Flowers on Friday ... Despite the Heat

No matter where you live, if you follow any blogs that are based in the eastern United States, you have heard that we are experiencing temperatures this week that have approached, and some days exceeded, 100 degrees (that's 37+ for our friends who use the Celsius scale).  Despite the heat, and the fact that we have not had a drop of rain in over two weeks, some of the roses are blooming quite nicely.

Indigo

Odee Pink

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you that I water my rose gardens using a drip irrigation system ... but not too much.  It's meant to be Mother Nature's emergency back-up plan.  I run the system once a week, letting it drip at the base of each rose for a few hours to gradually hydrate the soil directly underneath each rose.

Mrs. John Laing

Mutabilis

Flowers on roses in the heat of summer can be much smaller than those produced in cooler times of the year.   Others produce fewer petals and have a more open bloom form.

"Grandmother's Hat"

Druschki Rubra

As usual, the best blooming roses in the garden right now are the Chinas and Teas.  They love the hot weather, and they produce flowers continuously all summer.

"Carnation"

Comtesse Riza du Parc

The Polyanthas (a tough, work-horse class of roses) are also blooming full force.  These roses will be some of the last to finish the season in November.

Gartendirektor Otto Linne

White Pet

Though the Dog Days of summer aren't the best time to be in the rose garden, it's nice to know that there's still beauty to be found.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

An Accidental Combination

I readily admit that I have WAY to many roses still living in pots.  (There are 200+ at last count, which was a while ago.)

As I was watering the other day, I noticed this:

Sally Holmes (the white rose) and Souvenir du Dr. Jamain had snuggled up together, making the most beautiful combination of colors and forms that I've seen in a while.

I think I may have the perfect spot in the garden to show this off.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Flowers on Friday ... Fragrant Roses

Let me tell you a little secret that you may be surprised to hear ... I can't smell most of the roses in my garden.  It may be the result of allergies I've had my entire life, or perhaps it's a genetic thing that prevents me from detecting certain scents.  Whatever the reason, when I stick my nose into most roses, I come up empty.


Today, I'm going to feature some of the roses in the crop of 2010 that I CAN smell.


Enjoy!

Marchesa Boccella

(also, erroneously, known as Jacques Cartier)

Hybrid Perpetual, 1842, 3 to 4 feet high

Rose de Rescht

Portland, before 1900, 3 to 4 feet high

Portland from Glendora

(may be Joasine Hanet)

Portland, found rose, 6 feet high

Chief Seattle

Hybrid Tea, 1951, 4 to 5 feet high

Felicia

Hybrid Musk, 1928, 6 feet high

New Dawn

Climber, 1930, 10 to 12 feet tall

Union Redwood Cemetery

Hybrid Perpetual, found rose, 4 to 5 feet tall

Sydonie

Portland, 1846, 5 to 6 feet tall

Maggie

Bourbon, found rose, 5 feet tall

The new Hartwood Roses web site has been up for less than an hour, and I already have people over there digging through the new crop of roses and asking questions.  How cool is that!

Some Roses in our Final Fall Clearance.

It is time for all of this season’s remaining roses to go to their new homes. To accomplish this, I have reduced the price to $5 each. These are healthy one-year-old own-root plants, growing in half-gallon or one-gallon pots, well rooted and ready to be planted in their new garden … many of them (especially the Chinas and Polyanthas) are still in bloom.

Enabling Alert: Here is a sample of what we still have available …


Mlle. Augustine Guinoisseau (Hybrid Tea, 1899)
Also known as White La France, though it’s a pale powder pink. Flowers are round, well-petaled, and are produced freely throughout the season on a nicely-shaped bush.

Caldwell Pink (China/Polyantha, 1928)
A smallish, rounded shrub that produces sprays of pink flowers all season. A good choice for the front of a bed.

Dorsey Cosby China (unknown China rose)
This rose may be Louis Philippe. It was found happily growing without care in a cemetery, about 6 feet high. Every one of these on the nursery benches is blooming right now.

Duchesse de Brabant (Tea rose, 1857)
Some tea roses get huge … Duchesse de Brabant is not one of them. In a few years, the Duchesse will build to a lacy shrub about 4 feet tall. She blooms her best when it’s hot outside.

Innocence (Hybrid Tea, 1921)
Single-flowered hybrid tea roses rarely make it into commerce … the few that do are exceptional. Innocence is one of these, along with Dainty Bess, Mrs. Oakley Fisher, Ellen Wilmott, and a few others. I love the contrast of the snow white petals with the orange stamens that look like eyelashes.

La Reine (Hybrid Perpetual, 1842)
If you want a rose with fragrance, La Reine is one to consider. It blooms profusely in the spring, with scattered bloom throughout the rest of the year, and has a fragrance to die for.

Lady Mary Fitzwilliam (Hybrid Tea, 1882)
This rose has medium pink petals, with a darker pink reverse. The bush is compact and dense, with large dark green leaves that contrast beautifully with the flowers. I love the rounded, informal shape of these early hybrid teas … quite a contrast to the more stiff, upright form we associate with them today.

Mrs. Dudley Cross (Tea rose, 1907)
Another tea rose that doesn’t get too huge. This one has the added bonus of being almost thornless. It may require a more protected spot in places with really cold winters, but Mrs. Dudley Cross is good enough to be worth the effort.

Mrs. Woods Lavender Noisette (Noisette, found rose)
A large, lacy shrub that produces sprays of lavender pink flowers through the year. This was the first found rose that I added to my collection years ago … a collection that has grown to over 60 varieties.

Route 17 Pink Poly (Polyantha, found rose)
The mother plant of this rose is about 5 feet high, and it lives without care at a derelict house that will probably be leveled to make way for a shopping center. Like most Polyanthas, it starts blooming in the early summer and doesn’t stop until frost. All of these out in the nursery have flowers on them right now.

Verdi (Hybrid Musk, 1984)
I love the parents of this rose (Mr. Bluebird is a China rose bred by Ralph Moore, and Violet Hood is a Hybrid Musk by Louis Lens) so I figured I’d also like Verdi … I figured correctly. Verdi is a spreading, arching shrub with sprays of violet flowers throughout the season. The color of the flowers, contrasting with the blue-green leaves is very nice.

Peggy Martin (Rambler, found rose)
This rose was a pass-along plant in the garden of Peggy Martin outside New Orleans. Her garden was submerged by flood waters from Hurricane Katrina, and this rose was the only plant that survived. It blooms profusely in early summer (later than most other ramblers), and will bloom again in the fall once it’s established. Mine is blooming right now. The canes are almost completely thornless, so Peggy Martin is a pleasure to work with.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)

The Beauty of Singles and Stamens.

The Fall flush of flowers is beginning here, and I was out in the garden the other afternoon with my camera ... taking advantage of a light overcast to get some really nice photographs for the web site. Singles and semi-double roses are some of my favorites, and many of these were blooming.

Here are some of my roses, proudly showing their stamens.  Enjoy!

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)