Good Assingnment! Konrad

Bliss arrived from Roses Unlimited 5 weeks ago at 10" tall & wide. (Wanted a pair, but Pat only had one.) Repotted into a 3-gallon, it's grown well in that short time. Just went out to measure & it's now 16" x 16". Semi-glossy leaves healthy no spray through hot days of mid to high 90's, overnights cooling to 70, high humidity & frequent rain. After a week, a terminal bud began to develop & opened 10 days later (noted on my calendar, lol). Creamy pink infused with apricot, that first 2" flower held fresh for 9 days. Pretty amazing, considering how often I nose nuzzled the many baby petals to sample its perfume, catching new nuances of complexity each time. A mixture of ripe non-citrus fruits with a touch of vanilla cream, similar to fruit nougat, in a soft swirl of floral minibursts my memory associates with ylang ylang. More than a sensory delight - a spiritual uplift. This rose is well named. Back to earth - began pinching for structure after that bloom indulgence & the baby rose responded with new branching. Allowed only one of those side shoots a single bloom (so I could bliss out again). Snapped off at the peduncle base as the sepals descended, that bud went into a small blue bottle vase & accompanied me from desk to night table for several days, till it dried in perfect form in the air conditioning. Even dried, it retained the ghost of its perfume. That bloom opened to 3", more petal & fragrance packed than the first. Dutifully nipped several more buds to direct the rose's energy into root & branch growth. Measuring Bliss' current stature a few minutes ago, spied a new bud just beginning to form along a side branch. Compelled to let that one bloom, too. Having only spent 38 days with Bliss as of today, have to say I'm besotten. Sue

JAN STEEN JAMES GALWAY JAMES BIDDLE JAM & JERUSALEM JALITAH JADE "JACCOMAG" - a J&P test rose from several yrs ago. Never got marketed that I'm aware of. This was their "code name" that the tag had on it. They quit putting code names on the test roses a few yrs after that. I wish they still did the test roses. They were fun. I have quite a lot of them that I've gotten over the yrs. Some ended up being marketed, and others did not. This one is really quite beautiful. Not sure why they dumped it tho. Based on the code name, I'm guessing one of its parents must've been COLOR MAGIC.

Being in transit for multiple days and then being left inside in a dark box is stressful for any plant. I think they're doing well considering. I wouldn't crazy with any fertilizer, but continue watering as needed and perhaps shading them somewhat until they perk up and put out some new growth.