Roses Part 1

We've had a week of heavy downpours and flooding here - over 14 inches of rain in a five day period, at a time when the ground was already saturated with previous rains. Amazingly, the garden is mostly intact and many plants, although battered, are blooming bravely on. Here is part one of my roses for this year.

The first to come into bloom was my damask rose 'Ispahan':

Rosa damascena 'Ispahan'

You can see that there is some insect damage to the leaves. That has been a major problem on my damask and alba roses this year. I'm not sure what else to do except hand-pick the little green larvae which are apparently causing the problem.

Rosa damascena 'Ispahan'

The blooms are initially bright pink, fading to a softer shade over time. The have a bit of a shaggy, informal shape. The perfume is strong and sweet. Damask rose petals are used for making attar of roses because of their strong perfume.

Here is a shot of the whole bush. This is only the second year for this rose in my garden so it is still quite small. Eventually it should become a large 6'x6' shrub.

Damask rose with Campanula 'Freya' and lemon thyme

Next up is a pink alba rose, 'Felicite Parmentier'. It is a gentle pink color with exquisitely formed quartered blooms. This rose has not enjoyed the wet conditions this year and some of the petals and buds have been a bit gummy from the wet. It is blooming profusely though, and the fragrance of this rose is probably my favorite of all. It is sweet but not heavy - almost citrusy.

Rosa alba 'Felicite Parmentier'

Now for something a bit brighter: 'Sophy's Rose' is a David Austin English rose which should (unlike the above two old garden roses) rebloom throughout the summer.

Austin rose 'Sophy's Rose'

The color of this one is unusual. It starts out a deep reddish-purplish pink, then fades to dark fuchsia. This is a smaller plant with not overly large blooms (unlike some Austins which seem out of scale to me). The fragrance is medium strength but extremely pleasing - a classic "tea rose" scent.

Austin rose 'Sophy's Rose'

I have three of these planted in my new rose garden with lady's mantle and blue geraniums. This is their first year and so far they are small but doing well. This edge of the rose garden is a bit shadier than I had thought - I am hoping they will get enough sun to flourish.

New plantings of 'Sophy's Rose', Geranium 'Nimbus', and Lady's Mantle

More roses to come next week!