Nothing blooming yet here in central Alabama, but it is 76 degrees today. The roses are putting on leaves and setting buds and it shouldn't be too long before the first flush. Until then I am living vicariously through the photos, so kindly posted by others. So, thank you! Belle Portugaise is indeed very beautiful.

Oh, I am always going to be living vicariously as far as Belle Portugaise goes. Dunno whether to thank you, Jacqueline, or curse for causing the envy to rise up again (yep, it isn't the first time you have done this).

My entire spring flush froze, followed by powdery mildew, which I had never even seen before. If I had not read about it here on this forum, I wouldn't have had a clue. Talk about a disastrous spring! Your BP is gorgeous, Jackie. I hope everyone else has pictures to post.

That's beautiful, Jackie! Great against that blue sky.

Sorry about your loss, Florida. Clean them up and cut them back a bit and you should get a new flush a little later.

Beautiful, Jeri! I love roses that change up as they open.

We seem to be way ahead of schedule this year. Marie Pavie, Cl. Lady Hillingdon and Angel's Camp Tea have already completed their spring flush (we don't prune so no winter hiatus) and Golden Celebration and Alister Stella Gray are now out with lots of others in bud.

Gorgeous shot of Belle Portugaise - thanks. And thanks to Jeri too - lovely rose.

Many roses have buds (unless I've cruelly disbudded them) but I have a beautiful bouquet of roses on the dining room table of Miss Atwood, SdlM, Souv. de Germain de St. Pierre, Sophy's Rose and Mme. Joseph Schwartz.

Mrs. B.R. Cant, Le Vesuve, Aunt Margy's Rose, Mutabilis (never stopped), Mr. Bluebird and Burbank are also blooming.

All over the hills here the California lilac is blooming its heart out, including four bushes on our property.

Ingrid

Wow those are some beautiful roses-not ones I've seen before.

I got my first bloom on Archduke Charles this week. Big surprise. Last year it was a tiny band that stayed potted until February. The rest of the newly planted OGR's are starting to bud out. I think I'm hooked. Some of the moderns are going out for adoption next year. Out with the new, in with the old.
Mary

We went from cold to hot in a few days and I'm hoping all the buds will open. I have blooming:
Mrs. Herbert Stevens; beautiful
Mrs Br Cant; she blooms and blooms
Catherine Mermet: love her color and scent
Monsieur Tillier
Alister Stella Grey
Golden Showers; is always blooming; great rose
Mrs. Joseph Schwartz; I think she's my favorite rose; very graceful and scented.

Many others just getting ready to bloom; hold off the heat!

It's still winter here: chilly, gray, dull, and gloomy. This has been a wet dark year. I tried to go out this morning to prune but my hands froze so I came in and settled down by the fire. The hellebores look fine and the wild violets are satisfactory as always, and the Daphne odora is in flower. But even early spring is still for the most part before us.
However, in spite of the snow damage and the steady chill, I must say that we haven't had any severe low temperatures this year, and it's the first time that I've seen a couple of roses that set buds and tried to flower without ever stopping completely: 'Sanguinea' and 'Old Blush'.
Everybody here is yearning for mild temperatures--like, in the fifties--and some SUN.
P.S. Wow, Jeri, that certainly is a pretty rose.

This post was edited by melissa_thefarm on Sun, Mar 17, 13 at 9:12

I have fortuniana, and Old Blush, which is blooming because I haven't pruned it yet. Pic of fort attached.

"Grandmother's Hat."
:-)

Jeri

A very nice healthy looking Fort, Eahamel! BIG! I'd love to see your Old Blush too.

Jeri, you devil, your are going to enable me into that rose yet! And just where in the heck will I put it!

I don't know, but I do know that Lois Ann Helgeson grows it, in your general neck of the woods -- I'm sure it doesn't get as big there as it does here, which might be a plus??

Jeri

You all are making me so jealous! I don't have anything blooming right now, unless you count Rouletti which has been in a greenhouse all winter and never stopped (poor confused thing)!

I did spend the last two days planting my bareroots from Palatine, pulling some non-performing plants (Bella'Roma, Sugar Moon), pruning, weeding.....oh, the joys of spring...I looks like I've been attacked by a barbed wire fence!

Tammy

This post was edited by TNY78 on Sun, Mar 17, 13 at 22:41

It's stil a little early here for rose blooms. There are a few blooms on Climbing Pompon de Paris(Rouletti).

Here's Mine! Besides the ones listed below, Dian and The Doctor were also blooming!

La France Cl.
{{gwi:238640}}

Valencia (practically always blooming...)
{{gwi:238641}}

October Moon (smells so nice!)
{{gwi:238642}}

Grace Darling
{{gwi:238643}}

Oh they're all so pretty, Aimee!

My blooms today

left: Belinda's Dream

right: La Reine

In bloom today, Iceberg, Belinda's Dream, Darcey Bussell (almost constantly it has a rose or two) Simplicity

And Grandmothers Hat

Blooming now: Cassie (hasn't stopped), Wild Edric (and has lots of buds), R. minutifolia, York and Lancaster, Stanwell Perpetual (plus buds galore), R. spinosissima altaica, Huntington Rose, Cl. Cecile Brunner, Sequoia Gold, Excellenz von Schubert, and Reine des Violettes.

With buds about to open: R. primula, William's Double Yellow, Grandmother's Hat, Golden Border, Sunny Day, Polly Sunshine, R. alabukensis, R. borissovae, R. xanthina, R. fedtschenkoana, Rosa omeiensis 'Pteracantha', Julia Mannering, Madame Pierre Oger, Micrugosa Alba, Francois Premier, Europas Rosengarten, and Emil Nolde.

Melissa

None of my roses are blooming here. I have buds close to opening on Frontier Twirl and Louise Odier and Oklahoma (which has aphids...). I have buds barely apparent but not close to opening on Maid of Honor ($5 at Costco!). Nothing else has anything but lovely new leaves. My 2 new bare roots are getting some good leaves, but really, nothing rosie is busting out here yet. I'm still enjoying hyacinths (large and grape) and narcissus, and my dianthus is JUST starting to bloom - I had chopped them short a few months ago, and waited to see if they lived through the winter or not. Yes, they did! My Japanese maples are starting to show a wee bit of leaf, but are just barely out of the bud stage. Fuchsias are getting new leaves that are not even 1/4" long. My hydrangea is just breaking dormancy, it has pretty green leaves that are very small still. My TB iris leaves are getting close to a foot long, but not all of them are, and there are no bud stalks showing as yet. Freesias are about to bloom, some of the buds are fattening up and turning yellow. My cerinthe that overwintered is flowering - funny looking things!

I brought my spider plant indoors all winter, and took it out a few days ago. It's too cold for it, apparently, as multiple leaves are turning a nasty brown. I brought it back in this afternoon, and it will stay here until the ficus and the ceropegia go out - in a few more weeks.

I got home from today's rose society meeting and saw a bud on Hermosa showing her deep pink color. Looked further and saw Mme Abel Chatenay's one bud also showing petal color. Lauren and Sweet Chariot with petals showing, still tightly closed though. SDLM, Leonie Lamesch, and Polonaise have one or two early buds. Everything is just starting to green up (or red up in the case of the Teas). New growth is only a couple of inches long.

The freeze did a number on us, too, a month ago when the garden was tricked into thinking it was spring. Nature lied, and they were all blooming or were about to, and then it was gone. Now the real thing has arrived (even though it's unbelievably chilly at night and in the mornings), and I'm thrilled. It's like Christmas morning when I was a kid.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

The picture of 'La France' is gorgeous...Wow.

We have several weeks to go still in North Carolina. Shiny new growth is appearing everywhere but not even a hint of a bud yet. Still -- very early spring is not without its loveliness: hellebores, daffodils, tiny spring bulbs, all blooming. And the sweet scent of hyacinth.

These are such beautiful pictures! I have never seen R. chinesis spontanea. Thanks, Jeri, it's very pretty.

I saw, first, mature plants at Garden Valley Ranch, in NoCal. They had it growing by a small pond, and it was breathtaking. It is, apparently VERY difficult to propagate by cuttings, but I am glad that the Quarryhill Botanical Garden brought it to the U.S. in the form of seed.

Jeri

Jeri: Did you grow it from seed yourself? Or did the botanical garden make seedlings/plants available? Please, tell us your story :) I can imagine how lovely it would be beside a small pond with the reflection, floating petals...

In full and glorious bloom at my house are Madame Joseph Swartz and Archduke Charles. Also blooming but more sparsely are Mrs BR Cant, Ducher, Louis Philippe, Valentine, and SDLM. I've had one bloom on my baby Grandmother's Hat and two blooms on Titanic (floribunda). Wow! That one sure smells good. The other roses have many buds.

Also blooming is the green oxalis with pink flowers (purple leafed one is slower) and my Texas Mountain Laurel tree (smells like grape kool-aid to me). That one always gets the attention of the neighborhood walkers because it's planted close to the mailbox by the street. My redbud is about to bloom. I've had spotty bloom already on two of my iris varieties but they are all making buds. The neighbor's red quince is finished and her early yellow iris are blooming abundantly - so cheerful.

Wish I had pics for you. I need to take the time to learn to post those. Lou

First bloom of Rev D'Or.

Jeri, another one of your delicious roses unavailable to me. HMF lists only Burling as having it, and she doesn't ship to Florida. Anyone know of a place?

Wild Edric, first flower of the year, early evening today. The bloom is really several shades darker than it appears, but this rose is very hard to get the color accurately in a photo as its colors are swirled.

Melissa

This is what I love about ARF-----sitting here in the cold northeast and looking at all these gorgeous roses lifts my heart We have the lovely little crocus in bloom that have spread all over our yard-----Thanks for sharing.
Florence

Archduke Charles, Colombian Climber and Lady Emma Hamilton have all been flowering well all through the winter.
Sombreuil, Blush Noisette, Teasing Georgia, Marechal Niel and Archduc Joseph have all produced occasional flowers all winter. They have all been a complete joy through the colder months.
Yesterday, the first bloom of Abraham Darby appeared.
He is planted near a wall facing north west, so doesn't get much sun in winter.

Abraham Darby yesterday.

{{gwi:238646}}

Lady Emma Hamilton yesterday.

{{gwi:238648}}

Sorry about the wheelbarow and compost bag in the background. I am working in that area at the moment.

My Zantedeschia is starting to bloom now

{{gwi:238650}}

My Darwin tulips in pots have been blooming since early February.

{{gwi:238651}}

{{gwi:238652}}

{{gwi:238653}}

Daisy

Daisy: What a gorgeous garden you must have! Those are great pictures. I love the shot of Lady Emma Hamilton with the citrus tree in the background - you can almost smell the warm roses.

Daisy, I think that is THE best picture of Abraham Darby I've ever seen! Gorgeous photos altogether and the potted plants look too perfect to be real. When your garden is in its full spring glory, please post lots of pictures.

Ingrid

Micrugosa alba, from Vintage. I may need another.;)

Melissa

First flower of the year on R. primula (Pickering).

I wish there was a repeat-flowering primula, of any size, big, small whatever, I'd make room in my garden for a plant like that!

Melissa

I just figured out how to post a picture but don't know how to post multiples on one post. I've tried researching a bit but nothing works so am posting these separately. If anyone knows how to post multiple pictures, I'd appreciate the help. I have a Mac and posted the pictures to Flickr but can't figure out how to post them to the Gardenweb.

Here's a picture of my front yard today. This is Golden Showers and the very prolific Mons Tillier.

Another picture of my front yard. The orange rose is Livin Easy and that is Mrs BR Cant to the right

One more

Jaspermplants - all of your roses are so lovely! I really like the trellises, and the arbor thingy above what looks like the entrance to your house.

I had a Golden Showers for years - unfortunately it died, but for 20 years it bloomed almost continuously from April through Nov, as long as we kept it trimmed.

Jackie

Beautiful. The path is so inviting. What a pleasure it must be to sit in the shade and enjoy so much lovliness. Lou

Thanks for the compliment about my roses. This is my front yard, and I had the pergola built on the front of my house about 3 years ago, so I could grow roses on it. I also built all the trellis' for rose growing. I do have a few other vines on them you can't see from this picture. Luckily I live in a neighborhood without a HOA (hate them!) so I can pretty much do what I want, within city code, of course. It is amazing how the roses get better each year!

Jackie, the pictures of your garden are always a treat and a great inspiration for me. I always look forward to seeing them!

Queen Anne, my new Austin, has several buds.

Marie Pavie and Sophie's Perpetual are both blooming. Sophie's is new, and every bloom so far has been so beautiful and nicely scented.

Still waiting on everyone else.

Archduke Charles, Crespuscle have about 50 flowers right now. Melody Perfume has 2 flowers at the moment. Oh yeah, 1 flower from Granada and Julia Child. :-)

I have some new leaves, does that count? These showed up on the roses in the winter pot ghetto last week. For me it's as exciting as the first bloom! It means spring is coming!

Yes, seil, leaves do count! It's the beginning of great things to come!