The Roses Are Blooming...

Spring is finally here, with masses of blooms, vibrant color, wafting fragrance and a high pollen count making allergy medication a staple in my diet.

Zéphirine Drouhin saying hello to climbing Cécile Brunner with Rosette  Delizy watching on at right

The dry, warm and windy weather we've been having made the flush of blooms on roses arrive faster and turn crisp seemingly in a matter of days...

High winds blew some Cécile Brunner's canes into the germander below making for this pretty shot. I do not arrange flowers in my pictures in any way (other than taking off a crispy bloom here and there)

 I have been busy with the camera, but not to much effect: the sun is bright even early in the morning, and I am engaged in an endless frustrating battle against glare and blown highlights.

Crépuscule

 I miss the overcast days we used to have last year...

Golden Celebration engulfing an arbor

But enough complaining. In this rather disjointed post, I have included a few single bloom shots of some not so common roses....

'Old Korbel Gold' is blooming next to a doublefile viburnum

Général Barthelot, a turn-of-the-century hybrid tea, starts out very bright....

...and fades to a reddish magenta

Intermezzo, grown in a pot, leans wearily against a house wall

...although some well known ones somehow sneaked in too:)

Carding Mill

Lady Hillingdon

I have also made a special effort to show at least a few bush shots, much as I dislike them and however  unglamorous they generally are.

Believe it or not, here is a bush shot of my Eugène de Beauharnais. By the size of the blue nierembergia that's trying to overwhelm it you can probably judge just how tiny this rose is:)

I grow a few mostly classic own root hybrid teas in permanent pots where they seem to do much better than in the ground.

Cynthia Brooke with its sumptuous cabbagey blooms. Heinrick Wendland and Dame Edith Helen are behind it.

 There is no root competition and I can fertilize them easily and frequently.

Etoile de Feu, one of my all time favorite roses for its unusual terracota color, elegant growth, clean foliage and strong fragrance. It is at least 4 years old and grows very slowly on its own roots.

Watering in summer is a pain though :).

A lovely curly bloom of Etoile de Feu

My front yard is landscaped mostly with Austins and other modern roses.

Pat Austin contemplating an azalea

 The back is where I keep most of my antiques and other treasures.

'Secret Garden Musk Climber', very prickly and very fragrant. Rather unusually, it blackspots a little almost every spring.

 Here is the raised bed that runs the width of almost the entire back yard.

There are a lot of summer blooming perennials, mostly penstemons, in that bed providing color when many roses are resting

 Left to right, the big roses are Zéphirine Drouhin (in the lawn behind the little pluot tree), climbing Cécile Brunner, Penelope, Rosette Delizy in front of a lemon tree, Crépuscule snaking all along the fence and Angel Face (not, perhaps, a treasure, but great fragrance).

Penelope between Cécile and Crépuscule. 'Benny Lopez' is just starting to bloom at lower left

There are also quite a few little roses tucked in between the big ones.

A cluster of Break o'Day blooms all the way from bud to fully open

 I actually think that good air circulation around every rose (i.e. spacing them out) is not necessary in my arid climate (I can't really say for those who garden with high blackspot pressure).  Also, grouping plants tightly seems to save on water as the ground is almost completely shaded (and mulched).

A bud of my young Sir Henry Segrave. I have recently been asked to share my pictures of this rose with the author of a biography of  Sir Henry who was a pilot in the First World War and held multiple speed racing records afterwards. The rose was introduced a few years after his death.

In a corner of the yard there is a wrought iron arbor with Mme Berard over it. For some reason, this rose does not seem to gain much girth preferring to grow a very few canes ever longer. It blackspots a little and mildews a little, never enough to disfigure it.  It smells delicious and changes in color from flesh, to peach, to shell pink. It sets hips very willingly and provides me with a season's long exercise in climbing the ladder to keep it deadheaded :).

Imagine, Colette and Ulrich Brunner fils are behind it.

Much of the fence behind the arbor is occupied by Colette, one of my prettiest climbers. It has not been very vigorous for me, and not very fragrant either. However, the plant is always clean and the shape and color of the blooms are lovely. It repeats pretty well too.

I hope you enjoyed this rather disorganized tour of a part of my garden. The roses are looking splendid and there is no time like spring to enjoy them. But now I have to go and water the pots again :(

A cane of Penelope covered in blooms, with Crépuscule looking on