First bloom!

Another one coming!

Yay, first bloom for you 🎉🥳 That's great! Does it smell good?

How beautiful! First blooms are so exciting and this one looks especially nice!

And I don’t mind the rain, it’s the cold that is driving me nuts! Even when there is sunshine there is still a chill in the air

That is truly gorgeous!

Jackie

Thanks, everyone! This morning I found four more open!

Our Steelers, it finally warmed for us just a tad yesterday. I finally have one iris blooming!

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) it does have a very nice fragrance which was a surprise. It's known to have a mild fragrance but I find it much more enjoyable than the almost no fragrance that I get from Lovesong or even the very mild fragrance on Quicksilver. AC has a sweet fragrance with a hint of fruit. It's hard to describe but very nice. I really like the dual tone color and how it gets a drier red in hot sunny weather, too. I don't think it's particularly cold hardy which is why I have it planted in a protected area right next to the house.

Beautiful bloom, foliage and photography!

More today

The first bloom always gets me excited. Can't wait to see more to come.

How exciting!! I’ve always considered this rose. She is so pretty.

No one else is blooming yet so I keep taking pictures of the good old Archduke.

@librarian_gardner_8b_pnw Oh it is very pretty! I love the new pics that show a bit more.

This is so pretty! Does it smell good?

Librarian, what a yummy rose. It should be on the cover of a romance novel.

I am so surprised how much cooler Grants Pass is than Medford.

Looksike a warm weekend so things will really start popping, finally.

@lizzieswellness it has a nice, sweet mild fragrance. Not strong, but it's still definitely fragrant.

Thanks, Magpie 🙂

Kristine, I was just commenting to my husband how romantic it feels .. something about the drapey quality. And then I made a history joke when I realized that it is, indeed, from the Romantic period 😅

I'm in the Eugene area which I think is just a little cooler in spring and summer than Medford. I'm also really close to the McKenzie river and have noticed that I'm in a little microclimate that's just a little bit cooler than other parts of town. Much of our early spring blooming is a week or two behind even other parts of town! I'm hoping the sunny weekend pops open summer other roses. I'm so giddy in anticipation!

Very pretty. We have buds but no blooms. Trying not to look at them every day. Potential freeze coming on Fri so don't want to get my hopes up.

I hope it's not too strong of a freeze! We dipped into the low 20s after my roses had buds and they ended up being okay. The low temps didn't last very long.

Librarian, our low is going to be 25°F, at least that's what is being reported for my area right now and mmmm is probably similar. I'm very pleased to hear that yours ended up being okay, as I'm currently stressed that my chance to finally see Mme. Plantier bloom might be postponed another year, ugh and she's got well over 100 buds on her right now... I'm so nervous for my garden.

Magpie, that is so stressful! I don’t have the freezing to worry about but my Madame Plantier was full of buds when the deer found her.

There might be a few blooms that make an appearance but both it and Alchymist will have to wait til next year to shine

Fingers crossed your freeze is light

I'm so sorry about your wretched deer problem. I wish they hadn't eaten your buds. I got Alchemist this year as a band, hopefully we both get to show ours off next year!

Magpie, the key is how long temps remain in the 20s during the coldest just before dawn. This late in spring with the sun rising early, I doubt if it's 25F for very long at all. I'm betting a bouquet that you don't lose any buds to the temps.

Oursteelers, have you tried a deer repellent? Deer Out works pretty well here, and I'm reminded to check on my supply. I hope we have a light deer year like last year. Diane

Diane I’m doing ALL the deer repellant-liquid fence, deer off, irish spring, fishing line, deer scram, plantskydd and sonar repellers. They have only been back once since their big meal and that time they only did a very light graze. They are all over the neighborhood though and I’m nervous they are waiting for the next bloom period.

I've tried many, too, but Deer Out has worked best of them all for at least 10 years. It not only has the rotten eggs, but white pepper oil, and peppermint oil. The last helps a little with the stench. Diane

My experience with a spring freeze is similar to what Diane described.... That it wasn't very cold for too long because of the long daytime hours (compared to winter) and it warmed up in the afternoon. I wish the best for folks in CO this weekend.

Wonderful pink blooms, very elegant!

Librarian, I thought that you lived in Grants Pass ( or as the old timers call it Grass Pants ).

I wonder who it is.

I Iived in Eugene back in the late 70s when it still rained constantly.

Every outdoor event, rain lol

We moved in to a house with a nice little rose garden which I sadly killed. I always felt so bad about that.

Grass Pants cracks me up, Kristine!

What you're describing about rain sounds like how it's been here since mid March, although, as my friends who grew up here say it was that much rain October through Fourth of July. We just got a couple of days of sun and maybe sun through next week. I'm eagerly checking all my buds several times a day, lol. I wouldn't mind if the rain came back again after some sun. The last several summers have been so hot and dry and fire season has been so scary.

It sounds like that Eugene rose garden was just your learning garden! Your garden now looks beautiful.