Roses are the masterpiece of nature, adored the world over for their beauty and mesmerising fragrance. Today I have a selection of roses I photographed on one day early this week when I ducked outside to the damp garden to shoot a few snaps of the roses that were in bloom and had survived the torrential rain. I could only reach a few roses because I wanted to avoid walking on the wet soil, so my selection was random rather than carefully chosen.
Papi Delbard Roses
Several months have passed, waiting for Papi Delbard rose on my original archway to bloom. The pretty Nahema rose I’d planted struggled to cover the arch because of spider mite attacks, and I eventually removed it. Papi Delbard has taken time to settle in but suddenly is in perfect flower in glorious colours of soft orange, yellow and apricot, with a fruity fragrance and double blooms that appear cup-shaped and then open flat. It was named to honour the patriarch of the Delbard dynasty – George Delbard.
Diane Ackerman
Nurturing, decisive, interfering, cajoling, gardeners are eternal optimists who trust the ways of nature and believe passionately in the idea of improvement.
It is pleasing that so many roses have responded so well to all the extra water from the recent wet weather and are showing beautiful, healthy blooms. These new blooms are just opening on a bare-root standard rose planted in winter. The colours are more profound than usually seen in Spring, so they must relish excess moisture, like the vibrancy of this Claude Monet Rose. Claude Monet is part of the exquisite Delbard family of roses in the Painter’s Series.
Claude Monet’s rose is fast becoming an absolute favourite with the swirling flames of pink, white, yellow, peach and rich Fuschia colouring. This year I’ve finally managed more than one or two blooms opening at once with the two new standard roses I planted in winter. Claude Monet is part of the exquisite Delbard family of roses in the Painter’s Series I’ve written about often.
Paul Cezanne Rose
Also part of the Delbards Painter’s series is another unique rose named after the famous painter Paul Cezanne. My previous post about Rosa Paul Cezanne will highlight the different colours this rose creates in varied climates and seasons. The flowers of Paul Cezanne are ruffled, and the foliage is lighter and softer green than many roses, so the rose has a feminine beauty and romantic look of pale yellow and dusky pink, white and ochre. Every bloom may be different and have a subtle scent of raspberry, lemon, and rose.
Hada Bejar
The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.
Adorable is an apt name for this new rose bred by Thomas Proll in Germany in 2008 and introduced in Germany by W. Kordes’ Söhne in 2018 as ‘Carmen Würth’. In Japan, it is called Odeur d’Amour’ and in Australia by Treloar Roses in 2020 as Adorable.
Adorable has just started to flower this season and is a Floribunda from the Kordes Parfuma® Collection in shades of mauve. The perfume is an intense apple, citrus, damask honey and spice scent. My three Adorable roses grow in pots and should reach 80 cm tall with fully double blooms and upright growth. They are filling the gaps in the garden caused by the flood. I lost several lavender plants and the Grandma roses that died from too much water.
Adorable Roses
Happy and healthy are the two attributes you want when growing roses. This Playboy rose has both in spades. It is brilliant orange, healthy, and never an issue, so no wonder the original name was Cheerio! I bought Playboy rose from Silkies Rose Farm, which has lived up to expectations. A no-fuss rose. Playboy has single blooms in clusters of orange and yellow with red tips. Bred by Alexander M. Cocker in Scotland before 1976 and introduced in France by NIRP International in 1976 as ‘Playboy’.
Jerry Baker
Successful gardening is doing what has to be done when it has to be done the way it ought to be done whether you want to do it or not.
Colour value is also premium with Frida Kahlo floribunda roses because once flowering, they never stop until the very end of the season and are vivid and bright, providing gorgeous contrast with their glossy green, perfectly healthy leaves. I’ve teamed them with Mango Tango roses, a new release from Wagner’s Rose Nursery.
Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.
Somerset Maugham
It is unusually cool today for late Spring with a chilly wind blowing. The cooler wet weather has increased the depth of colour in many roses, similar to Autumn, and they are vibrant against glossy foliage like these Frida Kahlo roses planted last year. This rose was bred by Christian Bédard USA in 2014 and introduced into Australia by Swane’s Nursery in 2020.
Claude Monet
Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.
Varied light highlights the roses in the garden. Whether it is the early morning soft light as the sun emerges, the midday sun’s brilliance, or the sun’s last rays at dusk. My aim with Mango Tango and Frida Kahlo roses was to brighten this area under the olive trees with a row of vibrant coloured roses visible from inside because these colours glow in the last of the afternoon or evening light, so they are charming late in the day. So far, these are sensational illuminating and reflecting the sunset. They grow in long tubs because the olive tree roots make the ground too hard for a garden bed.
Parfum de Paris Rose
Several roses had recently fallen to the ground from the extra weight of rain on heavy rose blooms. A few days have passed since the garden flood, so I’ve been busy staking many roses, and one was Parfum de Paris. It was so laden with flowers it had fallen over entirely, and the beautiful blooms spread across the ground. The images are not perfect, but the terrific splash of colour in this unseasonal weather is welcome now that it is upright once more.
Perfume de Paris is another rose from Delbard Grand Parfums Collection, with long arching branches and celestial perfumed flowers. Bred by Arnaud Delbard in France in 1998 and introduced to Australia by Rankins Nursery in 2014 as ‘Parfum de Paris’. It is a beautiful blend of old-world French charm and modern-day rose breeding. Perfume de Paris has gorgeous rich pink tones in the huge blooms and is easy-care, disease resistant with healthy glossy foliage and a divine heady scent. It is robust and vigorous and should reach 140 cm.
The fragrance of the rose lingers on the hand that casts it –
William Shakespeare
Diamond Jubilee rose opened this week and is exquisite in stunning colours of soft buttery cream, a delicate apricot centre, and a yellow core adorning highly glossy foliage. Diamond Jubilee was bred by Eugene S. Boerner in the USA in 1947 and introduced in Australia by Hazlewood Bros. Pty. Ltd. in 1950 as a Hybrid Tea called ‘Diamond Jubilee’.
The beautiful roses on Diamond Jubilee grow in single stems on a sturdy, robust bush with an exceptional fragrance and perfect bloom form to 150 cm tall.
Diamond Jubilee Rose
I had expert advice on rose selection this year from Wagner’s Rose Nursery staff and finally settled on Kathleen Harrop. A gazebo with soft pink roses entwined is the quintessential look of a country home, and here are the first blooms of Kathleen Harrop on our gazebo. It has shell pink ruffled petals and is a low climber, which is perfect. Also of great advantage is the stems are almost thornless, so sipping a glass of champagne or a Devonshire Tea will not be a prickly affair.
Kathleen Harrop was discovered by Alexander Dickson 11 (1857-1949) in the UK in 1919. It was introduced into Australia by H Kemp in 1920 as Kathleen Harrop and is a soft powder-pink sport of ‘Zephirine Drouhin’, a bourbon rose bred by Bizot in 1868. The perfume has an old-world fruity scent, and Kathleen Harrop should grow to 300 cm.
Oh! The things which happened in that garden! If you have never had a garden you cannot understand, and if you have had a garden you will know that it would take a whole book to describe all that came to pass there.
Frances Hodgson Burnett ~ The Secret Garden
Title quote by Therese Lisieux
Content Di Baker 2022
Images taken on the 15th and 16th November 2022
