September Roses

I am trying to pick up my habit to blog monthly about the roses that have bloomed in my garden the previous month. So here come my rose babies that have delighted me in September.

Sadly, overall I have a feeling that I am getting less and less rose flowers over the last couple of years. I am not entirely sure why that is so but my best guess is that my roses are not fertilized enough to bloom to their full potential. So far I have been gardening entirely organically in my San Diego garden, but usually organic fertilizers are not as potent as the synthetic ones and I have not had the time to fertilize my rose on a regular schedule, which means a couple of times a year.

Therefore I have decided as an experiment, to feed them the same amount of organic fertilizer that I usually do, but in addition to that add a scoop of synthetic slow-release rose fertilizer and see if that makes a difference.

This decision was difficult for me because I am convinced that organic gardening is the best way to go when it comes to the environment, but I became so frustrated with the few rose blooms that I got lately, that I simply couldn't stand it anymore. Otherwise, my garden will continue to be no-spray and I will use the synthetic fertilizer very responsibly, meaning using as little as possible.

That being said, I hope you enjoy to take a look at my September roses!

I think rosa 'The Prince' was the most beautiful rose last month in my garden. By chance, I got lucky and for once I was able to photograph the color of this stunningly beautiful rose properly and to capture the velvety texture of the rose petals.

Rosa 'Snowbird' is relatively new to my garden, but starts to get going. The blooms have a very elegant, a little bit old-fashioned Hybrid Tea form and I am liking it more and more.

Rosa 'Pink Pet' is a very healthy, easy going rose in my garden with a cottagey appeal.

Completely the opposite of  'Pink Pet' is the ambiance of rosa 'Neptune'. Very elegant, a diva that commands respect. I love the fact that you can find so much diversity among the roses. There truly is a rose for everyone!

Even though very susceptible to powdery mildew and even black spot, rosa 'Nimbus' has won his place in my heart because of the absolutely unique color. The rose is very willing to bloom and the color is constantly changing but always in the fascinating mauve, tan, brown color range.  

As usual, rosa 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' is blooming her head off, but even though it is a very floriferous pretty rose, I have decided to take my last specimen out. I just don't want to put up with its very regular infestations of powdery mildew anymore and believe that I can find a healthier floribunda rose in the light pink color range. 

Rosa 'Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux' is my most favorite Tea Rose. I think it is also one of the most elegant roses in this class. Look at the beautiful shape of the buds with the unfurling outer petals. Just magical!

Rosa 'Pope John Paul II' is almost an old standby in my garden. The blooms are very pretty, it gives me four to five good flushes a year and the fragrance is to die for. I wouldn't want to be without it!

The classic Hybrid Tea rose bud of 'Bewitched' certainly is enchanting. When you see this rose, you can understand why most people favor Hybrid Tea roses above all other rose classes.

A second flower of 'Bewitched', this time a little bit more open. 

Another diva in my garden, rosa 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'. This rose has died on me once already and this specimen was also very close to death at least two times. But it survived so far and the extraordinary beauty of the blooms keeps me trying to get this rose established in my garden.

I end this post with a look into the heart of 'Nimbus'. The color gets me every time. So special!

Are you still able to enjoy roses from your garden? Do you have a favorite rose right now?

I just want to mention, that even though I can't find the time to blog very often, I am posting almost daily on Instagram. If you want to take a peek, just click on the link. I would be happy to meet you there! 

Wishing everyone a nice rest of the week and a very enjoyable weekend! 

Warm regards, 

Christina

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July Roses

Sorry for coming in a bit late with my monthly post about the most beautiful roses that have been blooming in my garden, but here it finally is.

July is traditionally a tough month for the roses to bloom well here in San Diego inland, since most of the time it is way too hot for them to be comfortable. But despite the seasonal challenge and my neglect of not fertilizing the roses since spring, I got plenty of wonderful blooms. There were many more, than I show here in this post, but unfortunately I couldn't make the time to photograph them all. Lily, our little Doberman puppy girl, still keeps me pretty occupied!

Rosa 'Charles Darwin', a beautiful yellow David Austin rose, was a total standout in July!

It produced the most blooms out of all my roses last month and therefore gets the honor of opening this blog post. 

What I love about this rose is that it coloration is so changeable, even though I know that this trait drives some other people crazy.

But whatever its color is, it is never garish like some other yellow roses can be. Most of the time it is a muted warm yellow in my garden with hints of apricot fading to a very light almost cream yellow. But it can be a strong saturated golden yellow or beige as well.  

In addition to the beautiful coloration this rose has a warm fruity fragrance that I love very much. 

The blooms are very full and still have a decent size despite the heat. This is one of the few rose varieties in my garden that I have two specimen of, because it is such an outstanding rose. I enjoy them very much!

The reliable, very floriferous rosa 'Our Lady of Guadalupe'. If only this rose wouldn't be so powdery mildew ridden in my garden...

Another rose that I was very impressed with last month is 'Pretty Jessica'. I think this rose is having her best year ever. I am in love with the beautiful shade of cool pink of the rose and adore the cabbage shape of the flowers.

So far it never bloomed much in my garden, but maybe it is finally established enough to churn out a more decent amount of flowers. Fragrance is absolutely wonderful, too!

It always surprises me, that this rose is not more popular. David Austin himself, even though it is his creation, is not selling this rose anymore and I would be very interested to know why. 

Another rose that did astonishingly well in the heat of July was 'Pierre de Ronsard'. The summer flush was almost as good as the one in spring. Simply gorgeous!

The individual blooms of 'Pierre de Ronsard' are very stunning, too. All in all a wonderful rose in my garden, but it does get bugged by rose rust, if the weather conditions are right.

My husband did this shot of rosa 'Pink Pet'. It lets the bloom appear much bigger than it is in reality, but it shows how complex the small flowers of this cute, little but tough, rose really are, if you are looking closely at them. 

Rosa 'Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux' one of my most favorite Tea rose.

The Hybrid Tea rose 'Chandos Beauty' showing off her pretty blooms. I like the background in this photo. It complements the colors of 'Chandos Beauty' so well.

Zooming in on the flower spray of 'Chandos Beauty'.

Rosa 'White Meidiland' is planted in a very shady spot in my garden, where almost no other rose would do. But this one is able to flower well there and its leaves are completely healthy. So if you are looking for a rose that can take quite a bit of shade, this one might be your ticket. Just have in mind, that it has a very unique, low growing, sprawling growth habit.

The individual flower sprays are little bouquets in themselves.

Freshly cut flowers of rosa 'Mary Rose' on a very hot day. They are just plonked in a Guinness glass, to be brought indoors and arranged more carefully into a little bouquet. I never got around to take a photo of the finished bouquet, but I think this little informal plonk is worth making it on my blog.

It has been awfully hot here in the last three days (around 96 degrees F/36 degrees Celsius) and I am looking forward to the temperatures cooling down from tomorrow on, again. At least that is what they are supposed too...

I hope your summer is going well, no matter where you are!

See you in the garden!

Christina