I have started this post three times and each time it has been titled something different. The first version was Orange Silk (which is what this rose is labelled in my garden) but Orange Silk is not a variegated rose and this rose most certainly is. Continue reading
Ooh … it has been so long since I did a rose post. These posts are called Rose of the Week and it has been more than a week since my last one. Sorry, I have been a bit slack.
Back to the task at hand … Make a Wish, as you most certainly would have guessed, is named for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Australia which grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. $1.00 from the sale of each rose in Australia is donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Continue reading
This is a beautiful rose. I just love the soft rose-pink flowers but, geez, it is hard to find much information on it. What I do know is: this Summer Breeze, which was bred by Meilland (France) and introduced in 1987, should not be confused with the Kordes’ Summer Breeze which was introduced in 2000. The Kordes’ Summer Breeze is a vigorous climbing rose which has bright pink single flowers with pale cream centres. Continue reading
Tuscan Sun is a modern Floribunda rose with large flowers that are carried in small clusters. It has deep apricot buds that open to stunning high-centred blooms of hybrid tea form. They are bronze/orange/apricot in the centre with coppery pink outer petals. They finish a coppery pink. The blooms are 10 cm wide, have 25 petals and are borne on long, strong stems which makes them perfect for the vase. As a bonus, they last well as a cut flower. Continue reading
I haven’t done a Rose of the Week lately, and it’s not because I don’t have roses to showcase. In fact, Maus told me today that the roses are looking delightful. But there is the nub of the problem … Maus told me … Continue reading
Route 66 was a spur of the moment purchase. I saw the magnificent blooms whilst wandering around a nursery and one was in my cart before I knew it.
The blooms of Route 66 are described a velvet black/purple. They are single (4-8 petals) and form in large clusters. The blooms form on strong stems which make them suitable for the vase. And they do last well and look smashing in a vase, particularly when matched with a delicate pink rose.
The fragrance of the blooms is described as clove but can’t detect it.
I must say, however, that I have been disappointed in Route 66. It is not that the blooms are not magnificent, it is just that they are not particularly prolific and the bush is not particularly robust or vigorous. It reportedly grows to one metre but mine is nowhere near that. The bush, though, is healthy, it doesn’t suffer overly from the normal rose issues.
All in all, I would only recommend this rose to someone who must have a single rose of this colour in their collection.
Route 66 was bred by Tom Carruth (US, 2001) and was released in Australia in 2006. Route 66 is classified as a Floribunda rose.
Iceberg is the most widely grown rose of all time and, for this reason, I was reluctant to have one. What an idiot! It is so widely grown because it is an outstanding rose. It has been described as the best rose of the 20th century, and even, of all time. Botanica describes Iceberg as head and shoulders above its peers and counterparts. Wow! Continue reading
The colour and form of Fourth of July cry out celebration. The blooms are reminiscent of the fireworks which form part of the Independence Day celebrations. Its name is very apt. Continue reading
Another pink beauty. Madam President, or Madame President as it is also called, is a Floribunda rose with large Hybrid Tea-style flowers.
Botanica’s Roses describes Madam President as having ‘one of the loveliest flowers of any rose’. It continues, ‘The buds are beautifully shaped and open slowly to very full blooms of camellia like perfection…”. Someone writing for Botanica sure likes Madam President, and I can understand why. Continue reading
Apricot Gem is a Floribunda rose. It is a low growing rose with double, intense, apricot blooms that are borne in clusters.
As its height at maturity is low, it is ideal for a patio or at the edge of a garden bed. Continue reading
Passion Fruit Garden 