Monday, March 26, 2012

Spring continues to unfold

Serratipetala’ is a Found China Rose, discovered in France in 1912. Its flowers are so petite – an inch and a half across. The petals are serrated, and the blooms have a flat form that darken with age. What that means is that when I went back the next day, this flower was crimson with touches of pink. To me, it’s an incredibly interesting rose. Also incredible is the fact that it grows larger than both HMF and Vintage Gardens report. Mine is growing in a pot and not a large one, because I thought it would be a diminutive, three-feet tall rose bush. I’ve been thinking of putting ‘Serratipetala’ in the ground, but every place I consider may not be big enough. After all, if it grows to a 5x5 bush in a pot, what will it do with the blank check offered by good old terra firma? Another gardening unknown to wrestle with.

IMG_9789

Seemingly bunches of daylilies are sporting flower buds. Oh, be still my heart. Some of them are newcomers, and I don’t even know what I’m getting excited about because I have forgotten who they are without my cheat-sheet. It’s simply hard for me to believe that spring is on the move.

IMG_9790
IMG_9791
IMG_9793

Mrs. B R Cant’ is beautiful again. She’s not a typical delicate Tea Rose but a sturdy, robust one. Even her fragrance is strong. She has tough, pretty much disease-proof foliage, too. Beauty and brawn.

IMG_9798
IMG_9799

Souvenir de la Malmaison’ has many buds and some flowers, too. This cluster was rather breathtaking to me.

IMG_9805

A couple of days ago ‘Polonaise’ was looking like this. This evening there were two gorgeous open blooms. I went running in the house but not for the camera. I wanted DH to see these red roses. With long face and mumbled protests he came out…and enjoyed himself and the garden and the swing and the lovely cool evening in the shade of the oak tree. Some things are worth the effort. And that’s my long excuse for not having a photo of Polonaise’s first blooms.

IMG_9808

The two big fat buds one over the other in the lower half of this photo were gloriously open today. I would suggest that you use your imagination, but you can’t even come close.

IMG_9810

Richard’s Rose’ is a tiny, little bug-eaten thing, but he has a couple of new shoots and is putting up a good fight. I think I see evidence of a squirrel attack. I also think I should put up a defense perimeter around the little guy.

IMG_9813

Right next to ‘Richard’s Rose’ is the bare-root “Pink Hollyhock” from Walmart. The other one I planted didn’t come up. I hope this is ‘Summer Carnival’ since other cultivars don’t stand much chance in Florida. This one looks like the Summer Carnivals that I’ve grown – so far.

IMG_9815

A bud of ‘Marchesa Boccella'. I guess my hard pruning didn’t hurt her, and since she’s looking fairly bushy, I guess maybe it worked out okay. You can see her whole self in her purple pot below.

IMG_9797
IMG_9816

Here’s a volunteer from last year’s seed project whose name I can not remember. I think I have more in the front garden. How fitting! SDLM and Polonaise now occupy a red, white and blue bed. Well, in the heat of summer SDLM will be off-white anyway.

IMG_9818

Now she’s gorgeous pale ‘baby pink’.

IMG_9819

This ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’ is now six feet wide, fitting from edge to edge in this bed, but she’s only about three feet tall and hardly thorny at all.

IMG_9820

I’m really pleased with this ‘remodeled’ bed. You are free to use as much imagination as you need to picture Richard’s Rose, the hollyhocks and coreopsis, and the daylilies and purple coneflowers – in a few years – filling in between ‘Louis Philippe’ on the left and ‘Arcadia Louisiana Tea’ on the right. Packed in like sardines, aren’t they?
IMG_9823

Referring to my cheat-sheet, this one is ‘Seductor’. Won’t be long. I’m going to try to count buds this year on the daylilies. I’m not really as compulsive as that may sound, merely curious.

IMG_9824

‘Maman Cochet’ has a rather imperfect bud, perhaps from thrips. They’re baaaacck !! Crap-ola!

IMG_9825

Maman Cochet’ (on the left) is looking much fuller already now that her new canes in the middle are taller. These bushes (‘General Schablikine’ is on the right) are about five and half feet tall, and this portion of the bed is about ten feet wide.

IMG_9826

Here’s a close-up of the young canes in the upper left quadrant of ‘Maman Cochet’, showing flower buds already. When these flowers are spent, these canes will sprout new shoots from about two inches below these buds at the abscission point, and the rose will get taller in this way and make more flowers again at the ends of all that new growth. By the way, Maman is French for mother/mama. Monsieur Cochet was the breeder of this rose.

IMG_9828 (2)

‘Maman Cochet’ is a huskier Tea Rose than ‘General Schablikine’ who has already had one basal break chewed off by an %^$## squirrel. These roses are three and a half years old, planted in September, 2008 and still quite juvenile in their maturity. The General definitely needs more basal breaks…and some barbed wire.

IMG_9827

‘Maman Cochet’ is apparently an earlier bloomer than ‘General Schablikine’. Some Tea Roses definitely wait for hotter temps to start their blooming. Of course, YMMV.  he-he. Now that I know what that abbreviation means, it makes me chuckle. Your mileage may vary. Hmmm, garden mileage. It is rather variable, isn’t it? And I feel like some of us (moi?) have garden mileage envy. In reality, fast or slow our gardens should be accepted unconditionally and not judged against others. Gardens should be green…not gardeners.

IMG_9827 (2)

6 comments:

  1. Your Roses look so lovely. I can't believe you even have buds on your Daylilies. Seems awfully early blooming even for down there. I'm afraid with all our early blooming stuff, we are all going to have done in plants by summer.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great Post Sherry! I love seeing what is going on in your garden. We have a few of the same roses. You also have some of my old friends that just didn’t work out in my garden for one reason or another. I have several daylilies with buds too. Yesterday, I had two daylily flowers. Very Exciting! Spring is definitely in the air!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looking great! How frustrating to have a squirrel do that to your roses. The only trouble they give me is getting into the bird feeder. Mrs B R Cant looks divine! I can't smell anything from her sadly. I bought her for the scent well that and she was end of the year special from Ashdown years ago. Can't wait till spring flush!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Everything is budding out - it's going to be a glorious flush of roses and daylilies soon. I love your attitude about YMMV. Yes, gardens do vary greatly, and we should all love our own garden, no matter the stage. So glad your husband went outside and enjoyed the garden. Sometimes I feel the same way - but once I get out there, I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What do you mean spring...it's starting to feel like summer already.:)

    So many pretties in your garden. I can see why your excitement is growing day by day. Mrs. Cant is stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Sherry, your Mrs. B. R. Cant flowers are gorgeous! I love your blue volunteer seedling, too. It does go so well with the colors of the roses. Looks like your are in for a wonderful spring flush, considering all the buds on the roses bushes!
    Christina

    ReplyDelete