September Roses

Something great happened, it has rained in September! For the ones of you not familiar with the climate here let me say, that rain at this time of the year is really unusual for Southern California. The dust got washed off my roses, they took a deep sip of the refreshing rain water and burst open into blooms. So yes, the rain drops that you see on the roses in this post are not from man made artificial watering.

'Lavender Crystal' is with no doubt my favorite Miniature Rose. And the photo above, I believe, is my best shot from the ones that I took last month.

Here is 'Lavender Crystal' on a dry sunny day. No matter what the weather conditions are, the rose always produces an outstanding lavender color. 

'Captain Christy' is a rose that I love, too, but it continues to be a very weak grower. It may need to be grafted on a more vigorous rootstock to be successful in my garden.

'Stephan's Big Purple' certainly enjoyed the hot weather that we were still having in September. 

'Bewitched' is another Hybrid Tea rose that really seems to like the heat of Southern California.

The reliable 'Pope John Paul II', always good for stunning white blooms.

'Belinda's Dreams' is struggling a bit in the location where I planted it. I placed it very close to a Queen Palm and the rose doesn't seem to be quite vigorous enough to put up with the root competition of the palm. But when it blooms, it is certainly beautiful.

The Tea Rose 'Georgetown Tea' stopped flowering completely during the heat of summer, but started again to bloom in September. If I am lucky and we get a good El Nino this year the rose might be blooming throughout the winter. 

'Auckland Metro' is another very reliable Hybrid Tea rose for me. I think her blooms are stunning, too. I particular like the warm light yellow glow that the rose has in the center of the blooms.




Another shot of 'Auckland Metro'.

'Pink Pet' is outdoing itself this year.

I love how it is growing into the obelisk and starts to flirt with the hummingbird. 

'Pink Pet' grows in dappled shade from a nearby Pygmy Date Palm and seem to really like that.

'Pierre de Ronsard' was gearing up for its third flush of the year by the end of September.

Raindrops look always so romantic on roses, don't you think?

'Reine des Violettes' also produced its third flush of the year. It was just a mediocre one, but definitively better than none.

My favorite Tea Rose 'Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux'.

In parts the front yard almost looked like in spring last month. This photo shows 'Old Fashioned Girl' in the foreground, 'Pink Pet' in the middle and 'Climbing Iceberg' in the background.

The tireless 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' doing what she does best: Blooming!

I am starting to worry a little bit about this rose, though. Since about two years it hasn't produced any new basal canes, which means the rose is not renewing itself. Old basal canes die, but they are not replaced by new ones. 

I hope that this lovely Lady is not blooming herself to death. 

'The Prince', always good for a star photo. 

'Marie Pavie' is getting a light pink hue, which indicates that autumn and with that cooler temperatures are close.

I led you go with this photo of 'White Meidiland'. This rose also grows predominately in dappled shade and seem to tolerate that. I love how the light plays with the rose in this image.

After having stopped the monthly rose posts over the summer, I hope that I am able to pick them up again and show you what roses are flowering in my garden each month even throughout autumn and winter. One of the great joys of rose growing here in Southern California is, that with a little bit of planning and choosing the right varieties, you can have roses blooming throughout the whole year.

Wishing everyone a fabulous week!

See you in the garden!

Christina

Summer Roses

Work is still getting the better part of me, but I wanted to pop in with a quick post about roses that have bloomed this summer for me. Despite the scorching dry heat that we are having here in San Diego inland at this time of the year, some roses produced very lovely blooms in my garden.

'The Prince' outdid himself, again. This little casual arrangement brought so much joy to my heart.

'Auckland Metro' also delivered some outstandingly beautiful blooms...

...despite the adverse conditions of summer.

I am still fascinated by the lovely blooms of 'Lavender Crystal'.

This rose is planted in a very difficult spot, but is still able to gift me with its pretty blooms.

'Moonstone was doing great so far this summer.

This rose really loves the heat.... 

...and even needs it to bloom well.

'Yolande d'Aragon' surprised me with a decent second flush this year.

The fragrance of this rose is out of this world.

Another rose that flourishes in the heat is 'Pope John Paul II'. 

The only red rose in my garden: 'Mister Lincoln'.

This is 'Climbing Devoniensis', a Tea Rose. It is a shame that it is still growing in a two gallon container and hasn't made its way into the ground, yet.

'Chandos Beauty' another rose that seem to like the heat of summer.

'Reine des Violettes' is one of my favorite roses in the garden.

This year the second flush was great for the first time that the rose is in the ground.

It seemed to be mature enough now that its ability to rebloom has increased.

To my eye the blooms of this rose are absolutely lovely, the straggly bush itself is another story, though. But nobody is perfect, right?

This is 'Captain Christy'. I am pampering this beauty in a container, but it is still not decided if this rose will be able to live in my garden.

It has very little vigor and even though it is producing blooms from time to time the little bush itself hasn't grown in size.

Hope you have enjoyed this post and my roses brought a smile to your face as they did to mine.

See you in the garden!

Christina

May Roses

Powdery mildew and rose rust continued to be a serious problem for many of my roses in May. Rust was particularly strong in comparison to previous years, but despite that, most of the roses soldiered on and flowered beautifully.

'Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux', a Tea Rose, was my personal favorite last month. I just love the soft pink color and the elegant blooms with the edges of the petals reflexing backwards.

'Charles Darwin' stayed very healthy despite the high disease pressure.

A rose that makes a rare appearance on my blog is 'Stephen's Big Purple', a Hybrid Tea rose, with huge blooms. The plant is still growing in a two gallon pot and that might be one reason why it is not blooming that often. For my taste the color is a little bit too bright and rather a dark pink than a purple as the name promises. If I ever plant it out into the ground, I definitively need "to tone the color down" by companion plants. 

'Belinda's Dream' is supposed to do well in hot and dry climates and it does in my garden. It is planted very close to a big 'Queen Palm' and I assume for that reason is not as vigorous as expected.

Here is another shot of 'Belinda's Dream'. I like the particular pink color of this rose very much.

'Marie Pavie', as usual, is outdoing itself with flowering.

'Our Lady of Guadalupe' is also hard to beat in terms of flower power.

In my opinion the silvery pink color is very pretty.

'Reine des Violettes' at her best! This rose has a very lovely fragrance as well, fitting for an Old Garden Rose.

'Georgetown Tea', as the name indicates a Tea Rose, has a beautiful veining on the petals. Unfortunately, the rose blooms fry very easily when it is hot in San Diego and a whole flush can be ruined within hours on hot days.

'Auckland Metro' continues to be a good rose in my garden, but even though the bush normally has been very healthy, this year it also got affected by rose rust.

The rose was still blooming strongly despite the disease present on the leaves.

'Heritage' was one of the worst mildewers and rusters! If the blooms weren't so beautiful...

...I would have discarded the rose by now, already.

The blooms of 'The Prince' continue to fascinate me with their dark red captivating color and their strong "Old Garden Rose" fragrance.

The bush itself (here you can see it in my front yard in the middle of the photo) is less delightful, though. The plant is tall and has a narrow silhouette, not necessarily a pleasing bush form to the eye. The rose also suffers badly from powdery mildew in my garden and seemed to be weakened by the fungal infection.

By the way, do you see my violet gladiolus behind 'The Prince'? They have been outstanding this year and I really like how they back up 'The Prince' and fit in with the blue color scheme of the front yard.

The flowers of 'The Prince' are one of a kind, no matter what the flaws of the bush might be, they are stunningly beautiful.

I am finishing this post with a photo of 'Sweetness', a Grandiflora, photographed under gray skies. The light brought out the clear lavender color of this rose perfectly that day. 

Wishing you wonderful last days of spring!

See you in the garden!

Christina