Roses After The Rain

Some roses decided to bloom during Tropical Storm Debby.  I ran out between rain bands and took pictures since most of these blooms would soon be blown to bits by wind and heavy rain.

'White Out'  

'Belinda's Dream'

'Louis Philippe'

'Julia Child'


I am still amazed that my roses are doing so well.  They get a haircut and compost in February, and a monthly application of Mills Magic rose food.  During the dry season I hand water them about twice a week.  A drip irrigation system is on my wish list.  

Red Riot

Red in my garden is a welcome accent against all the shades of green foliage.  From flying creatures, flowers and foliage, red is a color that catches the eye.  Anyone know the name of this colorful flying insect enjoying the Sweet Almond?

Stopping to smell the Louis Philippe roses I realize even their scent is connected to the color red.  Their smell reminds me of cherry flavored candy.  Is it just because I'm seeing cherry-red that I imagine this?  

The Bottle Brush tree is blooming away now that it has reached a height of ten feet.  I have been happily watching its red blooms attract hummingbirds and bees.  

Accent foliage of magenta red hues really pops against the shades of green in the shady tropical corner.  Blood Leaf Irisine  has made it through even our colder winters.  This year, with the mild winter temperatures, it has remained a small bush and with its spring growth I can see it becoming an even larger presence.  

First time in a long time the Ti plants have shown height as well as their lovely colors.  The background of white Caladiums is early in appearing too.  Love this spring!

My favorite cardinal family is still nesting in the azalea bushes and visiting the feeders throughout the day.  I love the flitting flashes of red they bring to the garden.

Roses Love Rain

All the rain and soggy conditions the last few weeks kept me from deadheading the roses as should be done to encourage less leggy growth and more blooms.  The roses seem to be doing well in spite of my lack of diligence.

Julia Child

The bushes have all grown quite spindly and less bushy with all the extra water, but the buds still keep opening and offering their sweet scents.  The area in front of Julia Child was actually under water for weeks.

Scentimental

The other roses are planted up close to the house and are in a well-draining area.  It was nice to not have to worry about giving them supplemental water.

Louis Philippe

It seemed that whenever I had the time to get outside for a quick trip around the garden with the clippers the rain clouds would let loose.

Belinda's Dream

This section of the garden is ready for some attention.  I am looking forward to spending some time cleaning things up in this area and preparing for one of my  favorite times of the gardening year - Fall.

White Out

Look at Louis

Known as the "Cracker Rose," Louis Philippe is perfectly suited for a Florida garden.  The sprawling bush is virtually black-spot free and still blooms profusely no matter the heat and humidity.

My rose was given to me as a rooted cutting last summer.  It was tiny, having only two canes, but it bloomed constantly.  Soon those two canes became many.  A year later it is about three feet tall and wide.

It blooms in flushes that cover the bush in sweetly scented crimson flowers.  As the rose opens, more of the light-colored center is revealed.  During the sweltering July heat, my other roses are taking a break from blooming.  Louis Philippe keeps showing he deserves his nickname, "Cracker Rose."

The term, Florida "Cracker," refers to the hard-working Florida cowboy  of the 19th century.  These cowboys used bullwhips to herd the cattle, thus the name "Cracker."  The Louis Philippe rose is as able to withstand the harsh conditions of Florida as those early pioneer cowboys.  But, Louis is not only tough, he's pretty.

Roses Along the Path

After the repeated deep freezes of early 2010, huge, old hibiscus bushes were removed from the garden.  In their places roses were planted.  I've never grown roses before but knew that I wanted fragrance and flowers in this small sunny area just off the back porch.

Mother's Day brought me two new one-gallon size bushes.  'White Out' is about 2'X 2' at this time and blooms non-stop.  The label said this rose would get to be about 3' X 3'.  That would be perfect for the space. 

'Sunny' is another of the Knockout series and was labeled as 3'X 3' in size.  This rose is just now starting to grow and bloom.  It has not been happy all summer.  I am hoping that it will get well established in the cooler weather and that by spring it will be a vigorous rose bush.

The sunny yellow blooms it is named for are worth the wait for this little bush to settle into its spot. 

'Red Cascade' is an old garden rose that was given to me many years before the Path came into existence.  This is a miniature climber and is on its own root.  I have rooted several of these and passed them along to other friends.  This rose just keeps growing and growing. 

Another old garden rose, 'Louis Philippe', was given to me earlier this summer.  It is a rooted cutting and has been doing very well, blooming pretty much non-stop.  I've been told that the blossoms will become more red as the bush matures.  I don't care, I love it just as it is. 

The original Knockout Rose has sulked a little this summer.  It is healthy, just not prolific with the blooms. 

Of course, Belinda's Dream is just that.  My dream rose.  I love, love, love her.  She has bloomed all summer and has grown from an 18" height to over 4 feet.  You can read about the beginning of it all in this post. 

As important as foliage and flowers are to My Garden Path, butterflies, bees, birds and other wildlife are just as important.  Even though I became a little obsessed with the roses, I made a decision early on to not use any pesticides and to use only organic fertilizer.  So far, the foliage of all the roses has been quite healthy and free of the dreaded blackspot.  You can see 'White Out' in the background  of the above photo with 'Belinda's Dream' in the foreground.  'Belinda's Dream' is full of buds but just a couple of blooms are barely visible.  The foliage on both bushes is just perfect as it has been all the hot, humid summer.

Janis, from Graceful Cottage Gardening, recommended that I use Mill's Magic Rose Mix organic fertilizer.  Her roses are so big and beautiful that I knew that was good advice.  My roses are loving the Magic.

I've never grown roses before, but so far, these roses have proven themselves to be easy and well adapted to the Florida climate.  I'm quite happy with my combination of 'Knockout' roses and old garden roses.

Rose Fever

I have been obsessed with finding Old Garden Roses to put in one of my few sunny patches of garden ever since I saw how cold resistant they were during the record freeze we just came through.

Of course, I wasn't able to delay gratification and I bought a Knockout rose while on another errand at my local big box store.  She is blooming and so even though she isn't my original intent, I love her.

My wonderful, thankfully strong husband dug out the 2nd 20+ year old hibiscus for me to make room for one of two Old Garden Roses I've been researching.  Those are his legs at the top right.  That was one big stump to dig!

Saturday, I drove 40 minutes to a rose nursery in south Tampa, Hardin's.  What a great place!  I was given much information on roses and helped to pick just the easy-care one I needed to go with a Louis Philippe for which I AM going to hold out.  This one is not currently blooming but is a nice healthy plant and a good size as well.  This is placed in the now filled-in crater left by the hibiscus.  Still needs companions and mulch, but this is much better already.  Belinda's Dream  She isn't an OGR as she was bred in 1988, but she is an Earthkind(trademark) rose which is especially easy for a beginner.  I hope.  Hardin's sells all their roses on Fortuniana rootstock which makes them well suited for Florida's soil.  Ok, so a week or so ago I decided I wanted 1 OGR to put in this spot.  Now I have 2 other roses and a perfect spot for my Louis Philippe in the future.  I have to stop my rose obsession now because I'm out of room in my only sunny, well draining soil spot.  Can't wait to show pictures of Belinda's bloom!