Spring is on the way and the tell tale signs add vibrancy to the air but unfortunately, this week I’ve had to do a bit of a cull in the garden. It is necessary and has freed up space and allowed the best of the roses to have a bit more air and circulation around them. The extra space and better layout has made room for some 2021 new release roses for the garden.
Out of 22 new release roses from Wagner’s rose nursery I only purchased five, this year;The Sisters Rose, Show Off, Mitsouko, Heaven on Earth, and several Life of the Party. Life of the Party rose is described at Wagner’s as
“This is a unique variety that brings joy and fun to any garden. Old style blooms grow in clusters showing different colours and shape as they age: they start as cupped flowers in soft yellow that changes to light pink when fully opened, with many petals and yellow stamens.“
Life of the Party will be a fun and lively part of my new Potager garden and forms one mass planted border of seven roses. The rose is compact, disease-resistant, and said to do well in a hot, dry climate.
“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.
Thomas Jefferson
The colour scheme I’m after for the Potager garden is a soft, look of creams, yellows, peach to deeper orange and pinks. So, the new release roses will be perfect as highlights surrounded by herbs, vegetables and some border annuals.
Mitsouko Rose has it all; colour, fragrance, cupped double flowers, scalloped petals and it is compact, soft and delicate in appearance. Bred by Delbard, France in 1970 it is a Hybrid Tea and part of the Grand Parfum collection-named to honour the Japanese Princess. Mitsouko is exquisite and feminine and will sit well with the colourings of my other roses as it has similar colouring = cream, pink, yellow and peach that will complement one another.
One never knows when you plant bare-root roses whether they will take off as some do or with heavy clay soil grow to a certain degree and when they hit the hard ground underneath, give up. This year with less frost and more rain, the success rate so far is terrific. My new strategy is to plant into pots if bare-root roses arrive in early winter to be protected from frost by a shade cloth enclosure or greenhouse. Now that the season is beginning to change and the threat of frost has almost gone, I can safely plant them out.
The last rose I wanted to highlight for this part of the garden is Heaven on Earth -Koravreli, described by Treloars as-
This rose is divine. Large cupped and full blooms of soft peach apricot sit on the bush for an extended time slowly fading to cream as they age. The colour can vary with climatic conditions from pink, through coral orange to a yellow cream, accompanied by a moderate spicy fragrance.
Heaven on Earth is another coppery, cream, peach or apricot rose that is desirable and in keeping with existing and new roses. It is a Kordes Floribunda rose bred in 2003 in Germany and introduced to Australia by Treloar Roses in 2021. It is upright but bushy and spreads to 120cm high and 120 cm wide. At this stage, I’m unsure where to plant this one for the time being it remains in a pot awaiting bloom time or space to plant out.
There is a lot more work to be done to prepare the garden for Spring, I’m being very thorough this year with the pruning, weeding mulching exercise and I’m going all out redoing the layers of cardboard/newspaper or old carpet as protection from weeds then layering with whoflungdung (a biologically activated, nutrient-rich, weed-free, absorbent, super mulch from Neutrog) on top. At the same time, some roses are lifted and grass removed from the roots and repositioned, relocated or discarded. It is slow work and quite heavy but I’m halfway through.
After many weeks of wet weather and no gardening, the back has to get used to the hard work again. I was driven inside yesterday by a crop duster above doing spraying work on a farm nearby. Not ideal but out of my control, so I’ve headed inside for the day away from it. Whatever the reason that sends a gardener inside- perhaps it’s a good chance to do housework or to rest up, time to plan or to write.
All content Di Baker 2021
Images as cited
Header Image “Gari Melchers” painting of “The Crimson Rambler” 1914 ~ 1915.
Title Quote by Jacqueline Bisset
