Beautiful! I wish I could grow roses, but they truly hate me. I can't even root or keep a Louis Philippe alive. I did manage to keep a Fortuniana alive once for a few years after it's Peace graft died, but even that died soon enough. I could grow roses in SCl; had a dozen or more old garden roses up there, but down here, they just won't stay alive, no matter what I do.

Don Juan

@dirtygardener73 thank you! Have you tried the mini roses in pots? I got one from lowes in the fall because I wanted some color and I put it in a small pot and I don't think I could kill it if I tried! Just had to make sure it's watered well bc the pots dry out fast. I also gave it a bit of fish emulsions and put a handful of used coffee grounds on top of the soil in the pot and I have a ton of buds. Zero BS. I can't remember the name of the variety I got, but it is a mini rose, yellow blooms with pink on the edges of the petals. I pruned very heavy in the beginning of spring (left like 3 twigs lol) and its full and lush again. I love it's in a small pot bc I can move it in the rain and on my porch.

@sultry_jasmine_nights those blooms are perfection!!! I had no idea you could grow such a beautiful munstead wood in the heat! i would love to try it but I get poked enough by thorns and I'm running out of room for roses. I love all your roses, and I'm hoping my lichfield angel I just got looks as good as yours. Also your Evelyn is very pretty, how are the flushes? I read they are kinda sparse but they seem worth it for the bloom and fragrance.

My James Galway has the most buds on it. 3-4 on each end of cane so I'll have to post a pic when they all bloom! The Eden is the second most. I moved my ingenious mr. Fairchild to the sunniest spot (SE) in my yard about 2 months ago and it is doing extremely well (finally!). No BS at all, put out basal canes and even has a bus forming. I had no buds last year bc I had it in too shady a spot and it grew long gangly thorny canes that were floppy but straight. I'm excited to see its bloom form since it's supposed to be like peonies!

thanks for sharing your beautiful blooms too!

*bud not bus! Oops.. Typo

@dirtygardener73 here is my little potted rose

Filly, Sultry and DG, Allow me to join the Florida Rose Buds Party!

E Veyrat Hermanous

Rev D'Or

There's more, but I have to get them out of my phone first.

Veronica

@thonotorose Oh my goodness! They are so lovely! Your roses are awesome too! I love the colors in the e veyrat hermanous and the white CL Clotilde Soupert looks like a fairytale. Love them! Thanks for sharing your pics!

Filly, Thanks. I have all my roses in full sun here now. I have found they just do better and get less BS that way. I dont spray at all and some do get yucky leaves sometimes especially if it rains alot but they just shed them and grow new ones. I have most of them in large pots. I top the pots off w composted rabbit & chicken manure every month and fertilize w bloom booster and or fish fertilizer whenever i get around to it, maybe once a month. I am not new to growing ros4s but I am new to growing roses in Florida where its very different from the desert where I grew them before. Much harder here lol.

I also have a baby Mr Fairchild. It is on its own root and not very big yet. It is in full sun. I think it put out one bloom so far. I also got it for the peony like flowers its supposed to have. I cant wait till it gets a little bigger!

Evelyn hardly bloomed last year but this year I moved her to more sun and espaliered here on a wire fence about 9 ft wide. I strung it up between some metal t-posts. She has several buds on her right now. She is slower growing than most of the other DAs I have but is catching up this year. The flowers smell HEAVENLY. I also have Abe Darby which is similar but a larger bush so far and more free flowering.

Thonotorose, always love seeing your beautiful roses !! I just started growing antique roses here last year. I am finding them very addictive lol.

~sjn

I just saw your second post of photos! You have so many breathtaking beauties there! CS is so beautiful, I agree very fairytale-like. I hope my Mrs B R Cant looks like yours someday. Mine is still a baby. Do you have any advice about growing the antique roses here in FL?

Thanks all! CS is a great rose for here. Mine is own root and in krappy soil. She needs iron a lot or her leaves turn yellow. (See *trlf below.) She also will ball in the spring if it is wet. But makes up for it gloriously the rest of the year. Lovely scent, pink in the winter.

My best advice is to plant them in the best soil you can manage. Compost, oak leaves, mulch, wood chips and, the very best, horse stall sweepings. Nematodes only do well in sandy soil. They do not like humus and the roses do. I, too, grow in lots of pots because it is easier to control the soil/weeds that way. Our home is over a *toxic rubble land fill... and I am 64.

Re the Mrs... Dr. Manners, when he came to Florida Southern College as an ag prof found an own-root Mrs BRC growing in pure Fl sand in the full sun, with no watering other than rainfall or any other care. He determined that it had been there for decades. So she'll be fine. Beware! She will finish out about 12X12 here.

My second advice is to get over thinking you are EVER going to have handsome bushes here. You're not. You are growing them for the blooms and the scents. If they look pretty good sometimes then count your blessings.

For Florida roses that do reasonably well here repeat this to your (antique rose shopping) self often... chinas, teas, noisettes... chinas, teas, noisettes... chinas, teas, noisettes...

I take no credit for these as my husband planted them three 1/2 years ago. He had large rose gardens at our home in NY and wanted some in Florida. Boy do they take a beating here. He's pretty much given up due to heat, bugs, fungal and his wife who does not allow any toxic chemicals in the garden. I grow butterflies. But a few old roses came back last month full of blooms to warm his heart.

Jane

Hi

Have always avoided roses over the years but last winter found a potted "Peace "hybrid tea .Was incredibly healthy looking and only 8 bucks . Has flowered several times already with single flowers on very long stems .

Can see , that a 4 gallon container was way too small, lol Figure it will croak over summer , but so far it looks good . having a hard time keeping it moist enough with the high temps and incessant wind. Another problem is that there is less that 3 hours of direct sun and my trees are not fully leafed as yet lol

Beautiful pix !! I'm inspired lol gary

Beautiful, beautiful flowers, everyone! I can almost smell them from here. :)

Gary, I was going to ask you where you found some sun, but then you answered the question. I'm a mostly-shade gardener, like you. When I planted all these trees, I had to commit to the shade. I still have some double-pink knockout roses across the front of the house - the last bastion of sun.

Carol in Jacksonville

Does anyone remember the Fairy rose? It was sold a few years before the knock-outs came out. I was not able to bring mine with me from up north and really miss it. Are they still available? Would they survive FL weather?

Veronica, I much appreciate your words of wisdom on the antique roses. I mostly have bought teas, and noisettes so far. A lot are climbers lol. I have my eye on a few chinas now. I really want gloire des rosomanes and Mutablis. We had the most amazing gloire des rosomanes when i was a kid. Great memories of that rose!

Horse manure does work wonders in the garden! Roses love it! I used to use that when we had horses. Right now, I am using rabbit compost and chicken droppings that have the fine shredded pine chips in it that I use in thier coops and nest boxes. I also get bags of coffee grounds from Starbucks on occasion. I have been contemplating getting back into horses or maybe even some minis. We live on a mini farm (about 4 acres) w a small currently empty barn and 2 covered horse stalls that i converted into a chicken area.

Thanks for the heads up on the Mrs..She will be a big girl! I was thinking of putting her at the far end of a flower bed and was wondering how much room I should leave her lol. I have space for maybe 3 big ones in that bed. I gotta figure out what Im gonna,do w all the big climbers I have too. So far for large climbers, I got Maman Cochet CL and White Maman Cochet CL, Souvenir de Madame Leonie viennot (sp), The Mermaid (yikes), and many others. I had MAC but it froze on the way hete from HR, I suppose. So I will have to reorder her.

Gary, I still have some of my roses in 5 gallon pots lol. I've had Blue Girl in probably close to a 5 gallon for 7 yrs now maybe longer. Ive taken her out, trimmed her roots and replaced the soil a few times. She is my all time fav rose. Im a sucker for her lavender blue gray coloring. Munstead Wood, the rose in my first photo (above) is in a 5 gallon and has branches near 8ft. As long as you can keep them watered and fed in the summer they will be okay. Also the pots need excellent drainage for roses. If I still lived in the desert potted roses might be a no no but Florida is much more forgiving on potted roses.

Jane, I love your dh's roses! Its nice that he shares your love of gardening and nature. I have been trying to get more butterflies here. When we first moved here I hardly saw any. Now there are GST, Sulphurs,Gulf Frits, Zebra longwings, and best of all, Monarchs, finally found the milkweed Ive been growing for 2 years, last summer. I admit I first quit using sprays/chemicals due to the cute lizards and green tree frogs I kept finding in my brugmansia. I am glad for all the insects now. I have thrips right now on some roses but I can live with them. I also get the hornworms on my brugs but then they turn into beautiful hawk moths! Last fall there were literally hundreds of hawk moths starting in the evenings, flitting all over the night jasmine, nycanthes arbor trystis, brugmansia, and moonflowers vines that are all over the yard. They are really magical like little faries at dusk.

Carol, Your knockouts are beautiful and really lend a nice pop of color to your home. Tread very carefully, roses can become very very addicting lol.

I'm curious. Do any of you use the Johnny Becnel formula for fertilizing? Cool Roses seems to like it.

Bea, is this The Fairy rose you were wondering about? http://www.heirloomroses.com/roses/easy-pz-roses/the-fairy.html?gclid=CI6Hhvbsp8wCFYsCaQod9YsB_w

I havent grown it here. Hopefully others can chime in on that one. She is a beauty.

Writersblock, I haven't heard of that fertilizer. It is probably a good one if Cool Roses uses it.

Here's what they say about it, sultry:

How should I feed my new rose bushes?

Any good feeding program will work, but I have had very good luck with a "once a year program" developed by Johnny Becnel, one of the pioneers at promoting of fortuniana grafted exhibition roses. I mix this formula directly into the planting hole soil when I plant new plants. It is as follows:

The Johnny Becnel Once a Year Fertilizer Program.

Move mulch, add:

2 cups fish meal

1 cup 8-9 mo. Timed release fertilizer

2 tbs blood meal

½ cup alfalfa meal

½ cup Epsom salts (actually 3 times per year)

½ cup dolomite lime

½ cup milorganite

½ cup gypsum pellets

1 cup ashes from his fireplace

from this page of their FAQs:

http://www.coolroses.com/faq.htm

Jane, Dr manners says that CI is a great rose for here. It is always available when the FSC sales happen. Looks great! See if you can get your husband to do a day trip and get to the FSC gardens. They are peaking now.

Gary, good for your Peace, a much beloved rose. FYI, at this time of year I will keep my potted in shallow trays with water in them. The ONLY roses I have lost from too much water were in the last two years because of all the rain. Most were in the ground. In addition to the toxic rubble land fill, I am also right next to a swampy area. hence the land fill...

LTY, we are in a canyon of old pines and oaks. Yes, enough sun is a challenge. Many noisettes and other antiques will do well in some shade. Knockouts are a good landscape shrub, but I need scent.

Bea, that one is widely available so good luck. Not my cup of tea... no fragrance and mostly a once bloomer.

SJNs, IMO rabbit is the next best. Both are cold fertilizers and will not burn unless full of urine, too. I love how much you share, here and elsewhere... I've learned a lot from you and tried a few due to your enabling....Lol. Had no luck with the Cochets here, they grow backwards and the Mermaid is scary! Did you read the "blue cup thread for thrips? Gotta try that...

WB that formula sounds good. I am a lackadaisical fertilizer. What ever works, works, but in an ideal world I would have a dump truck of probiotic humus delivered from Mother's Organics in Seffner , FL and have it spread around by a some cute yard guys..

O... Please think about joining any local rose society. I've learned so much and I am VERY lucky at the raffles. Bring something for it! Tickets only a $. The Central Florida Heritage Rose Society meetings are held at Florida Southern College once a month. (Second Sunday? 2:30 pm?) Only $15 per year per family! The newsletter announces the terrific sales held at least every second year... usually yearly.

The students are taught grafting and rooting from the roses in the gardens. They graft onto fortuniana which has been virus indexed by the college. Most, if not all of the roses for sale are also virus indexed, too. Makes for a better and much more long-lived plant.

See you there?

Here's the link...

Thonotorose, your rose society sounds amazing. I haven't heard anything about a north FL rose society. I should check and see if there is one. I am near Callahan/NW Jax outskirts area. I want to get down to see those rose gardens at Fl southern college sometime too. They sound heavenly. I can get ideas on what to grow lol (Enabled). I think I would like grafting roses. I got fortuniana and pink clouds from Bluegirl on the roses forum last spring so I could eventually take cuttings and use them to graft. She's so awesome!! No clue if they are virus indexed etc. but the pink clouds is going psycho w blooms. The fort hasn't bloomed yet but has reached a decent size.

I did see that about the blue cups and thrips! I meant to grab some plastic blue cups when I went to the grocery to try it, but then forgot lol !! I must remember to get some. Those darn thrips love my pope john paul2 rose. They get on him first every year.

WB, that looks like a great "recipe" for fettilizer. Thanks so much for sharing it. I have to dig little holes near my roses/plants if I'm gonna use granular/solid types of fertilizer to bury and hide it cuz my free ranging chickens think its treats, just for them, and eat it up grr. They love osmocote or any little colored things which is not good for them I'm sure lol.

OK enough of me talking lol. Here's a few pics from today.

Abe Darby

Teasing Georgia

Queen Anne whole bush showing its hideous 5 gal nursery pot lol. Crown Princess Margareta is right behind her getting ready to bloom.

Came across this little tree frog hiding on a Blue Agave protected by thorns..he says, "Go ahead, try and eat me, I just dare you"

My mistake. I was corrected by my husband today. He was not happy about my naming his rose!

Chrysler Imperial!

That is the correct name. You can tell I have no knowledge about roses.

We live in Sarasota and i don't know if there is a Rose Society. He belonged to one in NYC and found the people very 'stuffy' and only went a few times.

I try to stay out of it. But, I do enjoy his beautiful rose bushes even though the heat and very sandy soil seem to take a toll. Many have died out or are fading over the three years since we moved in. The red Chrysler Imperial and an unknown Pink climber seem to be doing well.

Not sure about the names of these. I believe they were planted last year.

Jane

Hi

So you'd say a t least a 7 gallon pot?? I put it in a 4 because that's what I had . May step up to a 10 if the bugs and disease stay away through the summer AND it tolerates an hour of sun. I only bought it because it was "Peace" and so cheap lol

Thontorose You grow roses in "standing water?? Al would be horrified !! lol May try that rather than stepping up the pot size until I see what's going to happen over summer. I started a terrestrial orchid bed in that location and I need time to work on killing them lol Thanks for the info gary

Jane, that pink rose is gorgeous! I dont know the name of it either..wish I did lol.

Gary if the roots havent filled up the 4 gallon yet, you could just leave it for awhile. I have some monsters still in 5 gallons. It will probably be a nightmare when I have to repot them though lol.

Here is Lady of Shalott in a 5 gallon. She likes to climb so she is espaliered on a 12 ft piece of wire fencing held up w t-posts. Her foliage stays really green for being in FL

close up of her beauty

Side shot of the bloom

2 LoS blooms

Jubilee Celebration w Raspberry Cream Twirl

More Jubilee Celebration

The Alnwick Rose today

Yes, Gary, but not too much! Just an inch or so in the trays. That way I don't have to drag the hose EVERY day. Just every other day... I do remove the trays when the rains come regularly. Funny guy!

Sultry that LoS is stupendous! Very, VERY good looking foliage! She is now on my list. Fragrance? In the past, I've heard good things about The Alnwick Rose and Teasing Georgia for Florida.

I want to let all rose buds know.... the FSC meeting is THIS SUNDAY. They moved it forward a week so it won't interfere with Mother's Day. Also... bring your raffle item.....anything "garden" works.... and a goodie to share at cookie time.

Thontorose

I happened to have an empty drip tray so put it to work on the rose . Had to throw in the comment about Al as we've had several disaggreements on water culture lol I grow around a dozen species in standing water in several different ways and have had great success with many besides water plants.

One more ?? and I'll shutup Since the nature of the hybrid tea is to produce a single flower on a long stem where do you remove spent flowers?? Would assume back to the main cane as it won't produce more buds from the smaller stems?? I already regret using a small pot it's making some serious canes from the sides which are over 3 feet already lol I used a mix of composted manure and fir bark chips with a chunk of "fruit tree" fert in the bottom . exept for the water problem it seems to be happy. Thanks for the info!!! gary

The old rule was to cut it back to an outward growing bud. That keeps the bush open and less disease prone. It you want a smaller bushier bush then cut back pretty short. If you're going for height then not so far back. If you just snap the bloom off and watch the bush you will begin to learn where it wants to sprout from. Some will send out two or three new stems. It is also a good idea to thumb prune those tiny sprouts if the finished branch will grow into the bush and create a snarl. Just push it off with your thumb.

Don't let it stand in that water once the rains come regular. This is just an aid to prevent having to water LOTS in this dry heat.

Filly, my Ingenious Mr. Fairchild bloomed today. I didnt notice it had buds till yesterday lol. There were 3. Its still a pretty small plant.

The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild

Thonotorose, Lady of Shalott is s great rose here. She does have fragrance but it is light. I guess that is her one fault. I think she is worth growing.

I usually cut back to a 5 leaf formation. If I am just out in the yard and see a lot of flowers have dropped, I just snap off buds and go back a few days or a week later later after I dig out the clippers and cut them all back at once. I am lazy lol. On these climbers that have made laterals upon laterals..I cut laterals back hard so they will bloom again. There are some good you tube videos on pruning roses (bushes or climbers).

Jude the Obscure- one of the most fragrant Austins..kinda lemony scented

Princess Alexandra of Kent- pretty much a non stop bloomer in my yard. I like her big fluffy blooms so much, I have 2 of these.

SJN, wow! Your IMF rose looks so pretty! I looked this morning and saw 1 small bud on mine. Haha! At least it's a start after I moved him in a better spot the beginning of spring. Today I saw my James Galway is flushing, here's a pic of the best bloom:

And my my mini potted rose I don't remember the name of bloomed too!

Cant wait for the rest of them to open up and I'll post some more pics like a proud parent! (no kids here yet; just plants and fur babies!)

SJN,

also I was looking for a rose society here in NWFL but I don't think they have one either. I visited my local UF extension office and that place was great! everyone there was so passionate and knowledgeable about gardening! They were all sooo sweet too! One of the master gardeners told me that there is a garden club in the next town over to me and the boss lady of the club grows antique roses! She says she calls her the "rose snob" (in a nice way) because she grows a lot of Austins! Hahaha!! Me and her can hang out since I love DA's!!

Thats quite a garden reputation I want to see her roses!! Lol

I like the pink on James Galloway. I never see that one posted very much on the rose forums. Its really pretty! I miss my minis. I used to grow quite a few. I haven't grown them in years and there are so many new varieties that are very tempting lol. A long time ago, I lived outside of Yellowstone Park in WY. One of the plants I grew that always returned was a yellow mini rose. I love all yellow roses!

Your extension office sounds like a good one. You will have to take some pics of the rose lady's garden LOL! I love to seee antiques and Austins growing here in FL!

Hi

?? For all you rose growers. Is there such a thing as a Blue rose?? Have seen lavenders almost purples but a true blue?? i see pix of greens/blacks and several combinations such as black /white and one in particular every petal was a different color on the net usually the captions say "pretty flower " or rose " Are these real if so do you know the names?? Thanks gary

I don't know of any true blues or true blacks. Some roses have several diff colors in them like pinks, yellows, oranges, etc but no full out rainbows, colors diff on every petal or anything like that. There are striped roses. There is really an all green rose. I would only buy it from a reputable nursery though, not ebay lol.

"Blue" roses seem to really run in the different colored purple ranges. Some are more lavender with grey tones like Blue Girl (my favorite rose) there is Wild Blue Yonder, and Blue For You that are darker blu-ish purple tones. Some look bluer than others. There are a lot of good purple toned roses. Some seem to get more true purple or darker hues in cooler weather. Some people say soil acidity plays a role.

"Blacks" are usually dark burgundys that with the right environmental conditions look black. There is a ongoing thread over on the gw rose forum with much discussion on black roses.

Here are a few reputable sources for roses and antique/old garden roses that I have bought from.

http://www.roguevalleyroses.com/

http://www.heirloomroses.com/

http://www.rosepetalsnursery.com/

https://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/

http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/advanced.asp

"No black flower is ever really black." --Nero Wolfe, Black Orchids

Beautiful roses! Congrats to all the growers!

Here are the some of the roses that I saw in Amsterdam, the smell was wonderful!

At the garden show

At the museum fresh cut roses

Silvia

Ooh, that second photo is gorgeous, Silvia.

About blue roses... In the last few years a Japanese research team managed to put the true blue gene from a delphinium into a rose. Believed by many to NOT be a hoax. It is thought that the rose is undergoing testing for health, marketing and testing of breeding uses. If there is no news then it is most likely that they are experiencing failures.

That rainbow rose IS a hoax.

Thank you Writersblock.