My father passed the rose gene to me. I have solid, fond memories of him coming up the walkway after work, inspecting & deadheading as he came. He has been gone 10yrs now, but I feel his presence whenever I am out in my roses.

A few more days and the flower on Twice in a Blue Moon seems to be disintegrating faster than the one on Blue Moon, even though BM's flower spent its first few days in the very warm greenhouse. BM also has several buds, which TiaBM doesn't. BM is, like I said, also more pastel purple, where TiaBM seems to tend more towards pink. TiaBM does have a very large flower, though (possibly larger than BM). Of course, these are only initial impressions. Various descriptions had lead me to believe that TiaBM was merely a superior, hardier BM, but they don't seem that interchangeable to me now. Though more common, I actually think I prefer Blue Moon.

nice collection

Nice！

Beautiful roses. They look quite happy with your care so maybe you should grow more. Lol. They all look simply perfect!! Judy

Thanks, Prettypetals! I'm actually concerned that maybe some of my plastic pots are a tad on the small side, but I'm hoping the roses will thrive for at least a year or two before I have to move them. I would definitely look to grow more - I'm in the market for a vivid yellow (some white welcome, but NO orange) and a spectral red (again, NO orange) - I prefer fragrant roses, and I like the cupped, cabbage-like flower and the tea hybrid ones (no single-flowered varieties). Suggestions welcome! :)

Olivia Rose Austin is so pretty

Thanks, modestgoddess - that's not even a very good picture of her. She's already put up better blooms!

Your roses are lovely and made all the sweeter from memories of your grandmother. Good work!

A few more...

Olivia Rose Austin, better flower:

Blue Moon, second flower to open:

Geoff Hamiltion, first flower:

Well done! You have great looking roses! :-)

All acquired this season. They are actually better than I had imagined - I've read that roses need to settle for a few years before flowering at their best. I hope my greenhouse temperatures are high enough in winter, that my pots are large enough, and that my care is sufficient, so that I'll get to enjoy them next season as well.

Ooooh!!! You have wonderful roses!!! PAoK is stunning!!! I just picked this rose up at a greenhouse yesterday!! I hope it looks as wonderful as yours. Right now there are only buds. :)

Every single rose you show is lovely, lovely, lovely!

Do you have a favorite of these?

I am the first one in both sides of the family that loves roses. Maybe my kids will follow in my steps.

Carol

Thank you for your kind words, Carol! I really like Blue Moon. It may not be a rare rose, but the colour is pretty special. Twice in a Blue Moon has yet to match it for me. I'm also pretty excited about the vividly coloured Blackberry Nip...

I look back at my small collection when I started with nostalgia. It think a produced better roses and enjoyed them more back then, lol. It's like playing the piano versus conducting a symphony. The music is beautiful both ways, it's just more intimate with one. Keep up the good work.

I can only hope my new Olivia looks as good as yours. So far, she has had very small washed out blooms. Yours gives me hope. They all look beautiful.

A good fortnight, and a few more blooms to show...

Blackberry Nip:

Those with a distaste for neon colours need not apply!

Blue Moon:

Very generous and vigorous for me.

Twilight Zone:

The colour is dark, but more smoky than rich (photo is pretty accurate). The growth looks a bit frail, and much of the foliage is yellowish. Transport shock, maybe?

Charles Austin:

Grand Award:

A climber.

Love the scalloped petals on Grand Award. A climber? Would love a whole wall of those flowers. Very nice.

@ hcarnevale: My Olivia was actually quick to produce decent blooms, but they fade rather quickly under the blistering summer sun.

@ jasminerose4u: Yes, it's a climber, and embarrassingly, it's still in its pot, though I've had it for two or three weeks now. I can't seem to find a place for it. I like the colour of it, but the scalloped petal shape is actually not my favourite.

Absolutely beautiful love your colorful roses.

Ingrid Bergman:

Heidi Klum:

As the flower matures, she fades from a vivid magenta to a dusty violet-red. She seems generous with her blooms and is compact in growth, which gives you a big bang for your buck in terms of space. She has some perfume, but not as much as Bering (see below).

Princess Alexandra of Kent:

Bering Renaissance aka Eleanor with PAoK:

Hoping Bering will produce nicer flowers. It requires some extra effort, so it had better be worth it.

Blue Moon:

Yet again... I LOVE this rose!

What a fantastic collection. It's hard to believe these are first year plants. You've obviously inherited your grammy's green thumb. :)The Heidi Klum is so pretty. From where did you get that one? I don't remember reading where you live.

Thank you kindly, vaporvac. I live in Denmark. I've read that American rose enthusiasts are holding out for Heidi Klum. Here in Europe, we're pining for PJP II (okay, it's here, but not easy to get). Not quite a fan of the man, but the rose is stunning.

I hadn't expected to get such nice flowers the first year as I have gotten from many of them. Blue Moon in particular is putting up an abundance of big, nice flowers, but Blackberry Nip is also putting on a show. The Austins seem to be taking a break at the moment after some initial nice blooms. Heidi Klum I can't take credit for as she was already ripe with buds when I got her. Underachievers include Twice in a Blue Moon (few buds, not growing as vigorously as BM, colour not as good), Variegata di Bologna (not as candy striped for me, lanky growth, poor rebloom), and Twilight Zone (colour not as pretty as in photos, plant not very vigorous - transpot shock, maybe?).

Wow!!! Heidi Klum is fabulous!!! Very consistent looking flowers!! Wow!

carol

Holy moly, I knew you had to be in Europe to get your hands on the luscious Heidi Klum. (And yours is certainly luscious). She's a Tantau rose, and we can't get the newer Tantaus here (except for a couple). Your roses are fantastic--love another luscious one, Raspberry Nip. My poor Olivia Rose Austin, sweltering in 100F heat, has not a one bloom, and the few she had were certainly not as lovely as yours. You have done beautifully this first amazing year in the rose garden. Diane

Thank you for your kind words, Diane and Carol. I hope your Olivia will get better for you, Diane.

I use fertilizer pills as well as liquid fertilizer. I also fertilize my barefoot roses, though with a weaker solution with a tablespoonful of sugar. I also soak my bareroot roses in a weak sugar solution for 24 hours before planting. At the moment, most of my roses are in the greenhouse, as these last couple of weeks have been quite rainy.

No new roses here, just felt like posting some new photos. Hopefully, the next few weeks will see blooms from Big Purple, Blue Bajou, Chippendale, Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, Look Good Feel Better, and Pink Peace.

Geoff Hamilton:

Blackberry Nip:

Blue Moon and Bering Renaissance (aka Eleanor):

The pictures were taken early in the morning. Neither is that blue at noon. There is a scientific explanation, and if I understand it correctly, the angle at which the Sun's rays enter the Earth's atmosphere determines the amount of blue light. On a somewhat unrelated note, Bering is fast becoming one of my favourites, in spite of his flaws. The fragrance is heavenly, he seems a fairly generous bloomer, and the big, soft flowers just look so romantic.

So very lovely. Thank you.

Love, love, love that big cuppy bloom on Geofg Hamilton!!! Ooh, & the quartering on Blackberry Nip! I am seriously considering Bering Renaissance. I have read a bit about it; what are the faults you have found? It's so, so pretty in photos.

Those are all glorious!! I especially love Blackberry Nip!!

Carol

@ Holly: I think Bering is underrated, but it's probably not for the casual gardener, at least in my climate. Here are my pros and cons so far.

Pros:

- blooms are very double and large, with a distinctively soft appearance.

- fantastic fragrance. I can't quite place it, but my mother compares it to bergamot.

- soft mauve colour.

- vigor and health are good. Mine has stood out in the rain for days without issue (see below, however).

Cons:

- reportedly not entirely cold hardy in my climate (6a/6b).

- flowers are very susceptible to damage from falling rain. I keep mine in the greenhouse to avoid brown, mushy flowers.

Thanks, Lauriescreams. It rains here at least 2x/week in the summer, quite hard rain w/thunderstorms, so maybe it's not the rose for my climate. I don't have a greenhouse & one would probably turn into a tropical rain forest here in the summer! I will just have to be content with photos.

Geoff Hamilton - a floribunda?

Big Purple - somewhat gangly, but wonderful fragrance; I love the intense magenta colour, but I wonder if it will tend more towards purple when the weather becomes cooler.

Bering Renaissance - I can't stop photographing this rose! I'm embarrassed that my sack of leca nuts is visible in the second photo, however.

That Bering Renaissance is so, so beautiful! How does it smell? The photos look like it is super fragrant, if that makes any sense :P

Your intuition is spot on, Holly - Bering is VERY fragrant! I'm not sure how I would describe it, but my mom's first reaction was 'Bergamot'. It has quickly become one of my favourite roses, even though the blooms don't like the rain. The foliage, on the other hand, looks much healthier than that of my Austins, which despite growing under the exact same conditions have been infected with rose rust. Heck, Blue Bajou, which has a bad rep, looks super healthy, and the Austins don't!

Absolutely beautiful roses, love watching the blooms mature.

Gawjus!!!

Geoff Hamilton looks AMAZING!!! Wow!! And Bering R. looks so romantic!! Two very beautiful roses!

Carol

Thank you kindly, Carol. Bering is underrated, in my opinion. It does need to be sheltered from the rain, or the flowers will turn spotty and mushy, and buds will refuse to open. But it's hardly the only rose with this issue - a bloom on Geoff Hamilton caught out in the rain will shatter like a wine glass at a Florence Foster Jenkins recital.

Just one photo for tonight, but this is one I've been looking forward to sharing with you guys: Blue Bajou.

This is the best flower my BB has put up so far (lots of buds right now!), and there's something ethereal about it that I really like. Not as bold as Blue Moon or as lavish as Bering, but delicate and unusual.

It took me a bit of hunting before I actually found this rose. I sent an email to Kordes, asking why they had retired BB, and I got a lovely reply from Thomas Proll, head of garden rose breeding. He said that while BB might still be a target for hunters and collectors, its disease resistance was not up to the standards of Kordes, that it was too difficult to keep free of black spot for the average customer. Well, of all my roses, BB is among the healthiest looking. I do pick aphids off it every now and then, but the foliage is nice and glossy with no black spot - and all the while I'm struggling with spider mites on my Austins. I'm tempted to say that for me, Blue Bajou is the little rose that could, and I'm glad I put in the effort to find it.

Lauriescream - Excellent!! It looks beautiful and it's up to your expectations!!!

Carol

Thanks, Carol! One member was unimpressed with BB and found it to be overrated. And the lack of disease resistance often comes up when this rose is discussed. So I must admit that thus far, it has exceeded my expectations. Yes, it does spend most of its time in the greenhouse (I kinda figure that it might not be easy to replace, so it does get some love). And yes, it has been sprayed with a fungicide, but so have all my roses, as I move them into the greenhouse during extended periods of rain to protect the blooms. All in all, BB is not quite the wimp I had been lead to believe it was.

Beautiful roses! Thank you for sharing.

Rosengräfin Marie Henriette (Kordes):

It's a floribunda, so it will bloom in clusters, but I still wanted to document the shape and colour of this single flower. Very fragrant.

Blue Bajou (again):

I had to upload a couple more of this rose - I absolutely love it! Right now, it has an abundance of flowers. My mom even cut a few for a charming bouquet with pink and lavender dahlias and magenta anemones.

So very lovely! Thank you for sharing! Your roses look so happy & healthy; your greenhouse must be a foretaste of heaven. You inspire me! If I ever live in a place with "real" winter, I am having a greenhouse!

How big is your greenhouse? Did it come with your property or did you build/purchase it yourself?

Wow!!!! Your Rosengräfin Marie Henriette is fabulous!!!! I love it!

Carol

Thank you both!

@ Holly: The greenhouse is roughly 8 feet x 12 feet. I bought it as a do-it-yourself kit and assembled it with my parents in their backyard for my carnivorous plants (the roses came later). I live in an apartment, but am planning to move, so I can have a backyard of my own. Most of the roses I've bought this year are in containers so they will be easy to relocate. The lavenders will probably stay in their containers as they have a reputation for being a bit on the tender side in my native Denmark. Most of my container roses are outside, but I plan to overwinter them in the greenhouse.

@ Carol: RMH, or Summer Romance as it's known in the States, is a recent acquisition, but it looks promising.

That's great to know!!

Carol

Oh my. Lots of beauties. You def have a gift!! Thanks for sharing. Judy

Wow! Bering Renaissance is gorgeous!
lauriescreams Please tell me where did you get that rose?

It was bred by Poulsen Roser in my native Denmark. I think in the US it is known as Eleanor and is very rare.