rose Society’s posts on rose shows here. If you love roses and aren’t a member of a local rose society, I would highly recommend finding one in your area. I have learned so much from my society and the added bonus is you get to be with others who love what you love. Find more on rose societies at ROSE.ORG.
Back to the Exhibition Bed…
This winter the Exhibition Bed took a big hit. Our winter was cold but so was the Polar Vortex winter 2 years ago and they did quite well after than horrible winter. I think this year was harder because we turned super cold BEFORE we had the thick blanket of snow that we had during the Polar Vortex. And, since these roses are in a raised bed… the cold was just harder on them. My plan is to provide extra care for these roses next winter with higher mulch and maybe even a covering. Mr. G, the designer and builder of all things for my garden, will think of something! 🙂 More about Mr. G’s building stuff here.
To date I have lost 2 Gemini roses in this bed but the others are coming back… just a little slower.
Current Exhibition Bed Inhabitants…
2 Dick Clarks
1 Cherry Parfait
2 Gemini
1 Neil Diamond (Doing well!)
1 Falling in Love
2 Golden Gate (one is struggling)
1 Beverly
1 Joy (Doing very well!)
1 Corretta Scott King
As you can see from the pitiful picture below, they are indeed getting off to a sad, slow start. But, this is our benchmark … May 3, 2015 … let’s see where this goes.
May 3, 2015 … Fingers crossed!
Speaking of raised beds… Mr. G built himself 2 small raised beds for tomatoes. Look at the “decor” he added …
I see this little sign made it through the winter!
He knows me!
2014 EXHIBITION BED…
On a happier note, here are some pictures from the Exhibition Bed last summer… (If you click on one of the pictures below, it will start the gallery feature for better viewing.)
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.
The Peachy Keen™ Rose, an exceptionally disease-resistant landscape shrub, so impressive you’d swear it was a Knock Out® Rose!
A good moo poo start…
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.
Gertrude Jekyll getting ready…
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…
First bud on the Queen of Bourbon…
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.
Late season frosts are not our friends…
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.
Rugosas starting out strong…
Here’s a peek over the garden fence…
Yes, the garden is waking up and we expect FIREWORKS soon!
