Please Pack Your Thorns and Go

A number of roses are leaving the garden on Granada this year.  Some have been sent off to greener pastures while others received a merciless pruning by shovel.  I don't have pictures of all the dearly departed so I've put links to some nice photos from Help Me Find Roses.  Click on the names of the roses below to see a picture.

Finding A New Home

I had the following three roses growing in five gallon pots awaiting evaluation as to whether or not they would be granted a coveted spot in the Granada rose garden. While beautiful in their own right, they just didn't fit with my current preferences which lean more toward fragrant varieties. A friend of mine is putting in a rose garden at the State Park where he works as a ranger and was nice enough to give these beauties a new home.

• Hot Princess - A hot pink hybrid tea often used by the florist industry.  Beautiful form, but no scent at all.  I've seen a picture where it is a mass of blooms, but it was stingy with them for me.
• Miss Kitty - Another florist rose, also scentless.  A fairly good repeat bloomer, but not quite as perfect when not grown in a greenhouse.
• Tony Jacklin - Quite a lovely little floribunda with a nice form.  Unfortunately, the flowers were smaller than I would have liked and again scentless.

Death By Spade

These roses did not perform well for me.  Perhaps it was a lack of sun or soil conditions, but for whatever reason they were removed to make way for the new arrivals for 2013.

• Signature - I had two of these roses and removed both this year. The blooms were perfectly shaped hybrid teas with petals shading from pink to white.  The plants were very weak and hardly produced any flowers, so it was time to say good-bye.
• Sexy Rexy - Just never grew.  I'm sure it was the fault of the location.  I have another bush in a better location, so we'll see if it fares better.
• Noble Antony - A pretty little David Austin rose with a nice fragrance, but the blooms were more suited for boutonnieres than a vase.  Also, the spot where it grew was in need of a tall rose and Antony only grew about a foot and a half tall.
• Love's Kiss - The flowers of this hybrid tea are big and gorgeous but it only gave two per year.  Also, it was supposed to grow five feet tall, but only got two feet tall in my yard.

Most of the newcomers of 2013 have arrived and are planted.  I'll let them get settled and report on them in a future post.  Happy Growing!