To my surprise, in March there was still only a rose bloom opening here and there in my garden. After all the winter rains that we were having I had expected that I would get an early rose spring flush, but I was wrong.
Maybe I pruned a little late, but I believe that the main reason for the belated rose blooms is to find in the fact that I fertilized very late this year and that I didn't even get to all my roses even until now. Roses are heavy feeders and the lack of fertilizer might have prevented them from blooming as early and profusely as usual. Temperatures were relatively low as well in comparison to the previous years, so that might have been another contributing factor.
Anyhow, each rose that was opening was very well appreciated and here are some that I have captured with my camera last month.
Rosa 'Snowbird', an early Hybrid Tea rose, which I grow as an own-root is finally strutting her stuff and put out some nice blooms.
Same rose showing a more open bloom. Looks like she has the potential to be a good off-white rose in my climate.
You rarely will see a true red rose in my own garden, as a matter of fact, by now I have only two, which are both specimens of the Hybrid Tea rose 'Mister Lincoln'.
I am not a big fan of clear warm red tones, but 'Mister Lincoln' has a strong blue tint in his red which I like much better.
There are special occasions though, you know which I mean when it is nice to be able to cut a red rose from your own garden and give it to someone dear to you, so I keep the two red rose bush.
Thinking about it a bit more, my trouble with red roses is not so much the fact that I don't like them, at least the bluish red ones, but that I find them very difficult to integrate in a pleasing way into the existing color schemes in my garden.
But if you are looking for a red rose you might be very pleased with 'Mister Lincoln'. In my garden, he produces large, fat, dark red roses with an outstanding damask fragrance.
To me, his fragrance is one of its best features.
I think it is always so disappointing that when you get a red rose and you hold it up close to your nose ready to smell the wonderful rose fragrance and..., there is nothing, absolutely no fragrance to detect. This won't happen to you with this one!
Here is a bud shot of the same rose.
I love the very unique pale pink color of rosa 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', but the rose continues to be a very weak grower in my garden.
The image above shows a fully open flower of 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'.
Same bloom completely covered in water drops. I have never seen water drops clinging so densely to a rose bloom.
I realized that this year I am feeling particularly drawn to the very pale, blush pink roses. Rosa 'Old Fashioned Girl' is another good example for this color range.
Rosa 'Gruss an Aachen' is relatively new to me, but so far I like this rose very much.
She changes colors constantly depending on temperatures, sun intensity, and probably some other factors, which makes this rose quite interesting.
Here she is showing almost an apricot center.
The last rose in today's post is 'Grandmother's Hat'.
This rose was found in California and is an absolute healthy reliable gem in my garden.
It has much of the Old Garden Roses character, which I am so enchanted with and blooms very profusely. It also comes with a strong pleasing fragrance.
'Grandmother's Hat' was, after rosa 'Marie Pavie', the second rose that had started her spring flush last month in my garden.
The lesson that I learned this year is that in my garden with my soil and in my climate roses need to be fed properly and on time. It really makes a big difference in the amount and size of blooms that they are able to produce and also in the blooming time.
Thanks for stopping by today! Wishing everyone a wonderful rest of the weekend.
See you in the garden!
Warm regards,
Christina
Maybe I pruned a little late, but I believe that the main reason for the belated rose blooms is to find in the fact that I fertilized very late this year and that I didn't even get to all my roses even until now. Roses are heavy feeders and the lack of fertilizer might have prevented them from blooming as early and profusely as usual. Temperatures were relatively low as well in comparison to the previous years, so that might have been another contributing factor.
Anyhow, each rose that was opening was very well appreciated and here are some that I have captured with my camera last month.
Rosa 'Snowbird', an early Hybrid Tea rose, which I grow as an own-root is finally strutting her stuff and put out some nice blooms.
Same rose showing a more open bloom. Looks like she has the potential to be a good off-white rose in my climate.
You rarely will see a true red rose in my own garden, as a matter of fact, by now I have only two, which are both specimens of the Hybrid Tea rose 'Mister Lincoln'.
I am not a big fan of clear warm red tones, but 'Mister Lincoln' has a strong blue tint in his red which I like much better.
There are special occasions though, you know which I mean when it is nice to be able to cut a red rose from your own garden and give it to someone dear to you, so I keep the two red rose bush.
Thinking about it a bit more, my trouble with red roses is not so much the fact that I don't like them, at least the bluish red ones, but that I find them very difficult to integrate in a pleasing way into the existing color schemes in my garden.
But if you are looking for a red rose you might be very pleased with 'Mister Lincoln'. In my garden, he produces large, fat, dark red roses with an outstanding damask fragrance.
To me, his fragrance is one of its best features.
I think it is always so disappointing that when you get a red rose and you hold it up close to your nose ready to smell the wonderful rose fragrance and..., there is nothing, absolutely no fragrance to detect. This won't happen to you with this one!
All photos in this sequence are shots of the very first bloom of 'Mister Lincoln' this year. This rose is so beautiful that even I can't wait to see more blooms of him.
The next rose 'Marie Pavie', a Polyantha, is a very different kind. Don't you just love all the variety in the rose flowers?
Small, very blush buds open to clear white blooms with a strong fresh musk fragrance that wafts through the air.
I just love the delicate blooms.
Rosa 'Marie Pavie' was the first one to start her spring flush in my garden this year. You can see in the photo above that she is full of buds. Usually, this rose is very healthy, but this year she is showing some blackspot.
Rosa 'Rhodologue Jules Graveraux', my favorite Tea Rose. I think everyone can see why!
Here is a bud shot of the same rose.
Rosa 'Gruss an Aachen' is relatively new to me, but so far I like this rose very much.
She changes colors constantly depending on temperatures, sun intensity, and probably some other factors, which makes this rose quite interesting.
The next set of buds had almost red petal edges and a hint of yellow color at the base of the buds.
The main bud was opening into a light pink rose with yellow undertones in the center. There is something very special about this rose, which is hard to capture with the camera. My 'Gruss an Aachen' is still young, so as it matures I expect wonderful things to come.
The last rose in today's post is 'Grandmother's Hat'.
This rose was found in California and is an absolute healthy reliable gem in my garden.
It has much of the Old Garden Roses character, which I am so enchanted with and blooms very profusely. It also comes with a strong pleasing fragrance.
The lesson that I learned this year is that in my garden with my soil and in my climate roses need to be fed properly and on time. It really makes a big difference in the amount and size of blooms that they are able to produce and also in the blooming time.
See you in the garden!
Warm regards,
Christina
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