A Deal is a Deal

You may (or may not) remember when I told you about freezing my tail off in February as part of a garden club crew digging up the plants to rescue a fellow member's garden from certain destruction.  (Click HERE to see that post if you missed it.)  One of the plants I came home with that day was a rose, 'Rook', a relatively new Hybrid Gallica (once-bloomer) from Paul Barden.  I was given this rose in exchange for sharing photos of it when it flowered in the spring.  A deal is a deal, and here they are:

 

 

'Rook' is still in its pot (no surprise to those of you who know me well).  In spite of this, it is flowering profusely.  Each flower is magenta-grape-burgundy-purple, and the fragrance is heavenly!

 

 

 

I took one of the flowers with me last weekend, to show it to the rose friends that I was visiting.  All were amazed that it was a new hybrid.  ('Charles de Mills' x 'Chianti').

 

 

 

If its performance in the pot is any indication, 'Rook' is a winner!  I have already chosen its spot in the garden, and I hope to have it planted in the ground very soon.

 

(Thank you, Mark!)