Sunday, March 30, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
One of the very few roses I have on R. fortuniana is my 'Marechal Niel', which I think is about 10 years old now. The midday light was harsh, I'll try again at dusk and dawn. Bummer it refuses to be a breeder for me either as Mom or Dad...makes me wonder how 'Diamond Jubilee' was bred at the end of WWII!
Friday, March 14, 2014
I bred this rose in Denver the summer of 1998.....(General Jacqueminot X Stephen's Big Purple). It was chosen by Colorado Plant Select and is being retailed in that state and at least Wyoming at several nurseries, and can be gotten mail order from High Country Roses. It does SO well in Denver I suspect it would fail here but will ask for a plant to trial here. Wonderful perfume and very remontant even in Denver's short growing season.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
I've got buds on my "Jo An's Pink Perpetual" from Denver's Fairmount Cemetery that has JUST barely refoliated...I will sacrifice those in a hard cut back and feeding, try to root what canes I remove, then hope for a lush regrowth and heavier bloom in 6-8 weeks. Pics are from previous years. When Fred Boutin visited the original bush at the cemetery some years before I came back home to Tampa from Denver in 2002, he had the same immediate reaction that I'd had for years....a likely possible ID is 'Champion of the World'. I've been growing it for several years now in an 18 gallon Water Wise Container Garden on the north side of my house outside my office front window for maximum winter chill and minimal heating by the harsh south Tampa winter sun. Pics are from previous years. I'll store in the fridge some pollen to boink 'Seagull' with this April. In Denver the bush was MUCH taller, vase-shaped, blooms quite a bit bigger, gave a decent autumn flush in that cruelly short growing season, and set just a few hips. I don't recall ever trying to breed with it. A few years before I left Denver I made a clone for that yard and loved it....fast grower.
Monday, March 10, 2014
After months of him-hawing I today FINALLY chose where to plant my remaining cold climate roses...some go into large container gardens, some go into the ground, all in north facing locales that will spare them the harsh south sun of winter here in Tampa. They include 'Great Western', 'Albertine', 'Louise Odier', 'La Reine', 'New Dawn', 'Ballerina' and 'Conrad Ferdinand Meyer'.
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