Roses Chosen by Your Loved Ones

last month

My son was with me at the garden store when we were looking for roses. I had a few on the cart and needed to put one back. I grabbed Bliss to put back because I already have a baby Bliss in the garden. He begged that I put the Poseidon back because of the thorns. And he pointed to Bliss as one we should definitely keep. Granted it was only a foot tall and looked like thorny sticks, he was still sure that this was the rose that needed to come home with us. I said he could pick a different one if he wanted, but he wanted Bliss as his rose. I loved that! My sister's son picked out Crazy Love as his rose last year; and it made me want to have that experience too. It just naturally unfolded and I'm so grateful. My son has already picked a spot for his rose. I'm going to have to dig a new bed so yay! He wants it at the front of the gate before you even enter the garden so everyone can see it first! That's so him.

I had a similar experience with my eldest daughter this Februrary while planting bareroots from Palatine. I had a spot I had just excavated and let her choose from the water-filled bucket of sticks which she would like to plant. No pictures! Just sticks. She chose Rosemantic Pink for the spot. I think it will be amazing. Regardless, I love that she picked it and we can call it her rose.

I've been including my kiddos in my gardening each year, but I think this will add a new dimension of meaning for me and for us into our garden.

Which roses did someone significant to you choose for your/their space that holds special meaning for you? Is there a rose you plant in memory of a loved one? Was it their favorite rose?

Thank you for sharing!

Featured Answer

jacqueline9CA

last month

We still have rose bushes, and rose bushes from rooted cuttings of the more ancient ones, which were originally planted in our garden by my DH's great grandparents, grandparents, and father. The great grandparents were German immigrants who came here in the 1880s. We are the 4th generation in a row to own and garden on our property. The ones which have survived all of that time are mostly teas, chinas, ramblers, polyanthas, and a couple of bourbons and hybrid perpetuals. There were a few hybrid teas barley hanging on, also, but of those only Peace has survived. I have added a lot more roses, many of which I found in neglected gardens in our old neighborhood - also survivors, and also warm weather loving types, which IMO is why they survived.

My most favorite of the old old actually inherited ones which are still original or cloned from the original bushes in our garden are Le Vesuve , Duchesse de Brabant, some sort of Cecile Brunner (I think the bush type, but it gets huge - pic of the original oldest one below), Dawson's Apple Blossom, Eugene de Beauharnais, Cl American Beauty, Peace, Safrano, Cramoisi Superior, Margo Koster, and most especially Anna Olivier.

Anna Olivier is special because after we finally got it identified (by the ladies who wrote the Tea Rose book in Australia), I was told by experts that it was the true AO, which had been replaced in commerce in North America by another tea rose called Etoile de Lyon, which looks just like AO, except it it always yellow, and AO is cream with brick on it, and sometimes yellow, and sometimes pink. Anyway, people came to our garden and took cuttings of our Anna Olivier, so it is now back in commerce in North America.

Here is a pic of our original giant Cecile Brunner:

Jackie

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Comments (8)

Diane Brakefield
last month
Thank you for bringing up this interesting and meaningful topic, Sunny. My dad picked out The Peace rose, as it was called then, back in 1955, for our new rose bed at our new home. As a nine year old kid at the time, I thought it was such a beautiful rose, and I knew its name. Its blooms were huge ,and it was one of the great earlier clones.. Since dad passed away back in 1960, The Peace rose has always been extra special to me. Diane
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judijunebugarizonazn8
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How sweet, Sunny! I know what you mean about how special it is when the children pick special roses. My son took a shine to Vineyard song and wanted one for his very own, so I planted one just for him. He takes such an interest in that little plant, so I hope it blooms big for him this year. Im also collecting roses that have the same names as my children… haven’t successfully found one for every child yet, but often something similar.
rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ)
last month
Wow. Poseidon, Crazy Love and Bliss in a garden center. And all at once.

Mississippi sounds like a gardening paradise. Nothing like that here in NJ.

I trust you appreciate your good fortune.
Elestrial 7a
last month
My soon to be fourteen year old son has given me two roses this year for Christmas - Rouge Royale and The Impressionist. For the first time ever he seems genuinely interested in these two roses and helped me choose the spots for them. Very touching to me and I will always treasure them
Ryan Coastal LA Zone 10b
last month
My spouse helped me pick a lot of my original roses. Our garden grew a little at a time but I was new to roses and killed several of them. I felt bad, not for killing them, but because they were roses we picked out together—even if we knew little about them and probably had better choices. So I’ve replaced most of them.

My mom has lived in the house I grew up in since 1974. Her parents bought her most of the roses there. It’s a zone 5 northern Indiana garden and they’re all hybrid teas, modern—or at least they were. Don Juan, Peace, Queen Elizabeth and more. They all still survive pretty well (which I use as a fact to tell people that grafted roses can last more than 10 years).
Karen Service
last month
last modified: last month
This brought back memories. I grew up in northeastern Ohio. My grandmother's favorite rose was 'Peace'. She bought her hybrid tea roses bare root from the local five and ten or sometimes the hardware store. She grew them in a narrow bed on the east side of her house where they were most protected from prevailing winds and the worst of storms yet got at least a half day of sun. She fed them with dried manure from the pasture and carefully covered them with a thick layer of straw held in place with a board every winter. I remember very few winters that her 'Peace' survived. My grandmother was beyond thrifty yet it was the one rose she would buy over again if it didn't make it. My grandfather's favorite was 'Red Radiance' but I don't think he ever bothered to learn the name. This was a great rose for my grandmother and on at least one occasion was still blooming on Thanksgiving. I remember my grandfather insisting that we follow him over to the window and saying "Look there. See that?' We looked out not having a clue what we were supposed to see. He was trying to show us that 'Red Radiance' was in bloom and was rather disgusted with us that we didn't get it. In our defense, I can't remember a single time my grandfather ever had anything to do with gardening- either flower or food.

My two older grandchildren both got a rose when they stayed with me the summer their younger sister (now seven) was born. My granddaughter wanted a rose and chose 'The Faun'. My grandson didn't have any special interest in roses but didn't want to be left out, so asked for one for himself. He ended up with 'Plum Perfect'. My granddaughter took an interest in her rose and its various perils. We nearly lost it last year but I potted it up and babied it a bit and it is growing and looking better. My grandson's rose is rudely healthy and grows like a weed yet is a reluctant bloomer that lacks fragrance. It has unforgettable thorns, too. He never asks about it and barely notices flowers at all. I doubt he ever thinks about that rose but somehow I can't bring myself to shovel prune it.
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
29 days ago
last modified: 29 days ago
I guess the kids did not inherit the gene. One of my three children is really into gardening, one is starting and the third not yet.

My maternal grandfather was a gardener and two of five of us grandkids are gardeners. My parents were not.

Roses Chosen by Your Loved Ones

jacqueline9CA

Comments (8)

Diane Brakefield

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