Wednesday, December 12, 2012

November Roses

I can't believe that another month has passed since my last blog entry. My life continued to be very busy and another trip, this time a private one to Germany to visit my eighty year old mom, left no time for blogging. It was so nice to see her, but unfortunately the whole time I was there I had a nasty cold, which was quite a bit of a drawback, since I had to rest a lot and couldn't do too much.

Since yesterday night I am back home and enjoy the mild Southern California autumn temperatures in comparison to the freezing cold in Germany. I hope that with the year coming to an end the pace of my life will become a little slower, leaving me with more time to post and also to stop by my favorite blogs and read about what is going on in other people's gardens and life.

As it has become a habit on my blog I will report in this post again about my roses from the previous month. In November the rose season was certainly winding down here in Southern California and in general the quality of the blooms wasn't that great anymore, but some rose bushes still continued to give occasionally very good blooms. Here are a few pretties from last month:



'Nimbus' has to come first in the post, since it was my very favorite rose in November.



The color is so unusual, unlike any other of my roses and even unlike any rose that I have ever seen in person. I would describe it as a mix between a smokey rose pink, brown, mauve and lavender. It is not stable but varies with the weather, which I find adds to the charm of this rose. Who doesn't like a surprise?



Unfortunately 'Nimbus' mildews like many other roses in the lavender/mauve color range, but not too bad so far and only under certain weather conditions. I hate mildew and I am slowly getting rid of roses that reliable show this fungal disease in my garden, but this one I will keep because it is so special. I even caught myself thinking about spraying it (organically of course!), which is really unusual for me, since I am a convinced no-spray gardener up to now.



This is the last bloom of 'Halloween' for this year. The rose flower is much less orange than when the temperatures are warmer and I like the more subtle coloration very much.



The flowers of the Hybrid Tea rose 'Sweetness' showed almost an ash-gray lavender in November and I think the color is to die for.




 Here is another photo of  'Sweetness'.



'Pretty Jessica' is producing reliably beautiful blooms in a very difficult and shady location in my front yard. I had a gardener trim yellow fronds of our Queen Anne Palms and one crashed right into this poor rose and broke two new strong basal canes with flower sprays. It was really upsetting! But the rose continued to bloom and hopefully will recover from this accident. 




I finally have faced the reality that I have too many roses in my pot ghetto to ever have the chance to get them planted in our garden. Our lot is way too small and on top of that in Southern California the roses get really big and therefore you have to give them space. So as hard as it is for me I decided to part from some of the roses that are still waiting in containers. This is one of them, 'Madame Melanie Willermoz', a relatively rare Tea rose. She went with a friend of a friend, who seems to love roses and plants in general and I hope that this rose will grow into a beautiful rose bush in her garden.



An open spray of 'Pink Pet'. I wasn't sure if I like this rose or not, but I have to say it has really grown on me. It is planted in a very difficult area in the front yard and blooming its heart out. No disease whatsoever on the foliage. Could become a winner in my garden!




This is 'Auckland Metro', a cream Hybrid Tea rose bred by Samuel Darragh McGredy (1987) in New Zealand, which I believe I have not shown on my blog, yet. For a Hybrid Tea rose it is remarkably healthy so far and producing very big flowers and in a nice light color. As far as I recall there is a pleasant fragrance to it, too.




'Auckland Metro', here you can see a bloom in a more open state, is another rose waiting in my pot ghetto, but for this one I have already thought of a space in the garden. It will replace one of the 'Climbing Iceberg' roses by the pool. I am really looking forward figuring out what it is able to do once it is planted into the ground.



This small plonk contained just three blooms of 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh'. It was giving me a lot of pleasure indoors.



'Charles Darwin' gifted me with a humongous soft yellow bloom. The two rose bushes of this variety that I own don't produce rose flushes at this time of the year anymore, only an occasional bloom here and there. But to make up for that these very few blooms are truly outstanding!



I can't praise 'Pope John Paul II' enough in my garden. He was giving me another full flush of rose blooms in November and the quality of the flowers was still exceptional like these two photos prove.



Since we don't have any snow where I live, I love white roses in autumn and winter because at least the color is reminding me of it. Kind of the California take on a white Christmas!

Talking about Christmas, I am wishing you all a lovely Christmas season. Hope you are able to find some down time to enjoy candles, tea, Christmas cookies, gift wrapping and what ever pleasant things you associate with this time of the year.

See you in the garden!

Christina



20 comments:

  1. Christina, You have an amazing assortment of roses, and each and every one is beautiful. I especially like your 'Charles Rennie Macintosh'. Those blooms look so romantic! Wishing you a happy Christmas!

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  2. Oh my gosh Christina ~ I am in love with two that I saw here today.

    Nimbus & Sweetness latched onto my heart.

    The rest our beautiful too, you have such a wonderful collection. I have pink pet too and it is a sweetheart of a rose.

    Hope you are feeling much better.

    May your holidays be filled with love, joy and peace.

    Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

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  3. Life does gets busy at times but hopefully next year will be much calmer for you. As usual you have a lovely collection of blooms in your garden, lovely roses!

    Advanced Happy Christmas to you and your family :)

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  4. Welcome back Christina ! Hope you are well now. A trip in Germany in december is a challenge for somebody who lives in California ... Your mother must enjoyed your visit :)
    And now, the roses ... they are sooo beautiful. I love Nimbus for the strange but romantic colour and Pink Pet for those nice bouquets of small gorgeous flowers. An then, Charles Rennie Macintosh looks marvellous ... Want them all :)
    Have a nice evening and a great weekend !

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  5. Wonderfull pictures of roses! ´Nimbus´is gorgeous in shape and color, unfortunately its not a rose in assortment where I live. ´Halloween´is beautiful
    with the light golden color and rounded shape!
    I wish you a Happy Christmas :)

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  6. Jak to miło patrzeć na piękne róże, gdy u nas wszystko pokrywa śnieg. Pozdrawiam.
    How nice to look at the beautiful roses when we all covered in snow. Yours.

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  7. Wow, it is so beautyful!
    Happy Christmas :-))

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  8. Your roses look great, and you are right, Nimbus is a very unusual one. I hope you feel better and will have a good Christmas.

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  9. All so beautiful. I love the unusual color of Nimbus. And the lavender of Sweetness is also unusual and beautiful. Your other roses are all so lovely, too. I am a bit envious of all your blooms. We have had freezing nights, and mine are dormant now, probably until March. I'm sorry that you had a bad cold when you went to visit your Mom. I hope you're better now, and that you have a very Merry Christmas!

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  10. Dorothy, 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh' has really exceeded my expectations. I am in love with those romantic blooms, too.

    Lorraine, looks like we are both fans of the lavender/mauve roses! Oh, you are growing 'Pink Pet', too?! I am wondering if it is also completely disease free in Florida.

    Mark and Gaz, I so hope that next year I am having more time to garden and to blog. I have been missing both lately.

    Dani, you are right even though I am born in Germany after living about nine years in California my body somehow has forgotten how to deal with the cold ;-)! I am always happy if someone loves and wants the roses that I am featuring in my blog. Maybe you can get yourself a Christmas present...

    Alice Eventyrland, sometimes roses are sold under different names in Europe than in the US. Have you checked HMF for other names Nimbus might be sold under? Maybe there is still a way that you can get this one in your country, too?

    Giga, how nice to see you leaving a comment on my blog again! I remember missing the roses in the winter when I was still living in Germany. On the other hand snow has its own unmatched beauty.

    Elfenrosengarten, thanks for your comment!

    paisleysummer, yup 'Nimbus' is very special, isn't it? Very original blog name, by the way!

    Masha, thanks, it seems to be the case that I feel drawn to the more unusual roses lately. I love the pink ones, don't get me wrong, but it is nice to have something a little bit different in the collection, too.

    Holley, no reason to be envious anymore, we didn't have frost, but torrential rains over night and almost the whole day today. Most rose blooms are pretty much ruined by now and will be a slimy brown mush by tomorrow.

    Thanks to all of you for your good wishes regarding my cold. It is still there but I am doing much better already. Wishing you all a lovely Holiday season and a Happy Christmas as well!

    Christina

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  11. O, your climate is so lovely warm in comparison with the freezing cold on this side of the world, but you know about it, you were in Germany. When I see your roses I long to spring and summer. Especially Nimbus and Sweetness are real treasures.

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  12. Liebe Christina,
    Hachje, ich kann nur ganz wenig Schulenglisch.
    Als ich deinen Blog, das erstmal sah, habe ich mir nur
    deine wunderbaren Bilder angesehen :-) nun merke ich
    erst, du kannst so gut deutsch :-) du hast deine Mama
    In Deutschland besucht. Bist du Deutsche?
    Na, auf jeden Fall sind deine Rosen einfach wundervoll!
    Die Sweetness und die Nimbus gefallen mir besonders.
    Es ist interessant, wie Rosen in den verschiedenen
    Klimazonen zurechtkommen. Ich wünsche dir noch eine
    Wundervolle Weihnachtszeit und hoffe du erholst dich gut :-)
    Ganz viele liebe Adventsgrüße sendet dir Urte

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  13. Hi Christina,

    I love all, of your beautyful roses!

    Merry, merry Christmas Time

    CREATINA

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  14. Hi Christina, I have to say I love the Pope John Paul rose and love the idea of a California White Christmas made of white roses! I also like "Sweetness." Hope you are feeling better soon.

    Jeannine

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  15. Janneke, being born in Germany I certainly appreciate the mild friendly climate of Southern California every single day! 'Nimbus' and 'Sweetness' are really special roses I feel, too!

    Urte, yes, I am German! Taking the comments related to this post, including yours, into consideration there seems to be a real fan club of 'Sweetness' and 'Nimbus' out there :-)! I am always fascinated by the fact too, how adaptable roses are in terms of the different climate zones. I grow some of the roses well here in San Diego, that I had grown on a roof top terrace in Germany! Wishing you a lovely Advents season as well!

    Hi Creatina, thanks for your compliment and I am wishing you Merry Christmas, too!

    Jeannine, the Pope and Sweetness are very healthy and easy to grow roses in my garden. Since you live close by I assume that they would grow well for you, too. Maybe you want to give them a try? Thanks for your good wishes regarding my cold. Unfortunately that thing is very persistent.

    Christina

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  16. Hi Christina,
    How have you been? I have been away from the blogging world for a long time due to reasons given in my blog. Ah! your rose-pictures are treat for eyes. How do you remember all these different names? Hope you will have more time to write more blog-post soon.
    KL

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  17. Hi KL, nice to see you visiting my blog, again! I am glad you like my rose pics. How do I remember the names of the roses? Well, I guess am so obsessed with roses that their names just stick to my brain (not much else though) ;-)!

    Christina

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  18. Поздравляю с Рождеством Христовым! В этот светлый праздник хочу пожелать мира и спокойствия в вашем доме, добра, взаимопонимания, достатка, любви, счастья, душевного равновесия, успехов во всех начинаниях, побольше радости, крепкого здоровья и всех благ! Пусть оправдываются все ожидания и сбудутся самые заветные мечты!

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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  19. Hi Dmitry, thanks for your many good wishes for the New Year! Merry Christmas to you and may 2013 be a wonderful year for you as well!

    Christina

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