Barbra Streisand

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Don’t let these pretty photographs fool you.   I have had this rose for about five years and this is the first Barbra Streisand flower I have seen.

Phew…  I am glad I got that off my chest. Continue reading

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Elizabeth Harkness

 

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Day 3

It’s rose season, again, and the first off the rank for this year is Elizabeth Harkness.

Looking at how beautiful this rose is, I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it before.

My reading revealed a few reasons.  Firstly, I read that this rose is best in cool climates which the summer in the South West of Western Australia is not.  Secondly, its beautiful blooms tend to fade to an ivory (read “off”) white as the temperatures rise.  So, during the heat of the previous summers when I have been seeking a pretty rose to photograph, Elizabeth Harkness would not have been at her best. Continue reading

Adolf Horstmann

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Adolf Horstmann is not a rose I can recommend.  I am not sure whether Adolf Horstmann doesn’t like the Western Australian climate (hot and dry), needs a bit more pampering than mine gets, or whether it is just that my bush is a dud.  Whatever the reason, my Adolf Horstmann is the most miserable of all my roses.  It is small (about 20cm tall) spindly and regularly sports dead wood and black spot. Continue reading

Sundance

 

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The things I do for this blog.  I didn’t know much about the growing habits of this week’s Rose of the Week so I just drove down to my rose garden (on my ride-on mower) in the pitch black of night to have a look at my bush so I don’t lead you astray in this post.

So, what can I tell you?

Continue reading

Mariana

020copy I am going to have trouble with this post because, to be honest, I don’t know much anything about Mariana.  I presume I acquired this rose the year I went through a rose catalogue and bought nearly all the ‘apricot’ roses in it.  As it turns out, Mariana is not my kinda rose, but every rose in my garden is going to have its moment of glory and, this week, it is Mariana’s turn.  I have just checked out the current catalogue of the nursery in question and Mariana is no-where to be seen.

Anyway, I will do my best.  Mariana is a Hybrid Tea rose.  The blooms can just about be described as variable in colour.  They are, in part, orange, deep coral and deep yellow.  The blooms are typical hybrid tea-shaped, semi-cupped, with a high centre.  The petals, however, are quite distinctive, as some are ruffled along the edges.  There is no perfume. Continue reading

Ophelia

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I went for a wander in my rose garden the other day and saw four beautiful Ophelia buds in various stages of development.  Instantly, I decided they would feature as this week’s Rose of the Week.  Knowing nothing about Ophelia, I dragged out my rose books and started reading. I was amazed at what I found. Continue reading

Blue Moon

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When the first mauve Hybrid Teas and Floribundas made their debut at the end of the 1940’s, they were met enthusiastically by the hybridist as a stepping stone for the desired blue rose, whose arrival no later than 1965 was confidently predicted.  “Well, we are still waiting for it – and it appears that we may wait forever, as mauve roses contain no blue pigment.  Their purple tint comes from the breakdown of the red pigment in combination with tannins.”

“Ignore the many optimistic names promising blue:  so far the bluest of the Modern Roses are pale lilacs …”   Blue Moon is a perfect example. Continue reading