Friday Flowers

I have been working in the garden all week.  I like to think of it as therapy ... getting all sweaty and dirty and working hard is a great way to lighten one's mood.  At times, though, it's been difficult to keep my attention on the task at hand.  There are SO many roses in bloom! 

Back in the olden days when I was a fairly new blogger, I used to post flowers every Friday.  I got away from that a couple of years ago ... I don't know why.  Too much other stuff to talk about, I guess.  I'm in the mood to revive the tradition, so sit back and let me show you some things that caught my eye this week.  (Highlighted rose names are links to the rose's description page on Help Me Find, the BEST rose reference site on the planet.)

First up is 'Carolyn's Passion', a miniflora rose that I haven't brought out of the greenhouse yet.  (I love these through-the-window shots!)

 

 

The label I have on this next rose says "Not Anemone".  It was given to me by a dear friend, who received it as 'Anemone', which it isn't.  While we don't know exactly which rose this IS, we do know that it is a lovely setigera rambler, and I am thrilled to have it ... as a good garden plant AND as a token of a great friendship.

 

 

 

One of the rarer roses I grow is this one, 'Lyon Rose'.  Nowadays, we are accustomed to having roses in almost all colors of the rainbow.  This wasn't always the case.  When this rose was developed in 1907, rose breeders were working to bring a good yellow hybrid tea rose to market.  Early attempts like this one had some yellow in them, but they were mostly orange or coral with yellow highlights.

 

 

 

Speaking of yellow ... how about this one?  'Marechal Niel' was the darling of the flower trade in late-19th Century Europe .... with whole greenhouses devoted to producing these yellow beauties.  The plant itself is tender and persknickety, barely worth the ground it occupies here in Virginia.  Every year, though, I get at least one flower like this.  (I brought it in so I could enjoy it, and so it wouldn't get spoiled by last night's rain.)

 

 

 

Our final rose for today is 'Kathleen', a Hybrid musk bred by Rev. Pemberton in 1922.  'Kathleen' is a mannerly climber for me, and I have her trained onto the fence at the back of my mixed rose border in the front yard.  Right now, the plant is covered with these perfect single, fragrant flowers.  If 'Kathleen' had a down-side, it would be that she only blooms in the spring ... but this is merely a technicality, because she balances her lack of repeat bloom by producing an enormous crop of beautiful orange hips in the fall.  (I recommend this rose to most anyone who wants to grow roses for their hips.)

 

 

 

Now it's your turn ... what's catching your eye in the garden this week?