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Lovely, lovely roses. All my early yellows succumbed to freakish accidents or other mysterious fails so nothing to see for another month. Consoled by apple blossom and cowslips.

These are both really lovely. After a long winter, roses, especially yellow ones, really bring the sun.

I love rosa hugonis! So amazing a color for a wild rose, and such very large blooms.

Jackie

Just gorgeous!

These are stunning, mad_gallica. Your early bloomer post brightens my day each year.

VERY nice. Hugonis is very eye catching.

Oh, those are BEAUTIFUL!!! I'm hoping that my Rosa Hugonis will bloom for the first time this year. I grew it from a cutting I took of a friend's rose. It's against the house so is in a lot of shade...but I'm hopeful. :) What a splendid profusion of cheerful yellow blooms on your rose bushes!!

The older single roses come out early, and are a treat for weary winter eyes.

I bet you could grow these too, Melissa.

Sheila, unfortunately I speak from experience. I had R. hugonis, in a prime spot at the bottom of the garden beside the famous ditch. It was fabulous for some years; then cane girdler arrived. The rose simply can't handle that kind of damage, the canes breaking instantly: it petered away to nothing. For those who can grow it, it is a most beautiful rose, not only for the flowers, but for the foliage, which also colors in fall.

I lost another early yellow, I forget which, though that may have been due to generally harsh or unsuitable conditions. But I'm unwilling to risk others of this type with the garden's record so far.

It's a pity. But no one can grow everything, and, since I can grow a lot, I concentrate on those plants, the growable ones, instead.

Do you have any early yellows? How do they do for you?

I have Persian Yellow, Austrian Copper, Austrian Yellow, Harison's Yellow, Hazeldean and they do well.

I have Rosa Cinnamomea Plena having cane girdler problems here. My Wasagaming rugosa does too.

I knew it was not your climate really. Do you have voles and gophers?

Thank heaven, no voles and no gophers. The R. foetida forms are fine here--well, no luck so far with 'Austrian Copper'--but I've had no success with Rugosas. I can live without them, fortunately. The two Fruehlings- roses I've grown have also done pretty well, and they're very fine varieties, but I've had a couple of species roses native to the eastern U.S., and they were no good; nor was the Chestnut Rose, from China, I believe. I think some of these roses like some combination of acid-leaning soil and humid summer weather that I can't give them. Speaking of plants in general, there's a lack of overlap between those that do well in the eastern U.S. or Japan, and those that do well here. Better are plants from Mediterranean type climates, and the milder parts of Europe. There are all kinds of exceptions to these guidelines, of course.

Oh! What is 'Austrian Yellow'?

That is just Rosa Foetida, Melissa. I love hearing all your stories. That sounds glorious without gophers and voles.

Sheila, it is glorious: I count my blessings that we don't have root-eating critters.

How would you like to post an overview of your garden on the forum? You offer comments about it, but I'm not aware of your describing it at much length: have you done so? (I'm also curious about bart bart's garden as well, of course.)

Once I'm back to buying roses, one day, I might have a look at 'Hazeldean', as its relatives do well here. A rose I've wondered about is 'Star of Persia', a Pemberton rose, R. foetida x 'Trier'. The Multifloras unfortunately struggle here for the most part, but it does sound interesting. I'm not sure it's in commerce.

We have glacial till that no rodents can get through...so no voles, moles, etc. :)

I might do that, Melissa. I am weeks slower here this year.

Thanks for all the kind comments :-)

R. altaica starting, with hugonis in the background.

Glory of Edzel.

One of the reason I have so many of these is that, for the east coast, my soil pH is very high. So the azaleas I grew up with are not really an option. Aside from the fact they should have more sun, spinossisimas and their kin are an excellent alternative.

BTW, a rose that is R. foetida x Trier sounds like the ultimate disaster rose here. I did grow Trier for about ten years. There were times when the foliage was a shining, brilliant, glorious chartreuse. Then I'd have to mix up a batch of chelated glop, which would sort it out for a year or two.

Enjoy your garden, mad_gallica! not that I need to tell you to do so. It looks a wonderful place.

It sounds like you've taken your garden conditions well into account and made a garden that does well with those conditions rather than fighting nature: I suspect that those are the most interesting, as the most individual gardens. This is my own practice, of course, given my less than ideal soil, etc.

Multifloras generally aren't happy in my garden. I tried growing 'Trier', without luck, though it may be that the garden now isn't quite the garden of fifteen years ago, and perhaps I could grow plants that were unthinkable in the past. But I'm doubtful. Pemberton used 'Trier' a great deal in his breeding, and I can see why: it's not a showy rose, but it has a rare air of health and vigor, refinement and equilibrium. Pemberton crossed it with roses of more striking attributes, and created varieties that I find are some of the most beautiful roses in cultivation.

These pictures, especially of Hugonis, are exquisitely beautiful. I am just wondering, I hear so many complaints from people in rural areas about deer. What is your experience, Mad-gallica?

Heavenly! I love that you grow these less common roses…and you grow them to perfection! Thank you for the photos of these rare lovelies. Carol