Flowers on Friday: My First Old Garden Rose ... and a Giveaway.

Portland from Glendora.  This is the rose that started the out-of-control collection that is my rose garden.

In the fall of 2002, two of my garden friends were going to Sherando Roses (outside Waynesboro, Virginia), and they invited me to come along.  I didn't grow roses at the time, because I had almost no sunshine at the house I was living in.  We had just bought this property where I am now, with its 9 acres of sunny old-farm soil, and my friends decided that I should grow roses.

This was Sherando.

I say "was" because the owner retired three years ago and closed the nursery.  It was the loss of Sherando (our only old-rose source in the whole area) that prompted me to open Hartwood Roses ... but I digress.

"Portland from Glendora" was one of three roses that I brought home with me from that first-of-many trips to Sherando.  (The other two were Frau Dagmar Hartopp and R. Eglanteria.)

I noticed "Glendora" blooming in the Rose Field while I was out on my beetle hunt on Wednesday.  This got me distracted (so what else is new) and I started photographing her beautiful pink flowers in the perfect overcast light that afternoon.

"Glendora" is a big girl.  She wants to be about six feet tall, and she supports herself quite nicely.

She is a Portland rose ... a small class of roses developed in the second quarter of the 19th Century.  Like other Portlands, "Glendora" smells WONDERFUL!  She gets a bit of blackspot, so a little fungicide is probably necessary to keep her looking her best.

Now to the Giveaway part of today's post.  One lucky Hartwood Roses reader will win "Portland from Glendora" for their own garden.

To enter, simply post a Comment here and tell me about something in your garden that makes you happy.  No need to become a follower (though I would sincerely appreciate it if you do).

This giveaway will end at 11:00 pm EDT, on Thursday, June 25.  I will announce the winner during Friday Flowers here on June 26.


(Because this is a giveaway for a live plant, there are a few little 'fine print' issues that I have to address. I am not licensed to ship to CA, OR, WA, AZ, AK, HI, or anywhere outside the US.  I have a lovely alternate prize if someone from one of these states is the winner.)

Fertilizer Friday

Remember, I have cancelled tomorrow's on-site nursery hours because I have to go out of town to attend a funeral for a friend who passed away last week.  Regular hours resume on Saturday, June 26th, from 10am - 3pm.

Be sure to visit tomorrow, when I unveil our Family Room for the 'Where Bloggers Create' feature.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Flowers on Friday ... A Couple of Portland Roses

It's snowing ... again.  We may have 2 feet of snow or more on the ground when all of this finishes sometime late tomorrow.  The weather people have told us to expect to be stuck at home for three days.  I'm okay with that.

I don't mind the winter weather now.  It's made a bit cheerier because I get to dig through my photo collection and bring you another Friday Flowers installment.  This week, I'll introduce you to one of the first Old Garden Roses I ever bought.

Meet Amanda Patenaude.

At least that's ID that I was given when I bought this rose.  There's quite a bit of discussion regarding its true identity.

This rose is exactly the same as the found rose "Portland from Glendora", which was discovered by Fred Boutin in San Marino, California.  It has also been known as MacGregor's Damask.  The American Rose Society currently says that it can be exhibited at rose shows as Joasine Hanet. 

Whatever its name, this rose is beautiful!  The flowers are a lovely shade of medium pink, with a quartered form and a button eye, and they smell heavenly.

The bush has an upright form and, once mature, will easily grow to be six feet high.  It can be bothered by blackspot late in the season, and I spray fungicide to keep this under control.

Like other Portland roses, the flowers on Amanda Patenaude/Portland from Glendora (or simply 'Glendora') sit almost right on top of the first set of leaves on the stem.  See how the flowers seem to nestle into the leaves? 

There is some thought that Amanda Patenaude/Portland from Glendora may be a sister seedling to Sydonie, a light pink Portland rose hybridized by Vibert in 1826.

In my garden, these two roses grow side by side in the row of Portlands in the Rose Field.  The bushes are virtually identical ... the only real difference is that Sydonie's flowers are Crayola Carnation Pink.

Sydonie (also spelled Sidonie) is very popular here, because visitors love the color and the fragrance.

I'm always facinated by this type of rose mystery.  What is Glendora's true identity?  Are she and Sydonie really sisters?  Where did the rose originally come from?  It's this curiousity that fuels my love for found roses, and drives my desire to collect as many of them as I can.  Amanda Patenaude (or whoever you are), you will always have a place in my garden. 

(This post is linked to Fertilizer Friday over at Tootsie Time.  I'm going over there now to see what the others have blooming in their blogs today.)

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)