A rose in hand is worth two in the bush
As an experiment, I had overwintered a few favorite potted roses in my unheated garage this winter and 4-5 weeks ago started to ”wake them up” indoors under LED grow lights. Results are turning out to be better than hoped for and I am starting to enjoy some initial blooms now almost two months before the first outdoor roses might start flowering in my area. You all have no idea how heartening it is to tend these roses burgeoning with new growth and buds while the weather in the frozen north is still wild and brutish.
Brindabella Purple Prince is a stellar rose with a bushy, almost twiggy growth habit and a heady damask perfume of the type only found in certain modern roses (think Crimson Glory et al). Here it is surrounded by foliage and developing buds of Bolero and Gruss an Teplitz:
Sunrosa Fragrant Pink was received a few weeks ago as a tiny rooted cutting. I am not sure if it is technically a miniature or a miniflora. This first bloom is surprisingly fragrant of tea rose and sweet-tart raspberry:
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Rose bush only has two canes--should I replace
Comments (11)Using epsom salt will encourage new basals only if her potting soil is deficient in magnesium. Which it may or may not be. If it were in the ground I would not recommend epsom salt as NorCal soils are generally not deficient in magnesium. I must say having gardened all around the SF Bay and now in Puget Sound area, Santa Clara is paradise for growing roses. The soil and the climate are perfect. The price of real estate and the resulting size of gardens are a different matter ... I get way more space up here than I ever had down there, and a shorter irrigation season. No, the best thing to encourage basal breaks, is to encourage good healthy growth, and give the rose enough time. Minimum three years from planting. Up here I wouldn't bother with a two cane wonder, our growing season is too cool and too short for a rose to recover from that. Hybrid teas are only just now leafing out from spring pruning up here, after all freezing down to the ground last winter, and you only get two, maybe three, bloom flushes, so a one or two cane bush just isn't going to grow very much. In Santa Clara, two canes is fine! it'll have plenty of time to grow, and no Old Man Winter to kill off what grew over the summer. How long has Bolero been in the pot? potting soil breaks down over a couple years and has to be replaced....See MoreGasp! Are roses worth it?
Comments (102)Very interesting, insightful and very caring comments, thank you. Not to worry, Jon and I are good, via separate communication some days back. :-) We have people with all sorts of commitment levels here. Me, I like to take a dispassionate and objective view of the garden from time to time, to evaluate what all is and isn't living up to my expectations, hopes, etc., evaluating just how much do I really care about any given rose bloom and/or fragrance or even garden bed or section. Take Cressida. Horrible rebloom, yet amazing blooms that touch my soul. I defer, in this particular case, then, to that emotion. I change and evolve, therefore, my perspective of my garden changes too, depending on my mood, my larger vision, experience, etc. So, there is no unconditional love, the roses are there for our pleasure only. We're very busy, it's a lot of work, which we're fine doing, but we do need to feel a connection toward the rose in question. I want a connection toward every single rose. That said, it is uncommon that we SP a rose up to now, and for the foreseeable future in terms of larger numbers of roses but that can change too. Life is about change. In the meantime, I am also passionate about my garden, no question. I have 911 images in my Abraham Darby folder alone in my computer. Thus, the conflict, reconciling objectivity with passion, certainly a difficult task. And, I want to do that for the spring, summer, and fall seasons. I have many images of four seasons of my garden. Someday I should share my winter images and from the fall too and the uncolored buds of early spring, a sculptural sort of look. It really is a lot more to me than "grow!" "produce!" NOW! Fact is, it's very complex. And, there is a different perspective and journey for every rose grower. I appreciate your responses, they help me figure this out, as I consider different points of view. Thanks so much....See MoreCaring for rescued rose bushes plus ID request
Comments (6)Glad you saved them! Since your Dad remembers buying them at K Marts before 1982 I'm betting they're probably varieties that were introduced much earlier than that. K Mart has never sold the latest and greatest ones, as a rule, but usually the out of patent packaged roses. Even the potted ones mine used to get (mine didn't even get any body bags in this spring) were always older, out of patent varieties. It's hard to tell from the pictures but it could be a Peace rose. If so, lucky you! I know it looks very yellow in your pictures but the earlier clones are said to be much deeper and vibrant in color than the new ones sold today. And I do remember my Mom's Peace rose from the 60s was a much deeper yellow than the one I have now. Wintering them in the pots in the garage is a good idea. I don't know exactly where you are but for me here in MI it's getting sort of late to plant roses and hope they'll be established well enough to winter outside. Besides, you can pamper them better in the pots and get them healthy before you put them in the ground. Wait until they are completely dormant before you store them in the garage. Put the pots up on wood or blocks to keep the bottoms off the cement and remember to give them water once a month until spring. You don't want them to dehydrate. That will kill them for sure. They're asleep, not dead, lol, so they need to be watered even if the soil looks and feels frozen. I water the one I keep in my shed for winter by putting a shovel full of snow on it every time it snows. That way it slowly melts down into the pot as temps fluctuate over the winter. In the spring when the daylight starts to length you'll begin to see some growth nubs on the canes fattening. That's when you have to keep an eye on them most. You can take them out into the sun during the day if it's above freezing but they have to go back in at night if the temps are still below freezing. You kind of have to play it by ear until you're sure that they won't be frozen. The freeze/thaw cycle is a real rose killer. Give us a pic of the other one when it blooms and we'll try to ID that one for you too!...See MorePlanting site for my 6 rose bushes
Comments (4)Deer yes, rabbits occasionally. There is a beagle across the road who runs them. :) My aunt said the sprinkler scarecrow is the only thing that worked for her. I don't have water down there, so I will have to figure out a way to get water to it other than a garden hose. I should invent something. It would work like a water scarecrow, but instead of spraying them it would go "BOOGITY BOOGITY BOGGITY, GO AWAY STUPID DEER!!" then it would wildly flap back and forth causing all the floodlights in the house to start blinking wildly, at which time the pack of doberman and pitbull's would be released from their underground trapdoor bunker. Do you think that would sell?...See More
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoIt seems like I have a lot of contemporary roses starting to bloom while my antiques are taking their time.
Here is the first bud unfurling on a young cutting of Brindabella Pink Princess, the equally fragrant sport of Brindabella Purple Prince. Something about Purple Prince and Pink Princess reminds me of Radiance amd Red Radiance but on much nicer, hardier, more compact plants, especially for those of us in colder climates. Both cultivars have a lovely damask fragrance with hints of lemon, so strong that in the bud stage it can clear your sinuses:
The whole Brindabella series seem to be remarkably good, vigorous plants. Here is the first bloom on a young cutting of Brindabella Touch of Pink with a strong fruity-tea scent coming from the petals and a fresh, floral scent emanating from the stamens:
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoSunrosa Fragrant Pink is almost like a miniature version of Tiffany. The coloration is identical to Tiffany but the form, while high centered, is much fuller. I wish it had Tiffany’s exquisite fragrance too, but alas. It does, however, have a nice tea fragrance with heavy dose of raspberry and it has been wafting a bit:
Continuing with the theme of lookalike roses, Brindabella First Lady (albeit still a cutting with that has not yet matured into its capabilities) looks rather like The McCartney Rose in the bud stage. It has a fragrance to match:
And here is Brindabella Pink Princess doing its impersonation of Radiance, exuding a sweet damask-lemon perfume. A bud of Brindabella Purple Prince lurks in the background:
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2 years ago
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2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago thanked Markay MD-Zone 7A (8A on new map)Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoMarkay, Brindabella Purple Prince is a great rose but don’t be disappointed if the first blooms are scentless. My original plant had NO fragrance at first until it settled in a bit. But the cutting below has been highly fragrant from the beginning, as one would expect from a grandchild of Deep Secret:
Brindabella Dawn is a new one for me. Surprisingly, these first blooms smell just like Double Delight to my nose! I will be curious to see how the fragrance changes as the plant matures:
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2 years agoThe sweet promise of buds…
Gruss an Teplitz:
Bolero with Gruss an Teplitz:
Sweet Spirit:
And finally Brindabella Dawn looking lovely and so very, very fragrant:
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoI love heavily fragrant red and crimson roses and I am always on the lookout for a new one (new to me at least) to try. I bought bands of Gruss an Teplitz a month or so ago, one from A Reverence for Roses and one from Burlington, in spite of the mixed reviews for this older variety. Under LED lights, both bands have been wonderful, with gorgeous foliage and an irrepressible desire to bloom. The band from Burlington, which was tiny (about 3” tall) when it came to me, currently has 6 buds and the larger ARFR band currently has 17. The first flower on the ARFR band opened today and the fragrance is phenomenal. It is an exceptionally strong “red rose” damask scent with a heavy dose of lychee nectar. The buds are covered with glands that release a resinous black pepper fragrance when touched:
Brindabella First Lady has a more artless charm and looks not unlike the Autumn Damask when fully open: blowsy and graceful but not necessarily a show stopper or even very memorable. But what is memorable about it is the fragrance. Seldom have I experienced such a strong fragrance on such a young plant! It is a heady 50-50 concoction of damask and sweet lemon zest and really packs a punch. It is still heavily fragrant even when fully open and stamens are visible.
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoA second post in a row since Houzz keeps acting up and won’t let me add more photos to my post above.
Brindabella Dawn seems to be of the same fragrance family/class as Double Delight and Lemon Spice (yes, while some might disagree, both of those roses have a similar scent to my nose). I describe the fragrance as sweet lemonade with hints of allspice. Delicious! It has an unusual light peach color and exceptionally heavy petal substance. If it avoids the disease-prone mess of DD and the lanky, gangly growth and extreme winter tenderness of LS, then this one will be a winner!:
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoThank you so much, Carol! I just love sharing my ”indoor” roses with all of you! I just wish I were able to take better photos. Gruss an Teplitz, for example, looks far better in person. And now that the bloom above is fully open, it is even more beautiful and fragrant. Problem is, I can’t seem to get a decent or even passable photo. The crimson color looks all wrong or the bloom is out of focus, or both.
Sweet Spirit is another one giving me a photographic headache. So much so that I cut the bloom. It is huge, packed with swirled petals and HEAVILY FRAGRANT of sweet pear nectar with a dash of spices. I love this one. It is seriously underrated and has been sweeping major rose trial awards lately. Here is the cut bloom, slightly misshapen, with unopened buds of Bolero and Brindabella Purple Prince:
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoBolero is stretching its perfumed petals and capturing my heart once again. I have already picked six huge blooms from this plant for the vase in the past couple of days:
I was surprised to read that Brindabella Touch of Pink’s registered height is 0.5m x 0.5m. Coupled with the small bloom size, does that make it a miniflora? It certainly is a smaller grower so far compared to the other Brindabella roses I have. It has a sweet citrusy-tea fragrance and is supposed to be immune to blackspot. The ”touch of pink” is very light indeed on what is essentially a white rose so far:
I am loving Gruss an Teplitz. It has petals of silky translucency that are somehow still velvety, and the blooms are drenched in the most delicious damask-lychee perfume. Color has been varying from bright red with a hint of scarlet to a black-shaded dark red-crimson. It seems exceptionally generous with producing flowers. When it gets large enough, I want to use these flowers to make rose petal jam:
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Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal
2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago thanked Stephanie, 9b inland SoCalChris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoHere is the first bloom on a young band of ’Too Cute’, an adorable polyantha bred by Kim Rupert. No discernable fragrance so far but not surprising on such a young plant:
Brindabella Touch of Pink with a size perfect to wear as a lapel flower and a strong, sweet fragrance of tea rose and citrus:
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago thanked strawchicago z5Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoI was surprised to find that ’Too Cute’ was sweetly fragrant this morning. I am so used to so many roses being most fragrant while opening their buds that it never occurred to me that it might need to fully expand its petals before producing scent…!
When I sniffed this bloom of Brindabella Touch of Pink this morning, it was so powerfully strong that it took my breath away. Pure, startlingly intense essence of lemon verbena:
Bliss Parfuma is becoming one of my favorites lately. It really has it all: beautiful large blooms, exquisite color, attractive growth habit, impeccable disease resistance and fragrance. Fragrance is as strong as ’Bolero’ in intensity. In character, it is a unique and wonderfully complex tea fragrance with a sophisticated perfume-like quality. Probably those who describe the fragrance as mild or light might struggle with tea fragrances in general:
”Spice” is a lovely china or china-like tea with a powerful grapefruit scent. I have found it grows well in a pot and responds well to pruning, unlike others of its class. Here it is recently transplanted into an 8 inch pot (it was growing in a 6 inch pot for the past 1.5 months). It must like growing under my lights!
And finally here is a heavenly trio on my kitchen counter this morning of Bliss Parfuma, Bolero and Sweet Spirit, all of which represent some of the finest in contemporary rose breeding. If only I could share the fragrance with all of you!
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agostrawchicago z5
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago thanked strawchicago z5Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoBrindabella Red Empress is the last to bloom of the Brindabella series cuttings obtained from Hirt’s Gardens this winter. It is supposed to be highly fragrant but these first flowers are only very lightly perfumed of damask. I suspect it just needs time to mature into its fragrance. Color is an attractive clear dark red:
Spice is producing lots of charming blooms on nodding pedicels (making it difficult to take a snapshot). Fragrance is a powerful, sweet-yet-pungent fruity scent like grapefruit. Try as I might, I have never been able to detect any hint of “spice” from the blooms:
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years ago’Secret’ is among the most beautiful and fragrant of hybrid teas. It received the Gamble Fragrance medal back in 2002 and, unlike some recent recipients (Luise Estes and Olivia Rose Austin, I am looking at you) this one deserved it. The plant below was received as a band from Northland Rosarium in March and these are its first blooms. From past experience, it has a shrubby, dense, attractive growth habit and is almost completely thornless with well above average disease resistance. It is also extremely winter tender in colder zones. It will be a permanent pot pet for me. Perfume is pure hybrid tea magic: intense, heady and sweet with a hint of spice.
Life of the Party has a name that makes me cringe, so I tend to call it by the alternate name of Huntington’s 100th. By whatever name, it smells sweet with an intense fragrance of lemon and apricot mixed with a delicious hint of anise for complexity. It is an extremely easy and vigorous rose, always cheerful. This was also purchased as a band from Northland Rosarium in March.
Francis Dubreuil/Barcelona might be my desert island rose if I were ever forced to choose only one. So dark, so velvety, so very very very fragrant with the most seductive and complex damask perfume. I love its twiggy growth habit and constant willingness to bloom. These are usually the blooms I pluck to take to work to get me through each day. Photos will never do it justice. Notice how Gruss an Teplitz in the corner of the photos below, which is actually a lovely medium to dark red, looks very pink when next to Francis:
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoStephanie, 9b inland SoCal
2 years agoChris Martins Zone6a Chicago thanked Stephanie, 9b inland SoCalChris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoHere is Spice, one week later. It will never be an Instagram star and therefore doesn’t get the attention it deserves, often being overlooked for showier roses. It is not hardy in my climate but is a delight to grow in a pot, being almost thornless, rudely healthy, constantly blooming, well foliated and sweetly fragrant of sweet tea rose and grapefruit. It tends to nod less as the plant gets older and stronger, but I never view nodding as a fault.
Sophie’s Perpetual is a new one for me, obtained as a teensy-tiny band from Burlington Roses in March. I already love it. These first blooms look paler than photos found online, most likely due to being grown indoors under lights, but it is wonderful in every way. It is almost completely thornless and the foliage is very attractive and healthy. The perfume is magnificent: sweet licorice and cherry candy with a hint of old rose all combined into a delicious and addictive elixir.
Secret is another one with a fragrance I can’t stop sniffing. I don’t know how to describe it other than heady, intense, sweet, pure and lovely. If Tiffany and Double Delight had a child, it might smell a bit like Secret…
Gruss an Teplitz keeps blooming up a storm and is constantly producing more and more buds. Very sweet and very strong fragrance of damask and lychee.
Easy on the Eyes is easy on the nose as well, with a fruity wild rose scent mixed with cloves. The blooms open peach and then “fade” to lavender, always keeping the striking hulthemia eye. This one is easily my favorite of all of the “eyes” roses.
Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago
2 years agoHere is Spice, one week later. It will never be an Instagram star and therefore doesn’t get the attention it deserves, often being overlooked for showier roses. It is not hardy in my climate but is a delight to grow in a pot, being almost thornless, rudely healthy, constantly blooming, well foliated and sweetly fragrant of sweet tea rose and grapefruit. It tends to nod less as the plant gets older and stronger, but I never view nodding as a fault.
Sophie’s Perpetual is a new one for me, obtained as a teensy-tiny band from Burlington Roses in March. I already love it. These first blooms look paler than photos found online, most likely due to being grown indoors under lights, but it is wonderful in every way. It is almost completely thornless and the foliage is very attractive and healthy. The perfume is magnificent: sweet licorice and cherry candy with a hint of old rose all combined into a delicious and addictive elixir.
Secret is another one with a fragrance I can’t stop sniffing. I don’t know how to describe it other than heady, intense, sweet, pure and lovely. If Tiffany and Double Delight had a child, it might smell a bit like Secret…
Gruss an Teplitz keeps blooming up a storm and is constantly producing more and more buds. Very sweet and very strong fragrance of damask and lychee.
Easy on the Eyes is easy on the nose as well, with a fruity wild rose scent mixed with cloves. The blooms open peach and then “fade” to lavender, always keeping the striking hulthemia eye. This one is easily my favorite of all of the “eyes” roses.
SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal
2 years agoI too prefer calling this gorgeous rose, ”Huntington’s 100th.”
Second year in a pot by the front door. Very healthy and happy!
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sirihomerose(8B/9A)
2 months ago@Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago, your Brindabella roses are beautiful. Could you please tell this rose is any of the Brindabella roses? Thank you, Siri
Chris Martins Zone6a ChicagoOriginal Author