Roses bloomed BEFORE peonies - weird spring

12 years ago

Hi folks

We've been noticing how much unusual overlap there has been in the colder zones among all the spring bulbs because of the harsh winter and late warmup in spring. I would have thought all the spring bloomers would have finished before the roses start, though, since the roses are off to a slow and relatively unexciting start (full spring flush is still weeks away and will be small).

What struck me this week was that I have over 30 roses with at least one bloom on them, a few in full bloom, and my peonies are still tightly clustered for the most part. Usually the peonies bloom with the columbine and allium and iris, and are long gone before the roses, just providing some filler foliage for the rest of the summer. Since I cut almost all of the roses back to the ground, I would have thought they'd take at least as long as the peonies would to build up blooms from the ground as well. Go figure - I have teeny clumps of rose foliage putting out blooms already at below knee height, but the peonies are still taking their sweet time.

Here's a photo with evidence of this overlap. This is the only peony that has bloomed, out of about 8 bushes that are still tight buds, and the blossoms that were buds three days ago are already spent in this heat. The big rose is Quadra, and in the background Alexander Mackenzie and John Cabot are clamoring for their own arch. You can even see some spent allium to the right of the photo.

Weird but fun surprises this spring.

Cynthia

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Comments (6)

elks
12 years ago
Nice to see you didn't lose every rose cane to the ground.

Steve
Baboosic z5b NH
12 years ago
Boy, it is a weird spring. My buds are all a least a week away from opening. The anticipation is killing me! Your pics are such a tease - but they're so beautiful - thank you :)
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dublinbay z6 (KS)
12 years ago
I often have some peony bloomers overlapping the earlier roses coming into bloom. Here are two examples:

Bridal (something) Peony--with Double Knock Out and iris.
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Cora Stubbs Peony (or maybe Bowl of Beauty Peony--not sure) with roses Our Lady of Guadalupe (right) and Easter Basket (bottom front), plus a purple pansy.
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And these are not even late blooming peonies. I have a couple plum colored peonies that always come along last, after these peonies are nearly done.

I don't remember how peonies and roses behaved when I lived in Nebraska, however. Perhaps the greater cold and longer winters have some effect on blooming times.

What I did find weird here is that the iris I planted decades ago all bloomed fine after our rough winter, but the new iris I added a little over a year ago didn't bloom at all even though they bloomed beautifully last spring. I have no idea why that happened. The green spears look very abundant and healthy--just not blooming, and now iris season is 98% gone.

Mother Nature sure does have her quirks at times, doesn't she! LOL

Kate
mzstitch
12 years ago
I can't add anything to the conversation but I just had to say your pictures are stunning Cynthia and Kate!
seil zone 6b MI
12 years ago
That's gorgeous, Cynthia!

No existing roses blooming here yet. I do have some blooms on the ones I just bought though. And the peonies are in full bloom!
nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
Original Author
12 years ago
Kate and Seil - those are drop-dead gorgeous pictures! I love the contrast of deeply saturated colors in each of those - the purple-pink-white of the iris combo and the deep carnation pinks against the purple pansies and whitish Easter Basket, then the deeply saturated white peonies (in my world, white can be saturated when there's not a hint of cream) against those great poppies. It's great fun to mix in those perennials with the roses! Glad y'all liked my photo too.

Elks - yes, it's nice to have those lovely Canadian Explorers that were three of the very few roses in my yard that didn't have to be cut to the ground. Since they're all climbers, that gives them the necessary head start to catch up to the peonies I'm sure.

No clue about the iris conundrum, Kate, except that this was a decidedly odd year for timing of everything, and maybe the iris felt they passed their window of opportunity without a chance to build up the blooms. Certainly the peonies are passing at a record pace in my yard.

Hang in there ratdogheads - rose season is around the corner. As long as those buds are forming there'll be roses before too long. As always, we want pictures.

Cynthia