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.