A Lovely Combination

When I was planning my first rose garden, the rose border in our front yard, I used the roses I had on hand ... 40 widely different roses, with no obvious cohesive theme.  How to arrange them?  In the case of these two, I simply put together two roses named after a famous couple ...

 

 

I think they are happy to be reunited.

 

A Very Special Visitor

Stephen Scanniello is the former director of the Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, is currently the president of the Heritage Rose Foundation, and was honored last year as one of the Great Rosarians of the World.  He is an author of numerous rose books, a popular speaker, and a helluva nice guy.

 

 

 

I first met Stephen about five years ago, when he was the featured speaker at the spring garden symposium at the Lynchburg City Cemetery.  He and I hit it off, and we have seen each other from time to time at other rose events ... and we email about various things occasionally. 

 

 

 

 

Earlier in the year, I contacted him to ask if he would be interested in taking my remaining rose inventory for garden projects that he is working on in Harlem ... and he gratefully accepted my offer.  He had other business in my general area this weekend, so he combined trips and swung by here yesterday afternoon to pick up the roses.

 

 

 

Stephen Scanniello was here ... at my house ... and in my unholy mess of a garden.  I should have been mortified, but it was quite the opposite experience.

 

 

 

When the garden is as big a mess as mine is now, the roses that are doing well shine even brighter ... flaunting their flowers despite the weeds and neglect.

Stephen and I walked the garden and talked about the roses (of course).  We both have a particular fondness for found roses, and I introduced him to some of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

We also put our heads together about a project that I will be working on at Hollywood Cemetery (more on this later in a separate post). 

 

 

 

Though the sky was cloudy, and we had brief spells of light rain, my visit here with Stephen was absolutely lovely.  There's nothing much better than sharing roses and conversation like this.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

 

 

 

(All of the photos in this post were taken yesterday, shortly before Stephen arrived.  The overcast sky created a perfect soft light, and the roses were patient and willing subjects.)

Flowers on Friday

The thermometer outside the back door says it's 21 degrees this morning!  We got 3" of snow last Saturday, and 3" of rain on Tuesday ... so things here are cold and squishy. 

Let's warm things up a bit with some sunny yellow roses for our Friday Flowers.

Zeus, a Hybrid Setigera climber from 1959, produces sunny yellow flowers all summer long.  It's been a bit slow to start its climb up the East fence in the Rose Field, however.  Many climbers, especially those who are growing on their own roots, can take a couple of years to get well-established.

Crepuscule is a beautiful Tea Noisette introduced in 1904.  (The name means 'Twilight'.)  This rose also grows on the Rose Field's East fence.  I love Crepuscule's apricot/gold/yellow color (which doesn't fade as much as I thought it would), and its shiny dark green leaves.

Buff Beauty, a Hybrid Musk from 1939, is fairly well-known.  It's recommended by a number of TV garden shows as a low-maintenance, fragrant rose.  Mine grows on an arch in the Rose Field ... I can't pass by it without taking a big sniff whenever it's in bloom.

"Lundy's Lane" is a Pernetiana/Hybrid Tea discovered by Gregg Lowery in San Francisco in 1979.  It never fails to attract attention from garden visitors.

Old Gold, another Pernetiana/Hybrid Tea, introduced in 1913.  Around the turn of the 20th Century, rose breeders were racing to be the first to introduce a healthy, floriforous, true yellow rose.

Happy Child, an English rose bred by David Austin in 1994, is really as yellow as this photo shows it to be.  It's a smaller Austin rose, good for the front of a border.  I love the name!

Molineux is another yellow Austin rose, introduced in 1995.  It's a lovely compact shrub, in a softer shade of yellow than Happy Child.

Limelight, a Hybrid Tea from 1985, is a rose that is difficult to photograph.  The flowers have a greenish tint to them (as the name suggests).  If I try to photograph Limelight in bright sunlight, I can never capture the subtle shades of yellow of the flowers.  It's much better if I wait for a lightly overcast sky.

Yellow Magic is a miniature rose bred by Ralph Moore in 1970.  Gold buds open to loose, light yellow flowers, that change to coral pink as they age.  I love the way the petals fold back to show those gold stamens.

I'll finish this Friday with Thanks to Sue, a miniflora rose introduced by Ralph Moore in 2004.  You know by now how much I love Ralph Moore's roses ... this one is a lovely, sunny addition to my collection.

(written by Hartwood Roses. Hartwood Roses blog)

White Roses on Wednesday

I  am sorry to have to tell you this ... are you sitting down?  These are the last of my white flowers photographs.  I searched all of my photo folders, and there's no more.  One last dozen ...

Paul's Himalayan Musk Rambler.  I saw photos of this once-blooming rose cascading from trees, and I fell in love.  Here, I have it planted at the base of a wild cherry tree beside the driveway, and it's happily scrambling toward the top.

Rosa Macrantha.  You know how much I love singles and stamens.  Isn't this beautiful?

Moonlight ... I have shown this rose before.  It's so photogenic.

Madame Plantier.  Pure white flowers, pale green leaves, nearly thornless canes and stems, good disease resistance ... this Alba hybrid rose is practically perfect.  Give her space, because she can become a big girl.

Dagmar Spaeth is a lovely smaller floribunda.  Sometimes her white flowers will have a small red stripe or two.

Secret Garden Noisette, found rose.  This class of rose was very popular in the early/mid 1800's ... and there have been many unidentified Noisettes discovered in abandoned sites over the years.  This one was found in the same garden as the more-well-known rose, Secret Garden Musk Climber.

Haywood Hall, another found rose.  I grow this one on a rebar tripod in my front border ... it blooms like crazy and smells wonderful.

White Killarney ... a color sport of Killarney, the famous pink hybrid tea rose from 1898.  I love the form of these early hybrid teas.

I think I might have used this photo of Leda in a Friday Flowers post a few weeks ago ... I love it so much, I'll use it here, too. 

Souvenir de la Maimaisson isn't really white.  The flowers bleach out a bit in the hot sun, and this photo made it look almost white.  SDLM, as it's abbreviated, doesn't like cool, damp weather ... but it's a fabulous rose in the heat of July, when many other roses are suffering.

I forgot to take a photo of the label for this rose, and I have no idea which one it is.

Our final white rose is Silver Moon.  Pure white flowers (which I love), simple single form (swoon) and look at those stamens.

I was thinking ... if I had been on the ball earlier this week, I would have gone out to the garden while we had snow and taken White Wednesday snow pictures.  Winter is just beginning, so I'll make a note to do that the next time we have snow.  (wink wink)

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)

White Roses on Wednesday

I find that I really enjoy these 'photo only' posts.  The garden is looking pretty nice considering Thanksgiving is tomorrow ... but there are not very many star-quality, photo-worthy roses out there.  As I said last Wednesday, the white roses are the first ones to look shabby.  I'm going to have to use photos from earlier in the year from now on, I'm afraid.  Digging for them on the computer gives me a chance to relive summer for a while each week.


This week, let's concentrate on white roses with a touch of pink.

Kathleen (Hybrid Musk, 1922) grows in my front border, on a rebar tripod by the fence.  I love the simple beauty of her single flowers.  They remind me of apple blossoms.  Kathleen produces a bountiful crop of orange hips in the fall.

Mary Washington (Noisette, bef. 1891) is named for George Washington's mother.  It is a lovely smaller Noisette that produces clusters of delicate white flowers all summer. 

Mrs. Dudley Cross (Tea rose, 1908) isn't here anymore.  I am sad to say that she was a casualty of the two consecutive sub-zero nights in late January 2009 (-3 and -6!).  She was still a baby, and she was killed right to the ground.  I will take cuttings from a friend's plant, and soon she will live here again ... in a more protected spot this next time.

Madame Cornelissen (Bourbon, 1865) is a sport of Souvenir de la Malmaisson.  She is relatively compact, with pale pinkish-white flowers throughout the summer and into fall.  Like her sport parent, she has a lovely powdery fragrance.

Pink Surprise (Hybrid Bracteata, 1987) is a big girl who wants to sprawl all over her neighbors.  You should see her thorns!  In spite of what sounds like colossal drawbacks, Pink Surprise has lovely, healthy foliage, and the flowers are HUGE.  They start pale pink but quickly fade to a lovely warm white.  She never fails to get attention from visitors.

Sally Holmes (Shrub/Hybrid Musk, 1976) is another lovely pinkish-white single rose.  Clusters of delicate, pointy buds start out apricot, and open to the graceful flower you see above.  She can be a large shrub (6 feet+) or can be trained as a smaller climber.

I don't know exactly which rose this is.  I'm fairly certain that it's one of the Hybrid Musks in the Rose Field ... but I can't be sure.  Maybe it's Daphne.  Whatever it is, it's sure lovely.

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!  If you're traveling to visit family today, I wish you a safe and speedy journey.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)

White Wednesday Roses

The white roses that are still blooming in the garden took quite a hit from the rain late last week from the remains of Hurricane Ida. The cool temperatures of fall always make good conditions for botrytis ... the added dampness from three straight days of rain and drizzle have caused a king-sized outbreak. Most of the lighter-colored flowers have balled and drooped. Those that can open, are covered with lovely purple fungus spots ... how attractive.


Sit back and enjoy a little White this Wednesday.

Alberic Barbier, Hybrid Wichuriana rambler, 1900. Technically, Alberic Barbier is pale yellow. I love how the flowers fade to the most beautiful creamy white as they age.

Grace Seward, Miniature rose, 2001. I love singles!! There's something unbelieveably appealing about the simple form of 5 petals and a shock of colorful stamens. Grace Seward's flowers look like pure white stars.

Snowbird, Hybrid Tea, 1936. The creamy flowers on Snowbird contrast nicely against its dark green foliage. It's a relatively early hybrid tea, that has a much softer form than the stiff, upright modern hybrid teas.

Nastarana, Hybrid Musk, 1879. There are flowers on Nastarana throughout the whole growing season. They come in clusters, and the bees LOVE them.

Dairy Maid, Floribunda, 1957. This is another rose that's (technically) pale yellow. The yellow doesn't last long, and it becomes a lovely cream color. Look at those stamens!! They look like eyelashes.

Westside Road Cream Tea, found rose. This rose was discovered by Philip Robinson in California. This is a tea rose for the smaller garden ... it's not quite 2 feet high here, in its second year in the garden. It almost died to the ground last winter, but it recovered quite nicely and is a lovely little rounded shrub.

Alba Meidiland, 1986. The American Rose Society put Alba Meidiland in the Shrub class ... which is just a way to put it somewhere because it doesn't really belong in any one class. This rose wants to hug the ground and grow like mad. This makes it good to as a ground cover, but I like it best trained to climb. I grow it on an arch in the Rose Field, and it never fails to get attention from visitors. It is one of the most vigorous, healthiest, most floriforous roses here.

Golden Ophelia, Hybrid Tea, 1918. This is another one of our 'creamy whites' for today. Golden Ophelia's yellow buds open into soft, ivory white flowers.

Aimee Vibert, Noisette, 1828. I have the climbing version of this rose. It's trained to the fence on the east side of the Rose Field. Aimee Vibert begins to bloom later in the year than most others, and it doesn't stop until late fall. It is one of the most fragrant roses I grow.

Princesse de Nassau, Noisette, 1835. I love the clusters of shaggy flowers on this rose. Right now, it's three years old and about 4 feet high ... though I expect it will get quite a bit taller as it matures. Like many of the other Noisettes, Princesse de Nassau is quite fragrant.

My final White offering for you this Wednesday is a jigsaw puzzle. (I LOVE online puzzles ... the cats can't jump onto the table and 'help'.)  To play the puzzle, click on the arrow at the bottom left corner of the puzzle. Have fun.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)