Eden Rose (2017)

Rosa 'Eden': Beautiful romantic rose.

The glorious time for Eden rose has come to my garden once more.  It is blooming!  It is a beautiful romantic rose.  However, the subtlety in its color and fragrance is offset by its exuberant growth habit and the extravagant inflorescence.  The flowers are composed of thick piles of overlapping  petals - making them so heavy that makes them always in a drooping position.  It is a good thing that this rose is a climbing type because it is better to appreciate the flowers from below.  

Rosa Eden: Exuberant growth habit and extravagant inflorescence.

Owing to the season of abundant precipitation we had after a long drought, all my plants are generally performing good this year.  However, good things seem to come with some challenges.  In the case of this rose, I had to prop the canes temporarily to prevent them from breaking due to the heavy weight of the flowers.  

Clematis 'Niobi rambles on Eden rose.

One of the things I have done  in the past years is to plant clematis among my climbing roses.  In the pictures, you can see Clematis 'Niobi' rambling among the roses.  I found this to be good especially with roses that bloom heavily in the spring and sparingly afterwards and those that are prone to diseases that cause some defoliation.  The clematis provides the necessary color and interest during the ugly period of the roses.  Yes, I always say that roses are beautiful when they are not ugly.  And I am always in the business of trying to mitigate this problem of ugliness on the plant that is supposed to be a bearer of the symbol of beauty.

Roses are beautiful...

Roses: They are beautiful...

Rosa 'Abraham Darby'  

Roses are beautiful when they are not ugly.  All cultivated roses were selected or bred for appearance and/or in combination with fragrance, disease resistance, vigor and many other desirable characteristics.  They are all beautiful to begin with.  However, we all know that sometimes the promised beauty does not surface due to a number of factors. With more than two decades worth of experience in growing roses in California, I've come to realize a simple truth - there exists no spectrum when it comes to the outcome of the rose. There are only two opposing classifications: beautiful or ugly.

A rose plant growing under optimum conditions and cared for by a conscientious gardener, will come out to be a poetic symbol of beauty, love, fragrance and art.  A rose is a rose when the world is fair. But the world is not always fair.  There are microorganisms lurking everywhere - in the air, in the soil and water - just waiting for the its carrier and opportune moment to charge the garden.    The weather that dictates production rates of plants can be austere or excessive with its blessings and sometimes favors the proliferation of the microscopic society with its ever changing combination of humidity and temperature. All of these natural factors contribute to the outcome of roses.  Then there is the gardeners and his/her management techniques or lack thereof.

Rosa 'Evelyn'

They are beautiful this year.  Their leaves are clean with no significant diseases to worry about at present - hopefully it will stay that way. With the exception of the ones that are shaded by trees, all are growing better than in the previous two years.  The sweet fragrance emanating from the David Austin rose 'Evelyn' is very pleasant that even after many years of purging my rose collection, I thought of checking the rose catalogs again.  :)

Rosa 'America'

Although, the natural factors remain to be out of my control, there were some things that this gardener did that possibly contributed to the excellent performance of the roses during the current season.

1. Deliberate choice and timing of fertilization.  Complete fertilizer (16-16-16) was applied to all my roses right when the new buds were about three inches long and around the time when we had some rain in February.  This is key to the vigor of the roses in the early spring.  A second application was done during the first deadheading.

2.  Limited but regimented watering due to statewide water conservation. Watering is regulated in our area - this time we can only turn on our irrigation systems twice a week.  This means that we are not in danger of over watering the plants and daily exposure to moisture on the leaves.

3.  Increased presence of birds in the garden.  The birds like to linger in the yard with the consistent provision of food and water.  As a result they are also there to peck on bugs before they become a problem.

4.  Improved soil condition through generous application of mulch.  Our pet bunny uses sawdust pellets as bedding material which in turn becomes mulch for the flowers and shrubs.  We all know the benefits of mulch in soil moisture conservation, weed control and soil structure.  And yet, here we have a bunny-enhanced mulch with higher nitrogen content!  Beyond all these perks, the decomposition process of the sawdust reduces the soil pH to some extent.  Since roses prefer a slightly acidic soil, this practice has positive effects on roses.

Rosa 'Sally  Holmes'

Roses are beautiful when they are not ugly.  :)

Rosa 'Abraham Darby'

'Abraham Darby' is an English rose that was bred by David Austin. The flowers come in pinkish apricot color with a fruity fragrance and the leaves are small-sized and glossy. The plant is a vigorous medium sized bush with arching growth habit. Some consider it as a small climber but in my garden I prune it often both to keep the size in check and to encourage blooming. In my garden, I find 'Abraham Darby' resistant to black spot and powdery mildew.

'Abraham Darby' rose was named after an inventor who played a significant role in the industrial revolution. In the smaller world, however, this plant made it into my garden in honor of my son who is nicknamed Brahms. :)

Regardless of the name, Abraham Darby is a garden-worthy rose!

Sally Holmes: She Shines in the Shade

Clusters of tight pointy buds emerging in creamy-apricot color.

I am currently traveling in Colombia with my family.  Colombia is such a botanical paradise and as soon as I get home and finish putting away the suitcases, I will share some of my experiences in this blog.

In the meantime, I reflect on the beautiful 'Sally Holmes' rose in my own backyard.  This is a shade tolerant rose.  It is vigorous, drought tolerant, and resistant to pest and diseases. 

A perfect bouquet on a single stem.

Buds open one after the other - creating an assortment of creamy flowers on one stem. The colors of individual flowers range from creamy-apricot pink to creamy white.  Flowers in the shade seem to retain their pinkish blush longer than those that are in the sun. 

Rambling on top of patio cover.

'Sally Holmes' makes a great country garden rose.  It sends out tall healthy canes that  require a lot of room to ramble.  In my garden, 'Sally Holmes' rambles on top of a 10-ft tall patio cover.   Other than occasional pruning to keep the pathways clear, the rose requires very little maintenance.

'Sally Holmes' rose has flowers that form a perfect bouquet on a single stem.

Madame Isaac Periere: Volunteer from a Root

Rosa 'Madame Isaac Pereire'

One of the joys or curses of having a relatively mature garden is that plants tend to grow voluntarily at random places.  I have a story of a joyful phenomenon in my garden.

When I transferred 'Madame Isaac Pereire' to a more sunny location in the garden, some roots were unintentionally left in the ground.  The following year I found a two new roses growing from the same place.  They had the same flowers and intense fragrance as the plant that was taken out.   This means that I had cloned my 'Madame Isaac Periere' rose without even trying!  The original plant was growing from its own roots (not grafted) and that the new roses grew from the roots that remained in the ground. 

 

A pink rose bud.

Today, I have three plants of this variety growing in three different spots of my garden. I had spread them so that I can have more places where I can enjoy them.

 

 'Madame Isaac Pereire' intermingled with the grape vine

 

Plant roots spread far and wide in search of water.  As a result when we try to contain or move them, there is a greater chance of leaving something behind.  If the plant that grows is prized for one reason or another, this is a pleasant occurrence.  On the other hand this can also be considered a curse if we do not value the new "volunteer".

Have you ever had some "valuable volunteers" in your garden?

Rose Growing is No Bed of Roses

Fig. 1   Aphids

When it comes to roses, the peak of flowering in our area is now. During this time, plants have large leaves; the flowers are huge; and their colors are intense.  The weather is optimum for plant growth and even for pests.  As a general rule, I do not use pesticide in my garden.  We live or move around so close to the plants in my yard, that I'd rather have them look a little bit damaged and disease-infected than having to inhale the fumes of chemicals when I smell their flowers.  Pest and diseases attack my plants but since I am not selling the flowers, I don't mind that they show signs of pest damage.  I have tried some practical solutions to the problems that may not necessarily eradicate but slow down the spread of the pests. 

Aphids

Observation:

Young and succulent parts of roses are often very appealing to aphids (Fig. 1).  Early in the spring, a thick blanket of aphids is a common sight on the basal part of flower buds.  Although, there might be varieties that are more resistant or less attractive to aphids than some, I still have not seen a rose that has not been infested by the pest.

Simple Solutions: 

 1.  Feed the finches; they eat aphids in between meals of seeds.

 2.  Buy and release lady bugs in the garden; they are voracious aphid eaters.

 3.  Blast off the aphids with water. 

 4.  Regulate nitrogen application.  Too much nitrogen coupled with excessive water result in fast growing tissues of plants.  Such plant tissues are soft and loved by tiny sucking insects.

Fig. 2     Powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca pannosa)

Fig. 2a   Powdery mildew and aphids on flower buds.

Powdery Mildew

Observation:
Powdery mildew always starts as spots of scattered powder on the leaves (Fig. 2 and Fig. 2a).  As favorable conditions persist, the powdery spots increase coverage.  Roses that are well watered and growing in a shadier part of the garden tend to be more susceptible to powdery mildew.  In shady areas, leaf surfaces take longer time to get dry that those that are exposed to sunlight. Most fungi thrive on moist spaces.  The spores can be carried by air from one vulnerable leaf to the other.
Practical solutions:
1.  Avoid watering the leaves of plants. 
(This conflicts with my recommended solution for aphids but there's a remedy for that: hose off the aphids in the morning so that the leaves can get dry quickly.)
2.  Prune infected branches to prevent further spread of the disease.
3.  Treat pruners and clippers with a bleach solution. 
4.  Remove all fallen old leaves from under the rose bushes.
5.  Spray a mixture of baking soda (1tsp) and dishwashing soap (2 tsp) and water (1 cup).

 Fig. 3   Black spots (Diplocarpon rosae)

Black Spots

Observation:  

Black spots are really ugly  (Fig. 3).   They start are dark spots on leaf surfaces and eventually the surrounding areas turn chlorotic (yellowish).  Early in the spring when the temperatures are cooler (>75 degrees F) and precipitation is at its peak (here in our area) black spots are prevalent.  They also appear later in the year when the weather gets dry.  It appears to me that roses that are water stressed are vulnerable to infection.  

Just like powdery mildew, black spot is a fungal diseases  .Again, those plants in the shade are more prone to infection because they leaves takes longer to dry up allowing time for the pathogen to grow.  Infected leaves drop off and sometimes roses get denuded.  

Practical Solutions:

1. Avoid watering the foliage of the roses.

 2.  Clean underneath the plants from fallen leaves because they are likely to be carrying the pathogen.

3.  Remove all obviously infected leaves.

4.  If you are not very emotional- discard varieties that are susceptible to black spots and replace them with resistant varieties. 

Final Note:

There are fungicides and insecticides that are recommended for these pests but as I have said earlier - I deliberately avoid using them as a personal preference. 

For more information:

Black spots: http://umaine.edu/ipm/ipddl/publications/5097e/

Black spots: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/DISEASES/blackspot.html

Powdery Mildew : http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7493.html

Aphids: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/aphidscard.html

Pests will always be a part of gardening; gardeners have to set their personal tolerance level and adjust management techniques accordingly. 

Homegrown Mother's Day Offering

Rosa 'Eden'

Flowers are a necessary fixture in any special occasion and roses are the often the top choice.   In celebration of Mother's Day, I thought of presenting all my viewers pictures of the beautiful roses that are currently in bloom in my garden.

  

'Double Delight' Hybrid Tea Rose

 

Hybrid Tea Rose 'America'

 

Rosa 'Graham Thomas'

Rosa 'Abraham Darby'

Rosa 'Evelyn'

 

When my oldest child was in third grade she wrote these phrases about me:

My mom is like a rose

Sweet and beautiful,

She loves me.

But she is also thorny,

She disciplines me.

Happy Mother's Day

Vibrant Pink 'Zephirine Drouhin'

Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin'

Like a celebrity at the peak of her stardom,  'Zephirine Drouhin' was the most photographed subject in my garden yesterday.  The warm sun seemed to have pulled the sepals away from the buds giving way to the petals to explode into beautiful cerise pink flowers. 

'Zephirine Drouhin' roses flank our garage doors - adding a romantic look to the otherwise drab section of the house.  When in bloom, they command a great deal of attention to passers-by.  Visitors who get close to them also notice the pleasing fragrance of the flowers. 

Technically speaking, climbing roses are not climbing plants.   When I say climbing plants - these are the plants that are naturally capable attach themselves to structures as they grow such as clematis and ivy.  Climbing roses on the other hand, have long canes that can be trained to grow upwards on structures.  This is the case with my 'Zephirine Drouhin' roses.   The canes are supported in place by thick wires that hang under the gutter.   

This rose has pale green leaves (I used to think that it was always in need of nitrogen fertilizer).   They seem to be tolerant to shade; my roses are plated on a north-facing side of the house which allows only the afternoon sun.    

 

 

This bourbon rose is a repeat bloomer.  But my observation is that is susceptible to aphids and sometimes black spot and leaf rust.  It could be attributed to the shorter period of exposure to sunlight. 

 'Zephirine Drouhin' - old fashioned, thornless, vibrant pink, and shade tolerant.

Lady Banks

Fig. 1    Rosa banksiae 'Lutea'

Lady Banks rose (Rosa banksiae 'Lutea')  is one of the first roses that blooms in my garden.   Its dainty, soft yellow flowers come in clusters on long arching canes.   This time of the year it provides a surprise spray of color in the 'Down Under' (part of the yard).  It blooms profusely but only once a year. 

Fig. 2     The fence provides a support for its arching slender canes.

 Some of the cane lean against the fence on the eastern side of the yard. This rose could be trained onto  an arbor or strong trellis.

Fig. 3      Canes drape on the nearby plum tree.

This year I allowed some canes to extend beyond to the height of the plum tree growing next to it.  The delicate flowers cascading on the  tree is a very pleasing sight (Fig. 3).  However, knowing how aggressive this rose is, I prune it down every year.  Discipline is required for this rose in order for the plum tree to thrive.   There is mulberry tree nearby which shades it during part of the day and thus regulates its growth a little bit.

Fig. 4    Clusters of tiny soft yellow flowers.

Rosa 'Lady Banks'  has small glossy leaves.  In our area, the plant is evergreen and almost pest-free.  The canes are vigorous growing more ten feet per growing season. The rose is almost thornless which makes it rank high on my list of preferred plants for my garden. 

Rosa banksiae near a creek;  my daughter following some ducks.

Named to honor the wife of an English botanist (Sir Joseph Banks 1743-1820), the Lady Banks rose is nobility in season.

Red Intuition

Fig. 1    Rosa 'Delstriro'  is marketed as 'Red Intuition'

My husband bought me a bunch of beautiful striped red roses last week. The florist at Costco (according to him) was so delighted to inform him that the rose is called 'Red Intuition' and that the other stores do not have them.  With that my curiosity was awakened. 

This is what I found out about the rose 'Red Intuition'.  The registered or official variety name is 'Delstriro' [1].  'Delstriro' is supposed to have resulted from a mutation of the 'Delego' rose variety [1] as discovered by Guy Delbard in 1999.  What a beautiful mutant!   'Red Intuition' is a trademark (marketing name) owned by Delbard, a French company that specializes in breeding work on roses and fruit trees. 

Fig. 2     Perferctly arranged flowers on long stems.

The flowers are beautiful with perfect: double cardinal red petals that are gracefully arranged on long stems.   The feature that makes the flowers distinctly unique is the dark-red-on-red striped petals (Fig. 2) and their large head size.

This particular variety is well known for its superb performance under greenhouse cultivation.  It also responds positively to 'forcing'.   Forcing is the process by which a plant is manipulated to bloom out of season.  This means that 'Delstriro' can be forced to bloom to coincide with the time when red roses are in great demand as in Valentine's Day.  This is a dream variety for flower growers and florists.

 

'Red Intuition' was named the "International Cut Flower of the Year 2000" [2].  It was my personal observation that the flowers remained beautiful and upright for more than a week, probably ten days or so. That is a very long shelf life knowing that they probably came all the way from Colombia or Ecuador and spent some days in a refrigerated room somewhere before my husband purchased them.   

There you have it.  'Delstriro', a rose that mutated from its original traits as 'Delego' [3] into a different but desirable rose.  With its trade name 'Red Intuition', Delstriro (along with 'Pink Intuition' a.k.a Delstripink) has become the choice flower among Hollywood consumers [4].

[1] Hybrid Tea Rose Named 'Delstriro'

[2] Red Intuition

[3] Delego Rose

[4] Pink and Red Intuition on CBS

'Red Intuition' is 'Delstriro' rose.

Rosa 'Gruss an Aachen' in Late September

Rosa 'Gruss an Aachen'

It's the end of September and 'Gruss an Aachen' continues to bloom as if it was still spring.   Disease-free and tolerant to low watering, this rose has been growing in my yard for ten years now.   I bought it from a nursery in Petaluma.  This one does not get as much care as those that are growing within my immediate sight but it had shown no problems at all.  In terms of growth and blooms, 'Gruss an Aachen' is responsive to pruning and fertilizing.  It has been my observation that the flowers are slightly darker when the temperatures are lower as in spring and fall. 

Rosa 'Gruss an Aachen' is an old English shrub rose.  Established in 1909, it is known to have been the first Floribunda rose (characterized by clusters of relatively larger flowers in one stem) as bred by German plant breeder Philipp Geduldig.  Floribundas resulted from crossing Polyantha (clustered sprays of flowers in one stem) and Hybrid tea (shapely and larger single flower per stem) roses in an attempt to combine the characteristics of both parental types.   'Gruss an Aachen' successfully reflects the desirable characteristics of its parents ('Frau Karl Druschki' x 'Franz Deegan') in one plant - multiple blooms per stem with larger shapely flowers. 

Gruss an Aachen means "Greetings to Aachen".  The rose was named so as a tribute to the city of Aachen.

Repeat-flowering shrub rose that loves the sun.

Fragrant and beautiful flowers.

The dark green glossy leaves showed resistance to diseases.

Yellow stamens add contrast to the soft pearly pink petals.  Rounded and fully double flowers. 

Floribunda:  Clusters of flowers in one stem.   

Rosa 'Gruss an Aachen' - beautiful, fragrant, and easy to grow.

Fourth Of July

Rosa 'Fourth Of July' 

(Parentage:  Rosa 'Roller Coaster' x Rosa 'Altissimo')

Happy Fourth of July everyone!  My family just got back from watching the fireworks at the El Dorado Hills Town Center to celebrate the declaration of independence of this country from Britain.  It was then when democracy was born.  In July 4, 1776 the American flag, known as the red-white-and-blue, flew alone. 

 

Rosa 'Fourth Of July'.  There is a rose named after this eventful day because of its explosion of red/white color.   The flowers are composed of 15-petals with fruity fragrance.  The leaves are glossy dark green that are quite resistant to diseases. This climbing rose was winner of the coveted ARRS award in 1999. 

'Fourth Of July' in my garden.  Although this rose is climbing in nature, the one in my garden is a standard rose - it looks like a tree because of the way it was grafted.  It did very well in full sun but I moved it last year in order to open up a space in the grass area.   Now this rose grows along the southern fence where it gets a lot of the afternoon sun.  It is doing considerably fine but not as vigorous as when it was getting both morning and afternoon sun.  It could also be that it is just taking some time to get re-established in this new place.

'Fourth Of July' rose:  Red and white stripes with yellow center.

Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin': Thornless Rose

Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin': Unopened buds

Rosa 'Zephirine Drouhin': Cerise-pink flowers

The rose 'Zephirine Drouhin' is probably the only rose that would qualify to be planted in front of our house flanking our north-facing garage doors.  When I planted them (three plants) my children were small and played on the driveway a lot.   This rose is thornless and kids are safe around it.  I purchased three of them in Petaluma about eight years ago. 

This old Bourbon rose is overwhelmingly fragrant. It produces clusters of stunning cerise-pink old-fashioned flowers throughout spring, summer, and fall.   An excellent candidate to train on arbors, wall, trellises, or around pillars, it grows vigorously up to 10+ feet tall.   The front of our house gets the sun the later in afternoon and yet this rose is doing just fine.  Therefore, I can say that it can tolerate some shade.  This rose is very responsive to fertilizer.  A little complete fertilizer goes along way with this easy-to-grow and delightful rose.   

The problem I've noted with this rose is its tendency to attract aphids and its susceptibility to powdery mildew.  It is possible that the mildew problem could be less in full-sun growing environment.

Consider having 'Zephirine Drouhin' in your garden.  She will surely delight you.

Understory: Rosa 'Sally Holmes'

Rosa 'Sally Holmes'

As mentioned previously, my rose 'Sally Holmes' has gone over my 10-foot tall patio cover.  As a result it has been difficult to make a close-up appreciation of the massive bouquets that it produces.   Although I used to cut the wedding-bouquet-like flowers to delight my children with, it's been a long time since I had the chance to touch one.  Most of the time now the flowers are being ignored except for the constant reminders of their presence through showers of petals that are blown down by the afternoon breeze.  

Well, recently the rose sent out new canes from the base of the plant.  It was amazing to see such flowers produced in an almost 1000-SPF-shade (meaning under a thick tree and the patio cover).   Compared to their sun-kissed counterparts sitting over the shade structure, these flowers exhibited a more pinkish-coloration - which I think is more beautiful.

'Sally Holmes', based on my observations, is tolerant to some shading. 

Madame Isaac Pereire

Rosa 'Madame Isaac Pereire'

The rose 'Madame Isaac Pereire' in my garden technically belongs to my husband because he purchased it with his own gift certificate.   He got it as a present from my mother-in-law.   Originally we planted it close to the patio door where we could enjoy its fragrance easily.  However, that place has become too shady so we moved it to another place for more sunshine.  

This rose is very beautiful with a deep and clear pink color.  I wonder if this is not the basis of the true "rose pink" color.  The plant is a shrub or a short climber.  In my garden it has not proved to be a vigorous grower, so far.  There seem to be more stems and branches showing than leaves.  I am not sure if this is because of the location or my management techniques.  This is to say that I have yet to see a beautiful plant not just flower in her (Madame Isaac Pereire).  

Rosa 'Madame Isaac Pereire':

Rosa 'Madame Isaac Pereire' is an old Bourbon type rose (originated on the Île de Bourbon and first introduced in France).  During the reign of Jules Grévy (French President of the Third Republic), the rose was hybridized by Garcon in 1881 in France but was first introduced in England.  From there it was considered the most fragrant rose.  With the amount of petals produced in every flower it became a prized material for potpourris which was very popular at that time.  It was eventually named after the wife of a well-known Parisian banker.

It is my observation that 'Mme Isaac Pereire' blooms on old wood.  Pruning need to be done only to remove the spent flowers to maximize subsequent blooms.   It also tends to produce beautiful hips (rose fruits) which may become competition for new flowers if not removed.  On the other hand the hips can be a beautiful accent on the plant in the absence of flowers. 

Stroll in your garden and smell the roses.