Roses and roses.
I vowed to not buy any more roses for 2014, but I wound up ordering a band of early Austin rose Cymbeline from Rogue Valley Roses...I guess I will see if they give it to me!
The roses are all starting to bloom and several bloomed for the first time this year. Allegra, sadly enough, only decided to give us 2 flowers in its second year that have not yet opened. Both Rook and Umbra bloomed for the first time. Rook is a very, very nice rose and the flowers are a little larger than I thought they'd be. Umbra looks like a very tall version of Belle de Crecy with prettier flowers and the bugs don't seem to like it as much. We also got a real Aptos, as opposed to the Aptos seedling Northland Rosarium gave us by mistake a few years ago. The real Aptos has similar leaves but the habit is different, it hardly has any thorns, the flowers are prettier than the seedling's but the fragrance isn't as good. It also does not seem to be as good a grower. I hope it thrives...it was so pretty before sawflies molested all the leaves! The Aptos seedling is now HUGE and has horrible thorns but it's still a charming plant...in its own way.
I find myself surprisingly happy with Winchester Cathedral. I know it's not one of the more sought-after Austin roses, but it's been relatively disease-free and hardy, and those pristine white flowers are very charming! And didn't somebody say Claire Austin was a weak, sickly rose? Ours just decided to ring in the new year by shooting out a 5+foot tall cane over the course of two weeks! It's covered with flower buds and weathered our horrible winter that cut Jude the Obscure and Evelyn in half with almost no dieback.
Speaking of weak and sickly...Reine Victoria. I hope it will improve. We were sent it by mistake instead of Reine des Violettes and when we got our replacement rose, Reine Victoria was twice the size, but since then Reine des Violettes has outpaced it in every way.
The roses are all starting to bloom and several bloomed for the first time this year. Allegra, sadly enough, only decided to give us 2 flowers in its second year that have not yet opened. Both Rook and Umbra bloomed for the first time. Rook is a very, very nice rose and the flowers are a little larger than I thought they'd be. Umbra looks like a very tall version of Belle de Crecy with prettier flowers and the bugs don't seem to like it as much. We also got a real Aptos, as opposed to the Aptos seedling Northland Rosarium gave us by mistake a few years ago. The real Aptos has similar leaves but the habit is different, it hardly has any thorns, the flowers are prettier than the seedling's but the fragrance isn't as good. It also does not seem to be as good a grower. I hope it thrives...it was so pretty before sawflies molested all the leaves! The Aptos seedling is now HUGE and has horrible thorns but it's still a charming plant...in its own way.
I find myself surprisingly happy with Winchester Cathedral. I know it's not one of the more sought-after Austin roses, but it's been relatively disease-free and hardy, and those pristine white flowers are very charming! And didn't somebody say Claire Austin was a weak, sickly rose? Ours just decided to ring in the new year by shooting out a 5+foot tall cane over the course of two weeks! It's covered with flower buds and weathered our horrible winter that cut Jude the Obscure and Evelyn in half with almost no dieback.
Speaking of weak and sickly...Reine Victoria. I hope it will improve. We were sent it by mistake instead of Reine des Violettes and when we got our replacement rose, Reine Victoria was twice the size, but since then Reine des Violettes has outpaced it in every way.