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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February Roses

Roses were flowering sparsely in February this year, but at least a few had produced the first new bloom of the season. Other roses have set plenty of buds, but they didn't open last month. Altogether it looks like I will be getting a great first rose flush this year and it will probably start at the end of March already. Because there were only a few blooms in February, each of them was even more dear to me. Here is what I was able to capture with my camera.

'Belinda's Dream' knocked me off my feet with her lovely first bloom.

I couldn't help, but taking photos of the different stages in the development of that flower...

...and want them share it with you.

'Belinda's Dream' is classified as a Shrub rose, but to me it looks like a very fully petaled Hybrid Tea rose. 

This rose is very healthy in my garden and really easy to grow. Definitively a rose that I would recommend at least for a similar climate like mine.

As expected 'Marie Pavie' started to bloom early this year, as she did in the previous years. This rose is also super healthy in my garden.  

Here is a bush shot of 'Grandmother's Hat'. This rose is six to seven feet (180 cm - 210 cm) high and has grown into a very nice bush. The foliage is marvelous and completely clean. You can't see it on the photo, but 'Grandmother's Hat' is loaded with buds. I am looking so much forward for them to open.  

'Climbing Devoniensis' is a rose that I seldom show, but here is a rain drenched elegant bud of it.

First bud of 'Pierre de Ronsard' reaching for the sky.

Another rose with beautiful foliage in February was 'Yolande d'Aragon'. That can not always be said of this rose since sometimes it suffers from disease problems, but so far so good. 

'Madame Alfred Carriere' is the biggest rose that I have growing in my garden. After being generously fertilized it has started to bloom again and I am in love with its flowers. It is one of my all time favorite roses.

New foliage of 'Chandos Beauty'. As you can see it is also very healthy.

Last but not least a bloom of 'Souvernir de la Malmaison', one of my newly acquired baby roses. 

We had another strong storm, which unfortunately slightly damaged the foliage of a few roses, which are planted in locations very exposed to the wind, but it brought some much needed rain. I think the developing rose buds will benefit from it and I am very excited about the March blooms, which, of course, I will share with you. I would be delighted if you would come back to have a look.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

See you in the garden!

Christina

I am linking to

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden
Rose Garden Malevik

January Roses

May I present to you the first new rose bud of the year 2016? It belongs to rosa 'Bewitched' an older, tried-and-true Hybrid Tea rose, bred by Lammerts (United States 1967). The photo below was taken on January, the 31st in between rain showers. When I say new rose bud, I mean it comes from a rose that is planted into the ground and has been pruned this winter and is not part of a rose that is flowering through the winter season here, but that has not been pruned by January. Still I am cheating a little bit, since this rose was planted into the ground in October and has only been slightly shaped at that time.

I had hoped that the flower of 'Bewitched' would be fully open by the end of last month, but that obviously didn't happen. In any case it started the new rose season in my garden and is a promise of many lovely rosy things to come.

Just on a side note: Boy, did we have a storm on Sunday. I think it was the strongest storm that I have ever experienced, since I am living in California and with winds estimated to be 30 mph and gusts up to 50 mph, it was really not fun. From some roses the leaves seem to be ripped of, but other than that there was surprisingly little damage in my garden, for which I am extremely thankful. The storm also brought some rain with it, I guess in my garden an inch or so came down, which is such a blessing.

The photo above shows the bud of rosa 'Bewitched' again one day before the opening photo of this post was taken. 

But besides some exceptions like 'Bewitched', this January most of my roses looked like rosa 'Pierre de Ronsard' above. Deleaved and pruned they are just a shadow of themselves in comparison to spring.

Rosa 'Old Fashioned Girl' is a rose that would keep flowering through the winter, if I let it. It is growing in a very protected location and had a full nice flush in January. Too bad that I didn't take a full bush shot at that time.

'Old Fashioned Girl' again, showing proliferation. Even though considered a fault in a rose bloom I think there is some beauty to a bloom like this, too.

Most of the roses that weren't pruned in January, yet, had pretty unsightly foliage and just looked tired, like the two 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' roses on the photo above. They continued to flower, but were really not a joy for the eye, so it was definitively time for them to get a hair cut.

Rosa 'Iceberg'. Love the red tint on the petals that occurs when temperatures are relatively low. 

Here is an image of the full bush of 'Iceberg', growing happily since years in a big container. 

My other rosa 'Pierre de Ronsard'.

Rosa 'Moonstone' had many lovely, huge, globular flowers in January,...

...but my joy about the flowers is really spoiled by the rust that plagues this rose. Can you see the rust on the back of the leave situated directly above the rose bloom? I am seriously thinking about replacing this rose with a healthier white one, maybe another 'Pope John Paul II' or I can also imagine to try out 'Sugar Moon'.

That is how my Hybrid Perpetual rose bed appeared in January, after the roses were deleaved, but not pruned yet. I have taken them down more by at least a foot or so, after the photo was taken.

Rosa 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' was the second rose carrying a new bud already in January. I love how the water drop is trapped in the tips of the sepals of the rose bud and almost acts like a magnifying glass.

Here is the rose bush to which the bud from the previous photo belongs too. Rosa 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' is one of my new acquisitions that I got delivered in the beginning of January from Chamblee's Rose Nursery. Of course, it is a fairly small plant still, but it is making plenty of new leaves already. I am very excited about this rose, since I ordered a band of this variety many years ago, but it died within weeks. Many consider 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' to be an exquisite rose and I hope to enjoy her first open flower soon. Of course, I will try to fetch a photo for you to see, too!

Today I picked up the organic fertilizer that I ordered over the San Diego Rose Society and I am looking forward to feeding the good stuff to my roses as soon as possible. Honestly I can't wait for the spring flush. In about eight weeks from now on it should start.

Wishing everyone a good rest of the week!

See you in the garden!

Christina

I am linking to 

Rose Garden Malevik

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden