Sunday, February 5, 2012

January Roses

I am afraid, I am a little late to come in with a new post, but was just not able to blog earlier. January this year I had definitive less roses blooming than in the previous one, mostly due to the fact that I didn't fertilize the roses that are still living in containers in the winter, I believe. Without proper nutrients they are simply not able to perform and who could blame them. Most of my roses in the ground are finally pruned, so basically I look at bare sticks right now even though some are leaving out already again, but of course, they are not blooming yet. Anyway, I managed to get some photos. Here are some of the roses that flowered in January in my garden.



This little Miniature, 'Sweet Chariot' has quite surprised me. It produced a flush of blooms in January that is could easily go through for a spring flush. I am sure the light wall, which is reflecting warmth and light has caused this to happen but still...


 

In the photo above you can see the small flowers of 'Sweet Chariot' a little bit closer. Aren't they adorable? And the fragrance is really great.



'Moonlight Scentsation' has graced me with another of its ghostly white blooms. I am totally in love with the unusual white color. The rose comes with a truly great fragrance, too. I can't wait to see it mature a little more. Right now it is still very small and living in a terracotta container close by my kitchen door.



I have read that Tea roses are able to flower through the winter in Southern California so I had high hopes that 'Georgetown Tea' would do that for me, but it didn't happen. The rose is planted in the middle of a group of tall Queen Anne Palms, which shade her quite a bit, so I assume that might be one possible explanation why it hasn't bloomed as much as I would wish. We had some unusual warm days at the end of December and I think that coaxed it into at least trying to produce some flowers. This is one of them. I get never tired of the delicate look of Tea roses. The flower failed to open, but I love it in the stage when I shot the photo above as much as I would have enjoyed a fully open bloom.



'Pope John Paul II' is incredible bloomiferous in my garden. The rose was pruned already when I took the photo, but it managed to produce two new basal canes, which bloomed, so I had flowers on it, even though the rose was bare sticks otherwise. Admittedly the bush looked a bit awkward, so I cut the flowers and brought them indoors to enjoy and they still sit on the table right to the left of my lap top. The fragrance is phenomenal. 



I am excited to show you a photo of  'Alexander Hill Gray', one of the eight new roses that I ordered from Vintage Gardens nursery lately. I wanted this Tea rose badly and for a long time and this is the first bloom that I saw developing fully. It starts out as a very pale yellow and ages to a little bit more saturated color. The beauty of the flower is beyond my expectations, but only time will tell if the rose will do well for me. I have read that it can have a tendency to mildew in some climates and unfortunately I have seen quite a bit of mildew on my young rose so far.




This is 'Old Fashioned Girl' a Miniature rose that has become very dear to me. I love the romantic, like the name says, old fashioned appearance of it. After a little difficult start as a band it now seems to be happy in its new home, a small terracotta container, and is taking off. The rose has been very healthy so far in my garden.



The faithful 'Sweetness' was also churning out a few blooms even in the middle of winter and I was pretty grateful for that. However, the quality of the blooms was not so good anymore, but who cares if you can have roses blooming at this time of the year! 



'Iceberg' was also still spreading its cheerful charm by the walkway to our house. Seeing this photo I wonder how could I possible part with two of these roses, but I did. I guess this is a story for another post...

See you in the garden!

Christina



19 comments:

  1. Ooohhh I like your Sweet Charlotte en Sweetness...i'm a special color freak , especially for roses, so this 2 roses..I like them

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  2. Awesome to have blooms in January. Sweet Chariot is a beauty. Iceberg is a steadfast bloomer!

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  3. Marian, thanks for your comment! Glad you like 'Sweet Chariot' and 'Sweetness'. I am very particular when it comes to rose colors, too, so I know exactly what you mean :-)!

    Dani, thanks for commenting! Without bragging I have to say that the quality of the roses for January was not too bad. California is just THE place to life in when it comes to growing roses.

    Redneck Rosarian, yes, it is great to have roses flowering in the middle of winter. 'Sweet Chariot' seems indeed very promising and 'Iceberg' is such a reliable rose here.

    Christina

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  4. Those are amazing Rose pictures. And, you are saying you didn't have much bloom!? If I had even half of those, I was going to consider myself a great gardener :-).

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  5. Wow how great you have so many roses bringing you flowers at this time of the year. The colors are fantastic and make me happy.
    Have a nice evening
    Marijke

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  6. I love your miniature rose, Sweet Chariot. And it's flowering in January as well. Brilliant.

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  7. Love those sweet little blooms of Sweet Chariot! And the color, too. Very pretty. I have often wondered about Tea roses blooming through the winter. I hear of it, but no such luck here. I bet if yours was in more light, it might bloom through winter. But you have so many roses blooming anyway! You are lucky to live in such a mild climate, although it must be hard to prune off the blooms.

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  8. I don't think you are looking at a garden full of sticks, it looks like a garden full of blooms to me! That Sweet Chariot looks really lovely, I have wanted it for a long time... I like my AHG/Soncy/Amazone, whatever it is, but it does get a lot of mildew. I hope yours is not as sickly as mine. Did you get rid of your Icebergs??

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  9. KL, that is very kind of you to say! I am sure you can have plenty of lovely roses, too, but maybe not in January because of your climate zone!

    Marijke, yes, I consider it a blessing to have roses at this time of the year. I am glad that you like the colors and that they brought you some happy feelings.

    Crystal, 'Sweet Chariot' seems to be a very good, disease free rose for me so far. I am wondering if it is available in the UK, too. If so maybe you are interested in getting it for you as well?

    Holley, I am happy you are another fan of 'Sweet Chariot' :-)! Perhaps it is just a myth that Tea roses are blooming through the winter? I have a few other Teas growing in more sun light, too, and non of them are blooming. I need to see proof :-)!

    Masha, so nice to get comment from you! 'Sweet Chariot' is indeed a very lovely rose so far and I am fairly certain that you would enjoy the strong fragrance. I am happy to try to root a cutting for you, when the rose is a little bit bigger, if you would like me to.
    Oh nooo..., that is not a good sign that your AHG is mildewing a lot. This year will tell if mine can be reasonable healthy here or not.
    Yep, I did get rid of the two Iceberg roses already. And now I am sobbing, silly me. At least I didn't discard them and they went to a new home and made someone else happy!

    Christina

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  10. How wonderful to have roses in January. Sweet Chariot is most definitely my favorite of the bunch. Thank you for sharing.

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  11. Great blog. They're all so lovely. I like the Sweet Chariot roses.

    I grew up in a house with a front yard. We had a few different rose bushes. One was fuschia red color, and it always gave the most beautiful rose scent. I haven't been able to find what the rose is. I don't know where to look [there's so many out there]. I'm always searching for it.

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  12. Mario, welcome to my blog and thanks for leaving a comment! 'Sweet Chariot' seems to be a favorite of many of the commenters and rightly so!

    a.w., I would like to welcome you on my blog as well! 'Sweet Chariot' really seems to have a fan club here :-)! As far as I am aware, that rose is not a well known one. It would be nice if more people would recognize and grow it.
    Regarding your search for a specific rose. I know it can be a daunting task. It can help to narrow the search down to think about at what time you were seeing this rose. Many Roses were planted around the time when they were introduced and became popular. So you could look up which roses of the color that you are searching for were introduced at the time frame you were noticing this rose in your childhood. I also would consult with a Rosarian of your local Rose Society. They might be able to help you! Good luck finding your special rose!

    Christina

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  13. Roses in January for you would translate to roses in July for me in Australia - that would be something! None of my roses will flower in winter here, so I am envious!

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  14. Hi Christina! I also like Sweet Chariot. I haven't heard about it before. Love its color! Thank you for your comment on my accessories post! I can share one tip how to get a high class statuary or stone accessory: Ask relatives and friends for gift certificates to your favorite place! My DH, my sister and a girlfriend gave me several for X-mas and my B-day, I combined them and was able to get several nice pieces. Good luck!

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  15. Very nice roses. I rather miss mine right now. There are just one or two blooming because I was more organized about getting through pruning this year. But I am able to enjoy yours via the internet! 'Mrs. B. R. Cant' has been a good non-mildewing Tea here, but it does get huge. I like your 'Sweet Chariot' very much. So pretty in that blue pot.

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  16. Lyn, nice to see a comment from you, again! I understand, I would be envious, too, of anybody, who can have roses at a season, when I can't ;-)! I don't know if you are warm enough for Tea roses, but if you are, maybe they would flower for you through the winter. At least a little bit!

    Hi Tatyana, I could see 'Sweet Chariot' in your garden, too! I think it looks very nice in a container, even though it needs to be a bigger one that I have given it. Here the foliage is completely healthy. I think, despite the delicate appearance of the flowers it is a very tough rose. Thanks for the tip, how to get a nice statuary. I will keep it in mind and tell my folks :-)!

    Hoovb, thanks for your comment! I miss all the roses in my garden that are not blooming right now, too (rose nuts, you know!). I admire that you got all your pruning done early this year, that is the right thing to do. I am still not done pruning my roses yet, which is way late for Southern California and will lead to a delayed spring flush in some of my roses, but unfortunately I just can't garden as much anymore as I was able to. Thank you very much for your tip about 'Mrs. B. R. Cant'. I will keep her in mind if I ever decide to go for another Tea rose. I have heard good things about this rose before and would so love to see a mature specimen in person.

    Christina

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  17. How wonderful to have roses blooming in winter! They're all beautiful! I'm looking forward to more rose scent in my garden with the new varieties I added. :o)

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  18. Casa Mariposa, thanks for your comment! I am grateful every day for the few rose flowers that I still have in my garden. We had unusual warm weather here and the pruned roses are leaving out like crazy. So it won't be too long anymore until I have spring blooms! I can't wait to see the new rose varieties in your garden!

    Christina

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