seil, these are very lovely roses! My absolute favorite is Koko Loco! I had Lavender Jewel but it died on me due to my neglect. Your photo tells me that I have to get it again :-)! At least it is not so difficult to obtain!

Thanks for the visual treat!

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

Thank you, Christina! I can't really say much yet about how Koko Loco grows because she's so new to me but she sure is a beauty!

Hi Sharon, Your roses look beautiful. I too purchased Koco Loco and love it. Mine has been super slow to grow but we have had such hot weather and no rain at all but it has survived so I hope it doubles in size next year. Its blooms are gorgeous though. I love your little purple mini you think might be Lavender Jewel. I am soooo ready for fall and hopefully a little bit of rain and bunches of cooler weather. Judy

Very nice roses Seil! Please tell me more about Julia Child. Does her blooms fade very much in the sun? How often does it bloom? Does it survive winters very well? How much winterkill on the canes?
Are Japanese beetles attracted to it? lol

Thank you, Judy! No, not at all ready for fall yet here! We're finally getting some decent weather! I'd hate for it to get cold now.

Thanks, Jim! I got JC last year and it spent the winter in a pot. It did very well and came out of winter storage green to the tips. It's been planted now into the new bed and it never missed a beat from the transplant. No wilt at all and kept blooming the whole time. It gives a huge spring flush like the one above and then there seems to be at least one or two blooms open at all times the rest of the summer. The blooms do fade some as they age be do not go anywhere near white. They maintain a softer yellow color. Hardly any black spot at all except for a few leaves at the very bottom and no powdery mildew on it ever. And I'd have to say that I've never seen any JBs on it and it's close to my Golden Wings that the JBs just devoured.

Little Sir Echo is charming, Seil. Beautiful pics.

Great pics. What settings do you use on your Fuji camera? Julia Child is amazing!

LIEBESZAUBER I thought I had a better picture than this.

JASMINA Wet weather caused browning this year. Too much sun to capture bloom detail here.

LAGUNA is in background here. I don't know what I think of this climber. Very vigorous--and thorny as hell! This spring it was just too hot and wet, and blooms didn't last long. This fall I have to keep cutting back--not fun with all those thorns.

Looooooove your Mini-Mystery and the Koko Loco as my favorites, Seil! Lovely other roses as well.

Hey, Mantis does your Laguna have strong scent or not??? Thanks! I'm looking for a very vigorous pink that stays pink without bleaching to white. But fragrance is crucial or it's gonna be murdered, lol!

Whoops, I meant later murdered if I buy the rose and it doesn't have scent. I've gotten rid of soooo many scentless or weak scented roses in my garden, that it's getting expensive for me to keep buying, then SPing....Thanks!

I remember it as being quite fragrant, but was really frustrated this spring removing those heavy trusses in the heat. It opens well, but doesn't like the hot weather and many-petaled blooms then deteriorate. The picture above was the year before when it was not so hot during bloom season. The prickles are a real detriment! One of the most prickly roses I have encountered. But it is vigorous! The color is a strong reddish pink--doesn't fade, but will wilt with heat.

I love them all but especially Julia and Koko Loco. Where did you get KC?
Kathy

Thank you, Krista. LSE is a sweetie!

Thanks, mantis! I always shoot with the macro on and usually zoom in to frame the bloom the way I want. That's how I get a lot of the black and blurred out backgrounds. I also use the fill flash all the time. It eliminates some of the shadowing on the blooms. But I don't use the auto setting. On another forum a few years back a really great photographer posted a series of photo workshops. He really taught me a lot. He stated that he always shoots his photos a little dark because you can always brighten them but an over exposed photo is hopeless. I use the program setting and stop down one, or two if it's really bright out. This year I've been playing with the full manual setting too. I'm trying to get better reds that down't flare out at you. I haven't perfected it but I think it's getting better. Sometimes I'll take 10 pictures of the same bloom with different settings to see which one comes out best! That's the best way to learn. Experiment with you own camera and see what works for you. And you don't need a really expensive camera to do it. The camera I learned all this on was a very cheap point and shoot Fuji. All it had was a macro setting and a 3X zoom. Just go out and play with the settings and see what you get. Take a sheet of paper with you and write down the settings for each photo so you'll know which ones you liked and pretty soon you'll just get an eye for what works best in what kind of light. It's fun!

I concur with what Seil says--except for Japanese beetles. There were plenty of them on my Julia Child. It's a terrific rose in terms of vigor, hardiness, and floriferousness--at least in my experience. Blooms definitely do fade, but can be a nice contrast with the darker yellow. Alas, it was too hot this spring.

Are you still using the Fuji fine pix 5700?

Gorgeous! I can't wait for my KOCO LOCO to look like that! It almost died, but it's hangin' in there....

I'm so jealous! Your Julia Child and Love are much more beautiful than mine this year! I also added Koko Loco,a dn agree that it is an amazing rose! The colors are very unique and mine can't seem to stop blooming! Beatiful pictures!

Thank you, Kathy, you and I must have crossed posts! I actually got Koko Loco from one of the members of my rose society. He was given several band plants at the National Convention this spring. He potted them up and grew them into fairly good sized plants and then asked who wanted the extras. I grabbed one quick and I'm so glad I did!

No, mantis, it's the S700 not the 5700 model.

Thanks, Beth, I hope yours makes it too! I know you like the odd balls like I do!

Thank you, TNY! JC is doing great but my Love hasn't been anything to write home about. For the last couple of years it's been a one cane wonder and I wonder how it survives winter! It was one of the ones that got moved to a sunnier location in the front bed and it has 2 buds coming now! This may be the first time in years I get a second bloom! I like the way KL turns sort of lavender as it ages too. And I'm kind of partial to roses that look ruffled like that. And the ones that get points like Love does. Heck, I guess I like them all!

Seil I think your photography could make anything gorgeous. Your roses look so healthy and the foliage is so green. The photos of Julia and Koko Loco are exceptional.

Love Jasmina and Laguna.

Renee

Thank you, Renee, but it also helps that I don't take photos of the ugly roses, lol! I get my share of those too. And there always seems to be junk in the backgrounds and if you look real close there are spots on the leaves sometimes too. Like I've said elsewhere, I groom my roses before I shoot and take hundreds of pictures. Then I'm very selective about which ones I keep. I also crop out and clean up distracting messes in the backgrounds (and an occasional bug too).