More Pics From Spring 2013

 LeAnn Rimes

 

Livin' Easy

Louise Odier

Lyda Rose

Margaret Merril

Margaret Merril

Marilyn Wellan

Paris d'Yves St. Laurent

Mr. Lincoln

Secret

 

Sheila's Perfume

Yves Piaget

 



Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where the roses is?

It's been a very good Spring.  Here are some photos from a few weeks ago.

Roses - Spring 2013

 

The Ambridge Rose

The Ambridge Rose

 

 Bambey

 

 Belvedere

 

 Chrysler Imperial

 

 Cream Dream

 

Elmshorn

 

Fame 



 Gentle Hermione

 

 Graham Thomas

 

 Granada

 

 Julia Child

 

Lady of the Dawn

 





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!

Better Late Than Never

I did some more reading about seed propagation over the summer and discovered that rose seeds will only germinate when the weather is cool.  I got kind of a late start on the stratification process for the 2011 seed crop, so by the time they'd been in the fridge for eight weeks, it was nearly March of 2012.  San Diego is no longer cool in March, so nothing sprouted last spring.  I put the seed tray on a shelf in the backyard, let it completely dry out, and forgot about it as we experienced one of the longest, hottest summers I can recall.  The heat finally broke in November and we started to get some cool nights.  I saw the seed tray and figured, "What the hell".... I soaked it with water and low and behold in a few weeks nine little seedlings had popped their heads through the soil.  Who knew?!  I guess it goes to show that a rose seed will sprout when it's ready.  Granted, my germination rate was pretty lousy at 9 out of 100+ seeds, but I'm having fun coddling my new babies of 2012.  So, if you're having trouble getting seeds to germinate, keep trying.  You'll succeed eventually.

Best of the 2011 Rose Crop

Seedlings of (L to R) Livin' Easy, Honey Bouquet, & Imposter

I had 12 roses sprout from the seeds planted in 2011.  The cream of the crop are pictured here.  The orange single flowered bloom is an interesting change from its parent, Livin' Easy, which has a much more doubled form.  The big erect pistil is well....let's call it a feature.  The ruffled yellow blooms from the seedling of Honey Bouquet are lovely, but the blooms look almost identical to the parent, the only difference being that the parent has a sweet fragrance and these alas have none.  The single white bloom is a child of Imposter whose blooms are pink with hot pink spots.  It was quite a surprise when this little fellow blossomed white.  I transplanted these three roses to bigger pots and will try to encourage them to grow through the next season.

Seedlings of 2011

At a mere 2 inches tall, this was the first seedling to bloom. The plant promptly died after the bloom was spent.  Since the bloom shape was unattractive and had no scent, it wasn't a big loss.

Here is a picture of the seedlings at about 3 or 4 months old.  You can see that some are more vigorous than others.  We had a relatively cool summer which may have been why the young plants didn't grow more quickly.



More New Roses

Here are four more new additions to the garden this year. 

Sexy Rexy is a beautiful rose.  The form of the flower is classic and it often blooms in sprays of 10 to 12 blossoms.  The flowers are on the small side – 3” to 4” and have no scent but are so beautiful that I give this one a hearty recommendation.

Noble Anthony is a David Austin rose.  It has not been terribly vigorous in its first year, but it has a lovely sweet fragrance.  Perhaps it needs a little time to establish itself.

Grace Abounding is a lovely peachy colored rose with a light fragrance.  The photo I saw on-line showed ten or so flowers blooming at once, so I expect it will be more productive once it gets bigger.  The flowers hold their form for quite a while.  We had a heat wave last week and while most of the other roses in the yard withered and scorched, Grace held her shape and stayed beautiful.

Sight Saver (aka The Oregonian) is a large blossomed rose – 6” to 7” with a nice fruity fragrance.  The plant came as a band and is still fairly small, but shows great promise.



Bill's First Rose

Here's a little montage of the first rose that I grew from seed.  This is the first bloom from the rose this spring in various stages of opening.  The bottom two pics are closest to the true color of the rose - an electric pink.  The first year I attempted to grow a rose from seed, I wasn't convinced it was possible, so I gathered hips from all over the garden, mixed the seeds together, put them in some damp soil in a baggie, and put them in the refrigerator to stratefy for 8 weeks.  Because I mixed all the seeds together, I can't be positive of the parentage, but it looks almost exactly like Miss All American Beauty (except the form is a lot messier), so I'd be willing to bet she's the mama.  It isn't the best rose in the world, but I keep it because it's my first.

First Bloom for Belvedere

This is the first bloom for Belvedere, and I am very pleased with it!  It's growing in a pot until it gets bigger and strong enough to be planted in the garden.  I bought several roses from mail order nurseries this year.  These roses are propagated from cuttings that develop their own roots instead of being grafted onto rootstock.  Own root roses are purported to be stronger and more prolific bloomers.  They are often grown and shipped in "bands" which is a small plastic pot about 3"x3"x8".  When the plants arrive they are often under 12" tall and can be spindly looking.  The first time I got one of these bands in the mail, I thought "I paid $15 for this?!?", but in time it grew into a healthy mature bush.  Belvedere has certainly proven itself to be worth the price.

Seedling Update

The seedlings are about two weeks old now and have a few true leaves.  Grow little roses grow!

Growing Roses From Seed

I've been experimenting with growing roses from seed.  The best article I've found on the web is by Sharon Kardos called "Growing Roses From Seeds" (click on the title to go to the article).  Everything you need to know to get started is in the article, and it's full of great photos.  I've only gotten one plant to grow into a mature bush so far.  It is 2 years old now and should be blooming in a week or two.  I'll post a pic when the flowers open.

In the Fall of 2010, I gathered a number of hips from roses that developed via open pollination.  I cleaned the seeds with hydrogen peroxide, put them in a damp paper towel, placed them in a plastic bag, and put them in the crisper in the refrigerator for 8 to 10 weeks.  The seeds didn't sprout in the fridge, but I planted them anyway in February 2010. I put them in pots and placed them outdoors in a sunny location (that's not too early in Southern California). No sign of germination for weeks and weeks, so I assumed the seeds were bad.  To my surprise, in late April 2011, two months after planting, a seedling popped up, then a second, and then a third. The seedling pictured is from a rose called Honey Bouquet.  I've since planted about 100 more seeds and hope a few will germinate. There are still many perils that may befall my tender seedlings, but I'm hopeful they will mature.  Stay tuned for updates on my babies!

LeAnn Rimes visits Granada

I replaced ten roses in the garden this past January.  One of the new ones is a hybrid tea called LeAnn Rimes which I got through the mail from Edmund's Roses.  It just gave its first bloom which is quite pretty.  No scent though that I can detect.  I was very happy with the quality of the bare root plants I received from Edmund's - good sturdy canes and strong root systems.

The Imposter

My first rose picture on the blog!

This rose is called "The Imposter" because it looks like clematis. It is a shrub rose that always seems to be in bloom, even in it's first year in the garden.  It has been disease resistant too.  I highly recommend this one!

Introduction

I have a passion for roses.  I've been growing them for over 20 years in San Diego, California.  Most of that time I have grown popular varieties that can be easily found in nurseries, but the past few years I have been getting into less common varieties that I've found on-line.  One of the best resources I've found on the web is a site called Help Me Find Roses (http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/index.php).  You can search and learn about any rose, and users can post pictures which is very helpful when trying to see what a rose really looks like (can't always trust the marketing pictures).

I've also tried my hand at propagating roses from cuttings and even got a couple of plants to grow from seed.  I thought a blog might be a good way to track successes and failures and share tricks and tips with other rose enthusiasts.  Hope you enjoy!