Rain and Roses

We had a lot of rain, thunderstorms and strong winds last week.

Handel still looks pretty good

The storm lasted for a few days, and while the rain was welcome, the wind did a lot of damage to my garden. My spireas, in full bloom, look even more disheveled than usual. Many tender new canes on roses were broken off. Quite a few rain-damaged petals too, not to mention rust, mildew and blackspot...

But the flowers on my Souvenir de la Malmaison all opened, to my unending surprise

Oh well, in times like these I am grateful it is not actually my livelihood that is so affected :).

The Dutch irises were fine, but Rosette Delizy shows quite a bit of rain spotting

Take my Soleil d'Or, for instance. I have read so much about this rose, the first Pernetiana, and so uniquely colored. Its claim to fame is the introduction of yellow and orange colors into the breeding of hybrid teas, but this rose is also notorious for lack of disease resistance, awkward growth habit and less than stellar rebloom. I have never seen Soleil d'Or in person. However, I like Pernetiana roses, and grow a few of them...

Condesa de Sastago

... so this fall I finally succumbed to my curiosity and ordered Soleil d'Or to see for myself how bad (or good) this rose is. My band arrived and promptly started to die back. These past few weeks it grew a little, and set 8 buds on a tiny twig. I thought it was a remarkably brave feat for a rose that unfailingly continued to die back and, in six months, never outgrew its 1 gallon pot. I removed the buds, of course, except for one, because at this point I just wanted to see whether the rose is worth ordering again. Well, today the bud opened.



Not only is the color spectacular, but there is also that distinctive tangerine fragrance. I fell in love with the bloom, although the plant's lack of vigor and disease resistance is truly unparalleled (in my garden, at least). Still, I think I might try it again, in warmer weather. Maybe my perseverance will pay off :).

Luckily, not all is bad. Some roses continue to be delightful no matter what the weather might throw at them. Mme Bérard is one such delight.

Cynthia Brooke is in full bloom now, and I am very happy with it too. No disease, no balling, no issues whatsoever, except that its fragrance is not as strong as I expected. Mine is own root and fairly young, and so far has done really well in a big pot.

Now the days are finally getting warmer, and the garden is coming more and more alive.



 I spend so much time outside now, watching the flowers open.

Break o'Day

If only spring could last forever.

Flax lewisii