Well, the year 2011 is coming to a close and I am happy to report that I achieved my goal and made it to have roses blooming year round even in December. However, I have to admit that this month was a difficult one for my roses. They have been plagued by any rose disease possible: powdery mildew, downy mildew, rust, and even blackspot, which is rarely seen here in Southern California. Interestingly some roses have been healthy or at least relatively healthy despite the strong disease pressure. This observation got me thinking.
I am an organic, no-spray rose gardener, but I also want beautiful, healthy roses. Since obviously some rose varieties are much more disease resistant than others, in my garden good rose selection seems to be the key for success in growing roses organically. I am afraid that next year my roses have to go through a tough rose evaluation process and only the ones that are healthy or reasonable healthy will be allowed to stay in the garden no matter how seducing their blooms might be.
Despite the disease problems that I mentioned above some of my roses still made it to produce lovely blooms. Hope you enjoy my last roses of 2011!
'White Meidiland' was able to gift me with this beautiful bloom. It is not all that white as the name indicates, but I like the subtle coloration of the apricot blush petals in the center of the flower. As the bloom got older the rose was whitening up so to speak and took on a pure creme white color.
'Our Lady of Guadalupe', a rose workhorse in my garden even in December. All my three bushes of this variety were suffering from powdery mildew this month, but the ability of the rose to bloom is unaffected by that. This bush in particular almost looks as good as in spring.
What I really like about 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' besides the fact that it is so bloomiferous is that it is also still able to produce a reliable decent flower shape even in the low light conditions of December, which I certainly cannot say of all of my roses.
I think there is no dispute, 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' is simply a very lovely rose! One last photo to prove my point.
'Sweetness' also has been a very reliable, disease resistant bloomer for me this year. The rose smells fantastic even in winter.
One of my 'Pierre de Ronsard' roses was able to give me this cluster of blooms, whereas the other bush is not blooming at all anymore. I think it receives less light.
Another flower of 'Pierre de Ronsard' caught in the perfect moment of beauty.
After being potted up from a two gallon container to a five gallon one, 'Moonstone' decided to show again how beautiful it can be and teased me with just one flower. The foliage is horrible diseased at this time of the year, though, and therefore I don't know if I will keep the rose despite its lovely blooms. One reason for the disease problem could be that the rose is "container stressed", which means it is sitting too long in a too small container and when it is planted into the ground it might be healthier. I think because of the beauty of the flowers I will give 'Moonstone' a chance and try to plant into the ground as soon as possible and see what happens.
In any case, overall 2011 was a delightful rose year in my garden and I am very thankful for the beauty and pleasure that my roses have given to me.
I am wishing all of you, my dear readers, a very Happy New Year 2012, with lots of joy, love, and good health!
See you in the garden!
Christina
I am an organic, no-spray rose gardener, but I also want beautiful, healthy roses. Since obviously some rose varieties are much more disease resistant than others, in my garden good rose selection seems to be the key for success in growing roses organically. I am afraid that next year my roses have to go through a tough rose evaluation process and only the ones that are healthy or reasonable healthy will be allowed to stay in the garden no matter how seducing their blooms might be.
Despite the disease problems that I mentioned above some of my roses still made it to produce lovely blooms. Hope you enjoy my last roses of 2011!
'White Meidiland' was able to gift me with this beautiful bloom. It is not all that white as the name indicates, but I like the subtle coloration of the apricot blush petals in the center of the flower. As the bloom got older the rose was whitening up so to speak and took on a pure creme white color.
'Our Lady of Guadalupe', a rose workhorse in my garden even in December. All my three bushes of this variety were suffering from powdery mildew this month, but the ability of the rose to bloom is unaffected by that. This bush in particular almost looks as good as in spring.
What I really like about 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' besides the fact that it is so bloomiferous is that it is also still able to produce a reliable decent flower shape even in the low light conditions of December, which I certainly cannot say of all of my roses.
I think there is no dispute, 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' is simply a very lovely rose! One last photo to prove my point.
'Sweetness' also has been a very reliable, disease resistant bloomer for me this year. The rose smells fantastic even in winter.
One of my 'Pierre de Ronsard' roses was able to give me this cluster of blooms, whereas the other bush is not blooming at all anymore. I think it receives less light.
Another flower of 'Pierre de Ronsard' caught in the perfect moment of beauty.
A bloom of 'Vi's Violet' is a rare sight in my yard. I almost killed this little Miniature rose twice, but it always made a comeback, even though it is still tiny. But if it flowers it is so pretty. I only hope that next year it really starts to grow.
'Zephirine Drouhin' was not flowering in autumn but has completely surprised me by producing a small flush in winter. The rose just smells divine. This photo was taken by my husband.
After being potted up from a two gallon container to a five gallon one, 'Moonstone' decided to show again how beautiful it can be and teased me with just one flower. The foliage is horrible diseased at this time of the year, though, and therefore I don't know if I will keep the rose despite its lovely blooms. One reason for the disease problem could be that the rose is "container stressed", which means it is sitting too long in a too small container and when it is planted into the ground it might be healthier. I think because of the beauty of the flowers I will give 'Moonstone' a chance and try to plant into the ground as soon as possible and see what happens.
In any case, overall 2011 was a delightful rose year in my garden and I am very thankful for the beauty and pleasure that my roses have given to me.
I am wishing all of you, my dear readers, a very Happy New Year 2012, with lots of joy, love, and good health!
See you in the garden!
Christina