As the weather becomes warmer, the sound of insects fills the air. The cicadas are deafening, announcing summer, and the bees are gently humming as they go about their work. The sights and sounds of summer are welcome, the weather is glorious, and sensational for the roses.
Laurie Jean Sennot
“Every flower must grow through dirt.”
Roses are everywhere and thriving in our local town. They are always beautiful to glimpse when driving or walking, especially in the older established gardens. At an outdoor cafe last week, I was amazed at the mass of gentle pale pink roses along the outside wall. I suspect the rose is New Dawn Climbing.
New Dawn is a Hybrid Wichurana flowering climber in the series Earth Kind ™. Henry F. Bosenberg discovered it in the USA, 1930. It is a sport of Dr W Van Fleet that was introduced as New Dawn to Australia by Hazlewood Bros. Pty. Ltd. in 1932. New Dawn is a vigorous climbing rose that was the first rose plant in the world to be patented. It opened the door for thousands of other roses to become patented.
The New Dawn Rose is often grown over sheds, pergolas, and trellises in country gardens, but I have yet to grow it myself. Although spectacular, the subtle colouring hides some ferocious thorns. The roses grow in clusters in blush pink with deeper pink centre on glossy foliage. ‘New Dawn’ was inducted into the World Federation of Rose Societies “Hall of Fame” in 1997.
Back at home in the garden, the roses are also abundant. One standout this week is Blackberry Nip. An exceptionally healthy strong rose with very dark buds that are slow to open. The colour is sensational – deep wine purple to start and as the roses unfold they turn a brilliant magenta
Monty Don
“I always see gardening as escape, as peace really. If you are angry or troubled, nothing provides the same solace as nurturing the soil.”
Blackberry Nip Rose is fragrant, regal, and elegant. The blooms sit on long stems in a classic rose shape. I’ve discovered that some roses in the first flush are not perfect but after one or two blooms they open as expected.
“Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.”
Wallace Stevens
Blackberry Nip is a New Zealand Hybrid Tea Rose bred by Rob Somerfield in 1966, and introduced into Australia in 2008. The colouring of deep wine, plum and magenta is unusual creating a majestic rose, and the dark green foliage indicates that it has high degree of disease resistance.
In a world full of daisies dare to be a rose!
Matshona Dhliwayo
As a contrast is La Vie en Rose, an absolute favourite rose that, once established, never stops flowering. La Vie en Rose is a tall, upright bush that was one of my best roses in our rural garden. It grew into a well-balanced rounded shrub well over 6 foot tall, so 180 cm, and was consistently in flower. The La Vie en Rose is uniquely coloured in white with hand-painted brush strokes of pale pink that will deepen over time. The light, glossy foliage sets off the cupped bloom form of the pink and white petals.
La Vie en Rose is an understated rose that is gorgeous to grow and will reward with a copious number of pretty blooms. It is part of the Delbard Painters Series of striped roses, mostly named after the French Impressionist Artists.
At times La Vie en Rose does have thrips and tiny beetles which can make the petals brown on the edges. Reluctantly, I didn’t transplant ours from the farm. I was tempted, but found the height and size challenging, and too risky for such a beautiful shrub.
“It matters not what goal you seek – Its secret here reposes:
Edgar Guest
you’ve got to dig from week to week – to get results on roses.”
As the summer heat increases our first duty as gardeners is to make sure the roses and garden get adequate water. They need a deep soak once a week if the rose is established otherwise more often-every few days for new roses. Adding eco seaweed solution will also help the plants handle hot conditions. Roses planted in pots need to be watered daily until the water runs out of the bottom of the pot.
All the roses are in full swing, and the perennials planted in between them are creating a new landscape with some welcome surprises. I can see several areas where minor adjustments will improve the display, but the garden is brimming with life, vigour, colour and health.
“The more I garden the less I know, but the more pleasure I get from it.”
Monty Don
On the corner of our block is a garden where I’ve planted a group of Endeavour Roses by David Austin -AUSdisco. The roses are well-rounded shrubs with large cup-shaped flowers in an usual shade of pink that has hints of salmon and apricot. As the roses age, the blooms are lighter and turn a soft pink with hints of mauve, and the three together hopefully, will in time look like one large shrub. The rich and fruity fragrance, colouring and large blooms together with the old-fashioned rosette form makes this rose very alluring.
Henry Mitchell
“The man [or woman!] who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the whole world.”
The Endeavour Rose is part of the David Austin English Rose Collection bred in 1996 in the UK. It is a compact and prolific rose plant that handles hot summers well, and will grow to about 120 cm with few thorns or prickles. Because the blooms are in a cluster of varying stages there is a mix of striking pink with coral undertones and many in a lighter dusky mauve-pink.
“This rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
One of the healthiest no-fuss rose is a Kordes Floribunda called Fire Opal. A novelty style rose in the Kolorscape® Collection. Mass planted Fire Opal Roses were a delightful highlight of the farm garden. They grew along the edge of the verandah; 12 in total to 70 cm high. They were stunning and rarely out of flower, and contrasted beautifully with their glossy green foliage.
My aim is to create a similar en mass effect along the driveway garden, because Fire Opal Roses do not have too many thorns, and also don’t mind slight shade. Both are important factors in this particular spot. The mass planting of the same variety will accentuate their collective impact, and be anchored by the large rhododendrons behind.
The Fire Opal roses are prolific bloomers, compact and dense, providing masses of roses in clusters of pink and cream with deeper pink buds. The vibrancy of the leathery leaves is a indication of the robust nature of this small rose. It looks delicate but is as hardy as they com
Gardener’s Recipe: One part soil, two parts water, and three parts wishful thinking
Planting en mass is another term for planting in drifts or swathes. It is a simple, yet effective landscape design technique that creates a natural looking wow factor. It doesn’t matter what size or style of garden, large or small, contemporary, rural, urban or cottage style, planting in drifts or mass planting is the same. By plantings no less than seven of the same plant will easily create unity, harmony, balance and visual interest. In this case it is more like a hedge but nonetheless, it was a great success worth repeating again.
So far the seven Fire Opal roses are growing steadily but restricted by tall Iris plants that were sensational when in flower but now hide the roses too much. As it is a new garden I was unaware when I planted the roses that bulbs were planted in the same spot. I’m going to relocate the Iris bulbs to a more suitable position.
The best time to divide and move Iris plants is in late summer after flowering.
Dig up the Iris without damaging the rhizomes and pull apart to separate them.
Cut the leaves diagonally by about a third.
Plant in soil with good drainage at soil level or 1-3 cm deep, 35–45 cm apart.
Water in well, but do not over water to reduce risk of rot.
Add some eco seaweed solution to reduce plant stress.
There are no happier folks than plant lovers and none more generous than those who garden.
E H Wilson
The roses highlighted in this post were New Dawn Clg, Blackberry Nip, La Vie en Rose, The Endeavour Rose and Fire Opal Roses. The Roses are available from Wagners Rose Nursery, Treloar Roses and Silkies Rose Farm
Title quote by Elizabeth Lawrence
Header Image is the rose” That’s Life” available from Knights Roses
Images and content Di Baker 2024
