Friday, January 4, 2013

December Roses

Since this is my first post in 2013 I would like to start by wishing a happy, healthy New Year to all of my dear readers! May your gardens flourish and I hope you find the time to thoroughly enjoy them!

This year I decided to continue with my little blog tradition of showing you the best roses of each month from my garden.

December brought us relatively cool weather for Southern California circumstances and also quite a bit of rain in comparison to what we usually see here. That is, of course, very good for the garden and all plants, but not so much for the rose blooms themselves. Many got ruined by the rain, were balling, and ended up as a brown mush of petal substance. Not at all photogenic! Apart from that I was traveling for two weeks last month and therefore surely missed a chance to take a picture or two of roses that bloomed well.

Still, there were some flowers that I was able to catch: These are my best roses from December 2012!



This is my favorite photo from last month! It shows 'Baronne Edmond de Rothschild', a Hybrid Tea rose bred by Meilland in 1968. The rose has large full blooms with a wonderful white silvery reverse and great fragrance.



Here is another shot of 'Baronne Edmond de Rothschild'. The flower to the right is showing the white reverse very well.




The most floriferous rose and certainly one of the most beautiful was 'Madame Alfred Carriere'. I am so fond of the almost white globular blooms.




The color of 'William Shakespeare 2000' was a surprising almost clear red in the cooler weather conditions, which is not so much to my liking. I sure hope, that the blooms will turn into the darker bluish crimson red that I love as the weather warms up, again.




'Mary Rose', always has a cool pink color no matter what the season is, which I absolutely adore. I will never ever get tired of pink roses!




'Moonstone' had a whole winter flush of flowers. The blooms are huge and very pretty, but the bush itself is the sickest in my whole rose collection. It suffers so badly from rust and powdery mildew it is unbelievable. The rose is still relatively young and sometimes they become more healthy as they get established, but I think at this point that 'Moonstone' needs to be sprayed to be successfully grown in my garden. I do the opposite, I garden organically and don't spray at all and I am not sure if I want to make an exception for this rose. If only she wouldn't have so extraordinarily beautiful blooms...




'Vi's Violet' is a really lovely mauve miniature rose bred by Ralph Moore in 1991.



I have her growing in a container in a very sheltered position in front of a heat reflecting off-white wall. Besides the fact that she is blooming right now, what I really like about this rose is that it seems to stay relatively small. Many miniature roses are becoming as tall or almost as tall as regular floribundas here in Southern California. There is nothing mini about them except the size of the blooms, which makes them unsuited for growing in small containers. Luckily this one appears to be happy residing in its blue pot!



I hope, I don't bore you by posting pictures of 'Charles Darwin' over the last four months. This rose is simply blooming and blooming and blooming and that is why he is showing up frequently in the last posts. It is one of the few yellow roses that I own and I love the changeability of the color. Last month he was a pretty, warm, orange yellow. 



'Bewitched' surprised me with a perfect elongated bud on an otherwise almost leaveless bush.



After struggling with powdery mildew quite a bit in the beginning of her life in my garden 'Irresistible', another miniature rose, is doing very well now in her terracotta container. On her last blooms of the season she is showing small specks of red. Winter freckles?



'Grandmother's Hat' has certainly bloomed less over the last couple of months than I would like her to, but when she opens a bloom it is a beauty!

Hopefully 2013 will be a good year for the roses, that will bring plenty of blooms to your and my garden. I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the spring flush already!

See you in the garden!

Christina


25 comments:

  1. Happy 2013 dear Christina ~ My two favorites are Vi's Violet and Charles Darwin, and they happen to be complimentary in the color scheme of things.

    Love and hugs to you ~ Enjoy all of your beautiful roses and thank you for sharing them with us.

    FlowerLady Lorraine

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  2. Your blooms are a sight for sore winter eyes Christina!

    Happy New Year to you too and wishing you all the best for 2013!

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  3. Madame Alfred Carriere is one of my favorites, I have grown this Noisette rose in all of my gardens over the years.. Moonstone does well in my zone 7b, occasional black-spot but so worth having for the blooms. My Shakespeare 2000 did not do well for me and I agree about the color.
    Your roses and photo's are spectacular. Happy New Year!

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  4. And Happy New Year to you too. Your roses are lovely, I would like to have them all...In addition to the 11 I already have in my tiny garden! Isn't it funny how some roses have different colour depending on season and temperature? I notice that in my garden too here in London, my roses flower all year round, but not so prolific during the winter months. I sincerely hope 2013 will be a great year for roses, for us all :-)

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  5. Happy New Year to you too and best wishes for 2013.

    Lovely roses. I must be very nice to have roses blooming all year :-)

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  6. Marvellous december roses !!! Wishing you a great year in the garden, Christina !!!

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  7. Oh you are giving me a jealous fit! Lol... it is freezing here with 6 inches of snow!

    I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your post today, and more importantly your site. I do not have to time to comment as much as I'd like to on each days share. I read blogs in a reader and not on the site to comment. I appreciate you taking the time to share with us.
    I have been blogging for 4 years now and know how much dedication it takes. I wanted to share with you my new site. I think it is
    something you might enjoy. I work with my own photography and vintage scans. I also work in jewelry design, home decor and of course.... gardening.

    Here is my new site for my Vintage Inspired Artwork...http://brookekroeger.blogspot.com/

    And my original site that focuses on my own photography and projects, Creative Country Mom... My home and gardening site, where I share tutorials, crafts, decor and lots of gardening ideas.
    http://creativecountrymom.blogspot.com/

    Many blessings....Brooke
    creativecountrymom@gmail.com

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  8. Hi Lorraine, I haven't thought of planting lavender and yellow together, but now that you mention that they are complimentary colors it got me thinking. They might look terrific with each other! So far I only tried lavender roses in company with pink and white ones. Lavender and white always works, but with pink it is a gamble. Maybe yellow is a better companion color. Thanks for making me aware of that!

    Mark and Gaz, what a cute comment, thanks! You truly have a way with words!

    Graceful Gardener, how nice to know that you are also a big fan of 'Madame Alfred Carriere'. I can't wait until I get mine into the ground and she can take off! I am glad to read that 'Moonstone' does well for you in your garden, the blooms are truly a delight. Thanks for your kind compliment regarding my roses and my photography!

    Helene, thanks, I am happy that you like my roses so much that you would like to have them all :-)! Wow, I am amazed that your roses bloom through the winter in London. I would have never thought this! Even here in Southern California the ability to produce flowers is drastically reduced in winter and some roses stop to flower completely.

    Gitte, sometimes I think that my main reason to move to California was that roses have such a long blooming season here ;-)! I thoroughly enjoy having them around in the winter.

    Dani, thanks, wishing you a great garden year as well!

    Brooke, thanks for your kind words about my post and my whole blog! I also know the "comment-dilemma" and would like to comment more on other people's blogs, but unfortunately the day only has 24 hours. Your are right blogging takes dedication, but I feel I get so much back out of it. Good luck with your blogs!

    Christina

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  9. Wow...I like the "Moonstone"
    And a good 2013 from me to you..

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  10. Liebe Christina,
    Ich wünsche dir ein glückliches und gesundes neues Jahr :-)
    Blühen die Rosen eigentlich das ganze Jahr in eurem
    warmen Klima oder machen sie auch Pause? Würde mich sehr
    interessieren :-) jedenfalls sind das wieder alles so wunderschöne
    Rosenbilder!
    Ganz viele liebe Grüße Urte

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  11. I'm ready for the spring flush, too, but I don't have any roses blooming at all! I'm thrilled to see you have had quite a few roses still blooming like crazy! I love the silver reverse on Baronne Edmond de Rothschild - what a long name! And the 'freckles' on Irresistible are adorable. I can see how she got her name! I wish I had a place in my garden for Charles Darwin. I just love the color. Maybe in some future area...

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  12. They are all beautiful! But I have 'Mary Rose' and I have to say she is my all time favorite. But if I had 'Madame Alfred Carriere'
    I think she would be a close runner up! I'm going to be looking for 'Madame' at my favorite nursery! Happy New Year to you, Christina!

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  13. When I see your roses in December I long for summer especially June when in our country the roses start flowering and are at their best!

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  14. Marian, we are on the same page regarding "Moonstone" :-)! I just wish the rose wouldn't be so sickly. Maybe I should transplant her to a more sunny location!

    Urte, the roses here are slowing down substantially in the winter and most of them stop to flower completely. Even though my blog post might indicate otherwise I also only get very few rose blooms throughout the winter time.

    Holley, I knew I could count on you waiting with me for the spring flush already :-)! 'Charles Darwin' has proven to be a magnificent rose so far in my garden. He was very floriferous, the color is exquisite and the blooms last relatively long for an Austin rose on the bush and in the vase. On top of that he loves the heat, which makes him very suited for your climate. I hope you find some room for him!

    Dorothy, when 'Mary Rose' is your favorite I guess she must be doing well for you. Mine is still in a small container and I don't have much experience with her yet in my climate, but I also love that rose very much and hope she will like it in my garden soil. 'Madame Alfred Carriere' seems to be an absolutely wonderful rose, but be warned she gets huge. Hope you find her in your local nursery. I couldn't and had to order her online.

    Janneke, even with some roses blooming right now I long already for spring (April/May) when the roses are at their peak here! They are so pretty you want them around all the time :-)!

    Christina

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  15. Wish you a Happy 2013.
    Really lovely pictures of wonderful rose´s and VI´s Violet will be my favourite. Love the colour on it.

    Hugs Susanne

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  16. Rosor och Pioner, welcome to my blog! Thanks for your compliment regarding my roses and photography. I love the color on 'Vi's Violet' too and think it is really a cute little mini!

    Christina

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  17. Beautiful roses, Christina! It is hard to believe that you still have so many and they look so good... Mine are mostly done by now. I love your Baronne, I wish I could smell it! I think the winter freckles are botrytis :(.

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  18. Hi Masha, thanks, I have much less rose blooms by now than when I wrote this post, since I am pruning and have cut most of the flowers of. 'Baronne Edmond de Rothschild' seems to be a great rose in my climate. I had seen a wonderful specimen at the Huntington Garden and needed to have one for myself. The fragrance is fantastic! I have read the word botrytis, but to be honest I don't really know what it is and will look it up. It definitively sounds like something that you don't want to have in the garden.

    Christina

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  19. I love your roses. It is always good to see which roses perform well in different climates so it is never boring to see the same rose month after month - the reverse it shows what a great rose it is. Christina

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  20. Hi Christina, welcome to my blog! I am glad you like my roses! I see that we not only share the same passion for roses, but also the same first name ;-).

    Christina

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  21. Christina, what a refreshing treat! I adore your little Vi's Violet in her blue pot.
    Thanks for sharing your gorgeous roses and your lovely climate!
    Sandra

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  22. Hi Sandra, thanks for your nice comment! 'Vi's Violet' has many more blooms open right now than when I took the photo for this post. She is really such a cute little pretty rose!

    Christina

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  23. I wish we had your climat overhere Christina. How wonderful it must be to have the roses flowering all year round. Thanks for sharing this beauty's

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  24. Wow! What a wonderful series! These roses are so beautiful!
    I wish I had those in my garden!
    And what great gardens to visit you show in this blog!
    Thanks for sharing your fabulous shots!

    ***
    Happy Sunday****

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