Sunday, November 30, 2014

October Roses

It has become almost ridiculous how late I am blogging about the roses that have been blooming in my garden in the previous month, but I have been simply so busy, I couldn't get up this post earlier. So please bear with me, I hope things get better in the future.

Coming to the actual topic of this post: The roses have seen their share of ups and downs this October. We still experienced very hot days, but also some cooler ones in between. I had nearly everything in the garden from almost perfect rose blooms to fried rose flowers clinging to the bush for dear live, that you simply couldn't feel other than sorry for them. For the latter our strong hot and very dry Santa Ana Winds, that originate inland and come from the Great Basin and the Mojave Desert to Southern California, are responsible. We regularly get them at this time of the year and they are also often causing wild fires, but thankfully not this year in our area so far.



I am starting with the a perfect bloom of 'Sweetness'. The lavender colored roses have become my favorites lately and 'Sweetness' is a rose jewel in this color category in my garden.



Another rose that was flourishing in the heat was 'Auckland Metro'. I love the warm glow in the center of the rose.



The photo above shows 'Stephen's Big Purple', which also didn't seem to mind the heat.



Here is a more open bloom of the same rose. Before I bought 'Stephen's Big Purple' I had read raving reviews about it, but now I am not sure if I really like it. I had expected that the color would be much more purple, but in my garden it takes on a very bold reddish purple coloration, which is a little bit too much for my taste. Maybe underplanting it with some gray leaved and white flowering plants can tone its color somewhat down, but that remains to be seen. 



'Mary Rose' that I featured more prominently in the last monthly rose post (if you want to see it, please click here) kept soldering on.



It is astonishing to me that even though her petals are very thin, this rose can withstand the heat pretty well. 



Another rose that I am not sure about if I really like it is 'Mister Lincoln'. It is a truly good red rose here in Southern California, if you are into red roses that is.



But I have the same reservations towards this rose that I have towards 'Stephen's Big Purple'. The color at times is very bold, almost loud. It starts out as a warm-red rose, but fades to a more cool bluish-red one as the flower ages (not shown here in my photos). I have to admit that it has a fantastic fragrance. This rose is one of my mom's favorites, so there is no question that it will stay in the garden, no matter if I am completely sold on it or not.



One of the pleasures of these very hot October days, that I mentioned in the introduction to this post, were that we have been able to have breakfast in the garden very early in the morning just wearing T-shirts on one weekend. But that is not why I published this photo. It is because our breakfast table was crowned by a small bouquet of 'Frederic Mistral'. 



Close-up of the bouquet, seen in the photo prior to this one. Isn't it lovely? It still gives me incredible joy to be able to go through the garden and almost casually cut a small plonk of roses in October. This is living the California Dream for me!



Here you can see a bloom of 'Frederic Mistral' still hanging on the bush. 




But it is not all rosy. This photo shows the damage that Santa Ana Winds actually can do to roses. The blooms that you see belong to 'The Prince', usually a star of incredible beauty in my garden. These blooms are not spent, they are fried by the heat and dry winds that those Santa Ana conditions bring with them. 



Since months 'Heritage' always has some blooms flowering on the bush, even though it is planted in a less than ideal condition in way too much shade.



The flowers are so very romantic and I really do like the light shell pink subtle coloration of this rose.



Another beauty that was showing off last month was 'Nimbus'. It is a bit of an older floribunda, that was bred 1989 by Le Grice and that you don't see that often.



This rose is exhibiting a most unusual color range, anything from mauve, purple with more or less prominent brown undertones to an almost clear lavender, depending on the temperatures, light intensity and probably soil conditions. I find it a very fascinating rose, that I have come to really appreciate.



I caught 'Nimbus' one morning with all these water droplets glistening in the sun.



A quite lovely sight!



A bud of 'Moonstone'. I simply like the photo, so it made it into this post.



'Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux' is a rose that you don't get to see that often either. It loves the heat and I find it extraordiany beautiful.



Here is a shot of the same flower cluster as in the previous photo just a little bit more open. I find it very hard to catch the delicate beauty of Tea roses with my photography and have to say that the two photos just don't do 'Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux' justice. It is so much more lovely in person. 



'Irresistible', a miniature rose, puts out perfect little blooms, even though it grows in a container that is way to small for it. 



'Belinda's Dream' also produced perfect blooms of great beauty. 



The last rose that I would like to feature in this post is 'Bewitched'.



This rose is a very classic Hybrid Tea rose, with the typical elongated bud form, with a very good repeat,...



...incredible fragrance,...

 

...that also makes a wonderful cut flower. I wouldn't be without it!

Hope everyone who celebrates it had a very happy 1st Advent! It is unbelievable to me that Christmas is not that far away anymore. One good thing about it here is, that temperatures finally have come down and even though the weather is still pleasant the really hot days seem to be over. There is rain predicted in the weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please keep your fingers crossed that it is really reaching us. We need it so desperately!

See you in the garden!

Christina



23 comments:

  1. Beautiful selection! Sweetness have started the post nicely and the rest that followed are just fabulous! Glad to see that you've had those mornings that you enjoyed breakfast outside in October and hope you do get those rains this week :)

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  2. Son todas preciosas, me encantan. Besitos.

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  3. I wish you enough rain, dear Cristina ! Love your October roses :)

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  4. More beautiful roses. You are so blessed to have these in your gardens. I think of you when I am out with my roses. You are such an inspiration to me Christina.

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

    FlowerLady

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  5. Ich kann es nicht glauben - bei dir ist es Sommer, also fast. Der Tisch sieht ja so einladend aus, da wär ich jetzt gerne, während es hier nur grau ist. Deine Rosen sind wirklich wunderbar, einige habe ich sofort erkannt - die wohnten hier auch mal, bevor sie sich anders entschieden!

    Sigrun

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  6. Breakfast outdoors in October...if only!!
    Your roses are mostly looking great Cristina. It's nice to see the image of what the wind does, it helps put it into perspective. Although in my eyes, similar looking effect if they'd been kissed by frost.
    How on earth do you remember all the names of your roses, that in itself is mind boggling!

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  7. Oh, wow, ist das schön!!
    Dafür so üppig Rosen im Oktober schneiden zu können,
    würde ich sogar auch in Kalifornien leben können ;-))
    Dein Frühstücksplatz ist ein Traum und deine Rosen sowieso!
    Ganz viele liebe Adventsgrüße
    sendet dir die Urte :-)

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  8. Your roses - with the exception of poor 'Prince' - are spectacular, Christina. I seldom get one rose of that quality, much less more than a dozen. The Santa Ana winds are indeed brutal but I guess that's why they're referred to as devil winds. I hope we both get lots and lots of rain over the next 2 days!

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  9. Liebe Christin,
    deine Rosen sind ein Traum!!!
    Die lavendelfarbene........der Hammer!!! Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass
    der heiße Wind den Roser sehr zu schaffen macht!
    Darf ich fragen, wie lange du schon in den USA lebst?
    Ganz, ganz liebe Grüße Karin

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  10. Liebe Christina,
    immer wenn ich hier bin, gehe ich ungern aber beschwingt wieder in meinen grauen und jetzt schon dunklen Tag! Was sind deine Rosen noch so wundervoll und dann auch noch ein Frühstück im Garten!!! Seufzzzzzz!!!
    Toll!
    Hab eine feine Zeit
    Elisabeth

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  11. Your roses are always a treat to visit Christina! I have seen 'Auckland Metro' on several blogs, seems like a lovely rose and yes, I am into red roses so 'Mister Lincoln' was lovely. I have ‘Rob Roy’ myself, possibly one you could try if you want a red rose that stays red until the last petal drops.

    I’d love to live the California Dream, and even though gardening in London is a huge step up from where I came from in Norway, I still dream of warmer climate! But I guess all climates come with their own issues. My mother lives in Southern Spain and she doesn’t even go outside during the hottest part of the summer, she spends most of the summer indoors with the air-conditioning on. I could not live like that so the ‘middle-of-the-road climate I have here in my garden in London is possibly not so bad – even if it’s chilly outside right now with just 5 degrees C.
    I saw on ABC news that you finally got rain – possibly more than you had hoped for, I hope your garden is OK.
    Have a great week!

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  12. Hi, Christina, visiting your blog is like going to a wonderful rose show! You have an incredible variety. I could never pick a favorite, though Mary Rose stays in my mind. I like the photo of your little sitting area with a table for each chair. Do you ever publish a larger, overall view of your garden? It must be incredible with so many roses blooming!

    I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying all the best parts of the holiday season. During this special time of year, which can become so rushed, don't forget to stop and smell the roses!

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  13. Hello Christina - lovely, lovely roses you have shown us here! I can only dream of roses right now, as it is too cool. By now you would have had your rain and I have seen on the news that it was quite a lot and caused some intense flooding in areas. I hope you were spared...
    Your seating area is just wonderful and what a dream to be able to pluck some blooms to grace your table. I used to live in Tucson and know how intense the heat can be. Nature is adaptable and miraculous, even in extremes and it makes you appreciate her gifts all the more! You are a gifted gardener. I hope the rain refreshed your gardens. xo Karen

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  14. Heritage is an absolutely stunning rose! I do hope you got the rain.

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  15. It is never too late to show beautiful roses :-)
    I noticed 'Frederic Mistral' and 'Nimbus'...

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  16. Je suis agréablement surprise de voir qu'un grand nombre de tes roses résistent non seulement à la chaleur mais parviennent à affronter les vents sans perdre de leur beauté. J'ai remarqué ton petit salon très féminin avec ce ravissant bouquet de roses, des fleurs qui conservent leur beauté en vase. Je t'imagine prenant ton petit déjeuner dans ce cadre de rêve au milieu des parfums des roses. Un moment enchanteur!!...
    Belle soirée

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  17. Poor Prince got wind-fried, but your other roses are beautiful and you take marvelous pictures of them! I love the look of your breakfast tables in the garden.

    I hope you got some rain but not too much.

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  18. Ich wünsche dir wundervolle Weihnachten, wo auch immer du sie verbringen wirst! Hab eine traumhaft schöne Zeit
    Elisabeth

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  19. Such a lovely surprise to see beautiful roses! I hope the rain was a benefit to you. Thank you so much for stopping by and your kind comment. I'm so glad you enjoyed my post! Makes MY day! Merry Christmas!

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  20. These are beautiful! I will be sure to share your blog - I am enjoying browsing through it, and I am not even remotely a gardener....Many in my family are, but I believe it skipped a generation and sadly left me with a black thumb. Thank you for such a gorgeous post!

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  21. Thank you for sharing such valuable information. It's definitely going to help me in my work. Insulation

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  22. The photos you have chosen for this article are amazing Loldle

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