Saturday, March 8, 2014

February Roses

Since my last post the weeks have flown by as usual. I wanted to blog about what has happened in the garden in general this winter, but now it is already more than time for my traditional monthly post about which roses have been blooming in the previous month.

February was an odd month for my roses. Hardly any were flowering, because I didn't take good care of most the ones in containers and the ones in the ground were all freshly pruned. I had started to prune the roses around the 15th of December last year and was done with it by the 15th of February.

Normally in February I get the majority of my rose blooms from roses growing in containers. The soil in a container is much warmer than the soil in the ground, especially when the rose is growing in a black plastic pot. That promotes it to grow faster and bloom even in the middle of winter, when they are taken good care of, which means being fertilized and watered.

As I said already, this winter I wasn't able to look after all my roses in containers properly, especially the ones waiting in the pot ghetto to be planted, but the few roses growing in containers that I was able to look after and that were growing well got pruned a second time by a rat. To my big surprise the new canes, leaves, buds, and flowers have been irresistible to the rat as well as new basal growth on the roses planted in the ground. The damage it did was quite substantial. I didn't know up to this point that rats are rose connoisseurs. Do you ever had rats eating your roses, too? So frustrating! Normally, February is the month with the least rose blooms in the cycle of a year, but for the reasons mentioned above there were even less than usual roses flowering last month.

Anyway, here are a few photos from roses that despite all the odds that were against them, still made it to flower in my garden in February.


First up is 'Chandos Beauty', a Hybrid Tea rose, which is a new one for me. Although I have her quite a while growing from a band to a size that fits into a two gallon container this rose had never flowered for me so far. So I was anxiously waiting to see the first bloom. It was planted into the ground last January and the flower on the photo above is the very first that it ever gave to me. Isn't it beautiful? I am completely smitten!



Here is the bloom at an earlier stage.



And here is another one of 'Chandos Beauty' in the bud stage. The photo was taken after it finally rained last week on Friday.



This is a shot of the whole rose bush. You can see how small it still is, but it is healthy and has started to actively grow. It also has set quite a few buds already. I have a gut feeling that this could become a very good rose in my garden. 



Above is pictured a bloom of 'Madame Alfred Carriere', a Tea-Noisette rose, that just starts to open. I love the subtle coloration of it.



Here is another flower of the same rose that is a little more open. We planted 'Madame Alfred Carriere' into the ground last July. She is growing vigorously and decided to start to flower in December and has continued ever since. There are not many blooms on this rose, yet, but I believe that she is still settling in and probably putting her main energy into producing roots.



One last shot of the same rose. Even though it is supposed to be a tough drought tolerant rose, the blooms are very delicate and have an ethereal beauty, which really speaks to me.



My most floriferous rose in February was 'Georgetown Tea, a Tea rose.



She has a tendency to hide her flowers in the foliage, which I find quite charming.



No bloom is the same and they can vary quite a bit in color from very pale light pink to a more intense cool pink mainly depending on the temperatures.



Unfortunately this rose gets powdery mildew on and off in my garden and at times it is really bothersome.



I have tried a few other Tea roses and many of them had this problem in my yard, which is too bad, since this is such a beautiful class of roses. 



'Vi's Violet', a Miniature rose continues to blooms since January. The color of the flowers can be a very clear lavender...



...or fade to a pink lavender. This rose continues to have mild problems with blackspot in my garden. I am always astonished about that, since we don't have high blackspot pressure here in Southern California and only very few roses get it.



'Belinda's Dream', a Shrub rose planted in December last year. The blooms are very full and have a delightful medium pink color.



Unfortunately earwigs like this rose very much, that is why it has a lot of small holes in the petals. I certainly hope that this gets better over time. 



Here is a full bush shot of 'Belinda's Dream'. Since we planted her, the rose has not been growing too much in size, but is rather blooming her heart out. For such a young rose she has set exceptionally many buds.



The next contender is 'Auckland Metro', a Hybrid Tea rose with beautiful cream colored blooms and a pleasant fragrance.



I got my 'Auckland Metro' as a band. Until this morning it was residing in a five gallon container and was big enough to be planted in the ground, which my husband and I did today. It went into the 'White Garden Bed' replacing a 'Climbing Iceberg' rose.



To my surprise I found a cluster of flowers hidden deep in the foliage of 'Grandmother's Hat'. It feels like I just pruned this rose and now it has already started to bloom again. Of course, I am not complaining! 'Grandmother's Hat' is the third year in the ground and has grown very vigorously after pruning and I expect a wonderful spring flush from her. 



The last rose that I would like to show you is 'Pierre de Ronsard' also know under the name 'Eden'. This is the very first flower that I got from it this year. 



The same bloom a little more open...



...and in the fully open state.



This is an image of the full bush. 'Pierre de Ronsard' is a climbing rose, but the canes are sturdy enough that it can be grown as a free standing shrub without any support. My rose is approximately five years in the ground and has put on a good size. It grows in a bed that is ridiculously narrow, but when sufficiently watered and fertilized it does well, as you can see. It is not so apparent in the photo, but the rose is loaded with buds and I think it will produce a glorious spring flush. This was the first rose that I pruned this winter season on the 15th of December. Only three month later it is ready to bloom again. Roses never cease to amaze me here in Southern California!

Hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I did putting it together. Can't wait for the spring flush of the roses! I am sure next month many more roses will be blooming and some already in abundance, since the winter has been so warm here and everything is very early this year.

See you in the garden!

Christina



36 comments:

  1. What a lot of roseflowers Christina. I am jealouse (positive way ofcourse). I can't wait to see your next post.
    Have a wonderful day.

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    1. Marijke, wishing you that your roses start to bloom soon again for you as well, so that you don't need to be jealous anymore ;-)! I hope I can fulfill your expectations regarding my next monthly rose post. But if all goes well there should be many more roses flowering!

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  2. Chandos Beauty is gorgeous! And I love the color of Auckland Metro. Actually, all your roses are lovely. I've probably said this before, but it must be heaven to have roses blooming all year!

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    1. Holley, 'Chandos Beauty' and 'Auckland Metro' are both relatively new roses for me and I like them a lot so far. Sometimes all you need is too plant a new rose to bring some joy into your life :-)! At least that is the case for me, but I can imagine that it would work for you, too :-)! It has not gotten old for me that roses are able to bloom in San Diego through the winter time.

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  3. Liebe Christina,
    wunderschöne Rosen hast Du! Am besten gefällt mir die Eden im geöffneten Zustand - ich liebe diese gefüllten Sorten ganz besonders, aber schön sind alle Rosen.
    Ich freue mich schon auf weitere Bilder,
    liebe Grüsse und einen schönen Sonntag,
    Ingrid

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    1. Ingrid, thanks, 'Pierre de Ronsard'/'Eden' is also one of my most favorite roses. It is a modern rose, but it resembles the Old Garden Roses in terms of the bloom form, which is very appealing to me. I intend to post many photos from the upcoming spring flush!

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  4. Liebe Christina,
    so viele wunderschöne Rosen hast du in deinem Garten!
    Hast du sie mal gezählt? Die Blütenbilder sind so herrlich!
    Da könnte ich mir glatt welche von in den Garten pflanzen,
    hätte ich bloß mehr Platz :-))
    Ganz viele liebe sonnige Frühlingsgrüße
    sendet dir Urte

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    1. Urte, thanks for your kind words, actually I haven't counted my roses for a long time. I refuse to do it, because I would feel bad, if I really would find out how many are waiting in 5 gallon containers in the pot ghetto to be planted into the ground ;-).

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  5. It must be really nice to have roses bloom in February! Mine have just started making leaves! Chandos Beauty is a splendor, It looks perfect! Is it me or you love white flowers? I have seen a lot of white in your garden!

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    1. Adriana, yes, it is wonderful to have roses blooming at the end of winter! I have a special affinity for the color white in general, but it gets stronger and stronger in the garden. I just thought a few days ago that I would enjoy to have a completely white garden. But for now I will work on my 'White Garden Bed'. It needs some more white flowering perennials.

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  6. Your beautiful collection of roses is astounding. I love them all. What a joy they must be to see for real.

    May your roses give you many blooms in the coming months.

    Happy Spring ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Lorraine, thanks, I have to say that the roses always look better in reality than on my photos. Somehow I am never able to capture their full beauty. I wish you could visit and see them in person!

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  7. So beautiful, I can smell the roses!
    Enjoy your day! Anne-Marie

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    1. Anne-Marie, thanks, the fragrance of a rose is as precious to me as the rose itself! It can be so delightful!

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  8. Nice blooms. I love roses but most aren't suited to Tropical climates. I have 'Belinda's Dream' and the small 'Sunrosa' shrub roses red, yellow and soft pink. I am hoping to add more to my collection soon.

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    1. Mystic Dreamer, yeah, that is too bad that most roses don't like tropical climates. How exciting that you have 'Belinda's Dream' as well. I would love to know how this rose is doing for you. There are some good rose breeders in India, maybe there creations do better in hot and humid climate? Have you looked into their roses?

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  9. Beautiful, just beautiful. I have a rose that is very similar to your Vi's Violet rose. I don't know if it is the same variety (it's 20 years old and we forgot it's name ) but it's my first and my favorite rose.

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    1. Leanan, thank you very much for your kind words! 'Vi's Violet' was bred in 1991 by Ralph S. Moore. So technically speaking your rose could be 'Vi's Violet'.

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  10. Marvellous again, Christina ! You have roses all year long, that's amazing. Bravo !

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    1. Dani, thanks, being able to grow roses all year long is certainly a bonus of living in Southern California!

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  11. Lovely photos, as always, of your roses. Chandos Beauty is a beauty, too - what a wonderful surprise for you! My roses are still are very long way from flowering, just some tiny buds and leaves showing at the moment. And my rose-pest problem is rabbits, so everything has to be behind wire, unfortunately.

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    1. Wendy, 'Chandos Beauty' is indeed a beautiful surprise! When I ordered that rose I had just read about it on the internet but never seen it in person and it looks as if it is a winner.
      Rabbits can be pretty destructive in my garden, too, but the backyard is well fenced in and so far, fingers crossed, that kept them out of it. In the front yard, which is completely open to them, I spray a rabbit repellent, which contains coyote pee and to my own astonishment it works.

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  12. Très jolie ta collection de roses . Toutes ces belles sont agréablement vêtues.Je suis aussi sous le charme de Chando Beauty, du bouton à la rose épanouie, ton rosier est remarquable. J'apprécie énormément la couleur de la rose de vi violet, une teinte agréable pour une rose.
    belle journée jocelyne

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    1. Jocelyne, I agree the coloration of 'Chandos Beauty' is remarkable. I am so happy that I bought this rose :-)!
      Lavender colored roses are my favorites and 'Vi's Violet' can be an enchanting very pure clear lavender. Just lovely!

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  13. Naughty rats but hooray for those that managed to bloom in February! I was particularly taken by Chandos Beauty, glad to see that it has finally rewarde you with a bloom, more should come in the years to follow :)

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    1. Mark and Gaz, the rat is not having fun anymore in my garden, we lured it with peanut butter into a life trap and now it is released into an open space area far away. I can't wait to see the next blooms of 'Chandos Beauty'. Hope there will be plenty!

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  14. Christina, It's amazing that you have so many roses in bloom already. The rose bloom time here usually begins in April with full bloom in May. But this year may be earlier because of the warm winter. All of your roses are beautiful, but Chandro's Beauty is really a beauty! I didn't know that about rats, although I know deer reaaly like roses. Roses must have a very good flavor!

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    1. Dorothy, thanks, usually the roses here begin blooming around the end of March with the spring flush peaking in the second week of April. But through the warm winter things are definitively earlier than normal.
      I was also very surprised to find out that rats are fond of roses! If we hadn't catch the rat nibbling on the roses with a motion video camera, it would have never occurred to me.

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  15. Your roses always knock my socks off...they are all beautiful in their own unique way! The forms and colors! Oh my! I have to get roses in this year but am not sure which way to go?!?! (i have knock outs and that is it) I was really considering doing a climbing rose but I am not sure yet. You have a wonderful week friend! Your roses are always such a treat to see and such an inspiration! Nicole xoxo

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  16. Beautiful beautiful beautiful - I bought three more roses last week so am hoping for a garden full of fragrance and beauty - your rose posts inspired me.

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  17. The roses you did get are gorgeous! Chandos Beauty is as lovely in bud as it is in flower.

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  18. Hi there, absolutely stunning roses. I'm just stopping by to say how delightful your blog is. Thanks so much for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris
    http://chelencarter-retiredandlovingit.blogspot.ca/

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  19. Hi Christina,
    Oh wow.... so so much gorgeousness! I have had roses on the brain all day, so this is just what I needed! Lovely selections, and your photos captured them so beautifully!
    Enjoy that CA sun!
    Hugs,
    Bella

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  20. Hi Christina, not sure how I missed this post, but I must have – and my favourite flowers too!
    Your roses are pruned by a rat and my roses are eaten by squirrels – what will be the next?! I have found a peace offering for the squirrel, I have bought sunflower seeds and hung it up on the fence, right in front of the roses so it will get to the seeds before it can reach the roses. It is working for now, but one part of the ‘Crimson Cascade’ is completely ripped of the new shoots….

    'Chandos Beauty' is a real beauty! Just like a modern rose should look like. And I absolutely loved 'Auckland Metro', wish I could get it over here but it is not for sale in UK. Thanks for the tour, loved them all :-)

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  21. Thank you,I enjoy jour roses !
    LG Brigitte

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  22. beautiful! I was sure to take care of my roses through the winter, fertilize, cut back...boy...sure makes a difference when Spring comes around
    XO

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