Some Late Fall Roses

We had a mild rainy fall this year, which is why, perhaps, I had more than the usual number of roses trying to bloom. Some blooms look horrible, but some spectacular. Honestly, I have no idea why.

Most of the hybrid teas have gone to bed. A lot of mine stop blooming around November and those that still have buds have trouble opening them...

Here is a beautiful one from April in Paris, one of my most vigorous hybrid teas that just doesn't know when to stop.... The petals are pretty thick, but ball horribly nonetheless. Those that manage to open show a lot of rain spotting. This rose is one of the first to be pruned because I just don't want to look at lots of those...




My Yves Piaget is a good fall rose showing its most intense color at this time.

However, my bush mildews constantly, and the overall look is not pretty. I tend to prune these buds off just because I get annoyed with looking at its version of snow.

Sheila's Perfume is a floribunda that never stopped growing. It reached 12' this year. Lots of people are unhappy with it but it likes my yard. It mildews a little, but is also very vigorous, strongly fragrant and blooming well. It is a phototropic rose usually looking like this:

However, in late fall, with a lower intensity of light, blooms look creamy yellow, but still pretty:

The Trumpeter is an indestructible rose. Nothing bothers it and it blooms in the rain, during freezes, and in the heat.  No bad days for this one...

Rosette Delizy is a pretty good fall bloomer for me. The blooms often ball in the rain but there are so many of them that a lot do manage to open in between the rains. Beautiful color too.

Pat Austin is great in the fall too. The color is not as bright as in the summer:

And it does sometimes turns a not so pretty pink:

But the blooms open all the time, rain or not, and there are lots of them.

William Shakespeare 2000 is another one I have to mention. Here is a picture I took of it a couple of days ago when I was pruning it. You can see the naked canes on the left. Perfect form and color, and wonderfully fragrant.

Rugosas in the fall are all about hips and foliage. Here is Purple Pavement brightening up my shrub border.

Lady Hilligdon blooms well in the fall too. There is little balling despite the thin petals, but the color becomes a much lighter yellow. It is still pretty and graceful to my eye.

I would like to mention two roses at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden that I am particularly impressed with. One is Mel's Heritage, a wonderful climber and a rose I would very much enjoy growing if it weren't the size of my entire backyard. Here is a cluster of fragrant blooms from a late November visit to the garden.

The other one is Lupe's Buttons, a rose I love for the simplicity and elegance of its blooms, a lovely rounded growth habit, and clean plentiful foliage.

I would grow it too if it were a little smaller...