Monday 26 May 2008

Roses in the subtropics are a pain in the neck...but

when they set their heart to flower they make up for it!





One more glorious autumn day has leaped into the sky.



I have bought ,while grocery shopping, this miniature yellow rose, no name. I also bought a new climbing rose named Tzigane (Gypsy), when it flowers I will post a picture .


When I see cool climate rose gardens I am green with envy. I don't care about pigeon egg sized rubies or diamonds; I don't want a Maserati or a Bentley! I only want a care free rose garden with a thousand roses and a gardener to look after them, that's not much I am asking for is it?




THE ROSE
The lily has a smooth stalk, Will never hurt your hand;

But the rose upon her brier Is lady of the land.

There's sweetness in an apple tree, And profit in the corn;

But lady of all beauty Is a rose upon a thorn.

When with moss and honey She tips her bending brier,

And half unfolds her glowing heart, She sets the world on fire. Christina Rosetti


Old Noisette Roses

Bouquet d'or yellow blend zone 7-11
Bougainville pink blend zone 7-11
Milkmaid white (Clark 1921) zone 6-11


A vigorous pink miniature Rose. One of the roses to buy in super markets by the dozens, no names, not expensive and is sold in many colours.


Beauty without virtue is like a rose without scent.” Proverb


Old china roses:


Comtesse du Cayla orange blend zone 7-11

Bengale rouge zone 7-10

Camelia Rose light pink grows in shade zone 7-10



Chance is vigorous and propagates well from cuttings.


Old Tea Roses:

Mme de Tartas light pink zone 6-11

Mme de Wattville Yellow zone 6-11

Marie van Houtte pink blend zone 6-11

Bon Silene deep pink

Tender Blush light pink zone 5-10 old Alba easy to grow in semi shade.



Pearl Dior, a beautiful climber, the buds are light pink, the flowers soft, blowsy and scented.

Old Noisette Roses:
Milkmaid white (Clark 19250 zone 6-11

Meteor deep pink zone 5-11

Bouquet d'or yellow blend zone 7-11



Climbers to grow in zones, 9, 10 and 11:
Mary Wallace med.pink to 3 m for tripod
Devoniensis old Tea
Amy Johnson Alister Clark Rose
Aimee Vibert Noisette pure white
Alister Stella Grey creamy yellow
Crepuscule apricot


A Pink David Austin. This Rose hasn't done to badly considering growing in "unroseable" conditions, hot, humid, lashings of rain, dry spells, she has experienced the lot and still sends out from time to time her lovely, silky blooms.




But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.
Anne Bronte quotes (English poet and novelist, 1820-1849)



Peace or Gioa is a temperamental Diva in my garden, I love the subtle colouring.




Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.



"Yet, O thou beautiful rose! Queen rose so fair and sweet. What were lover or crown to thee, without the clay at thy feet?" ~ Julia C R Dorr




Iceberg does very well in the subtropical climate. Floriferous all year round and can be propagated from cuttings in winter.


Apricot Nectar does well in the subtropics, flowers through the year and grows well from cuttings.


This rose does well too in my garden, grows from cuttings made in winter.

And I will make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies." - Christopher Marlowe



Chance is my favourite, It is nearly disease free grows tall and flowers freely. Propagate from cuttings in winter.





I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses and with elgantine." - Shakespeare






CORAL roses imply desire.
YELLOW shows "I care"; friendship, joy, gladness or freedom.
LAVENDER symbolizes love at first sight and enchantment.
PEACH roses indicate modesty.
LIGHT PINK roses denote grace, joy, gentility and admiration.
DARK PINK roses are to signify thankfulness.

Believe it or not:
Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose.Turkish Proverb


Organic tip of the week:

Basic Insect Control for Roses.

In a blender puree 2 garlic bulbs (not cloves, but the whole heads of cloves, peels and all) and 3 chili peppers in 2 cups of water. Steep in a sealed container overnight then strain through cheesecloth or sieve, pressing out all liquid. Discard pulp and store liquid in tightly sealed glass container in fridge. Use ¼ cup of liquid and 1TBS lemon-scented dish soap to a gallon of water.


To Control Blackspot and Powdery Mildew add 2 TBS of baking powder to your gallon mixture from above.

Roses like Banana peels, they contain calcium, sulphur,magnesium and phosphate, so when you eat a Banana feed the peel to your roses.

I have bought a commercial rose spray, but its chemicals sound so bad I really don't want to use it. It says Rose Shield, Insect and disease spray. The safety directions state, wear protective clothing , may irritate the eyes don't let it get into water ways etc.

Active constituents in Rose shield are: Tau-Fluvalinate and Myclobutanil

MYCLOBUTANIL Toxicity to humans, including carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and acute toxicity. This is also used to spray soy beans!Myclobutanil

Water quality standards and physical properties affecting water contamination potential.

Toxicity to aquatic organisms.

TAU-FLUVALINATE
Toxicity to humans, including carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and acute toxicity.

Water

Water quality standards and physical properties affecting water contamination potential.

Ecotoxicity

Toxicity to aquatic organisms.

Those two chemicals are used on soy beans to control diseases.
I can't see an end to using toxic sprays on food production. More people, more animals have to be fed, more food has to be produced. Where does it lead to?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

gorgeous flowers!

Arlene,
University Place flowers

Anonymous said...

I think you're doing very well with roses.I live in the UK and have never had much success with them.
Me - I envy you your sub tropical plants. Isn't it always the way, wanting what we can't have :-)

Barbara said...

You've got wonderful roses ....and the same modest wish (gardener and 1000 roses!) as I have ;-) !!
However, I guess we both also enjoy our gardens without a gardener and the thousand of roses, don't we?
Es liebs Grüessli, Barbara

Mary Beth said...

'Gruss an Aachen' grows great in my heat. It's small and I grow them in pots on the patio. Their blooms have a gazillion petals an a divine fragrance. http://cultivatingparadise.blogspot.com/search/label/roses You also may want to try 'Adam'. He's a small climber that grows well against a wall. Loved your pictures - and have written down a few of your favorites to try.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Arlene, thank you for your nice comment:)
Yes , that's it exactly easygardener and thank you for your comment:)
Dear Barbara, and naturally you are right too!)
Thank you mary beth, I will try "Gruss an Aachen, and "Adam", I love climbers.

Sisah said...

Das kann ich jetzt aber nicht glauben, dass Du Schwierigkeiten hast, für Deinen Standort angepasste Rosen zu finden. ...mit Gärtner oder ohne :-)) Mir fallen da sofort all die Rosen ein, die bei uns unmöglich sind, ich aber eigentlich gerne in meinem GArten sehen würde:
R. banksiae, Rosa chinensis 'Mutabilis' oder Rosa persica und was es sonst noch so alles an wärmeliebenden und für unsere Zone zu empfindlichen Schönheiten gibt.
Das Problem ist wohl, dass unsere menschliche Hybris immer wieder dazu verleitet den Standort unserer Gärten wissentlich zu übersehen und immer das zu wollen, was nüchtern betrachtet nur unter sehr umweltunfreundlichen Bedingungen möglich ist...so wie ich schon seit Jahren versuche Austin-Rosen ohne Krankheiten über die JAhre zu bringen ;-)
LG
Sisa

HaBseligkeiten said...

Hallo Titiana,
schön einen netten Kommentar vom anderen Ende der Welt zu bekommen.
Wir freuen uns auf den Sommer und bei Euch steht der Winter vor der Tür.Die Blogger- Welt ist doch klein ;)
Du hast wunderschöne Rosen in Deinem Garten, bei mir beginnen sie erst mit der Blüte. Auch bei mir im Wald ist es nicht so einfach mit den Rosen, nur robuste Sorten fühlen sich bei mir wohl.
Liebe Grüße an Auntie Dot und ihre Familie,
bis bald, Heidi

Marie said...

Beautiful roses in your garden :)
Several interesting posts lately. Beautiful photos!

Thank you for visiting my blog :)

Laura said...

Beautiful blooms! I love a good rose, well heck I love a bad rose too :)

Anonymous said...

Your Pearl Dior is my favorite, but I'm partial to yellow roses too, being from Texas. (Have you heard the song "The Yellow Rose of Texas?")

Enjoy your autumn weather. My roses never care for our hot, humid summers, but when cool, refreshing autumn arrives, they burst into bloom again, like yours.

Anonymous said...

Hello, thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Glad you liked it. Andrea

Anonymous said...

Oh my, what lovely roses! I live in a place well renowned for roses. But I don't have much luck myself. Now herbs: I have good luck with herbs!
Brenda

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Beautiful roses!!!! Everything is looking so lovely!!!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Thank you for visiting. Your comments are very much appreciated. In general I answer each post individually.

Katarina said...

So many beautiful roses - even without a gardener.! I think you are an excellent rose grower!
/Katarina

HappyMouffetard said...

Hi Titania,
You've made me appreciate my roses all the more. I was busy reading your later post on the red flowers, thinking "Oh, I wish I could grow that", and then read this post on roses, which are plants which, although I enjoy their flowering immensely, rather take for granted in the garden.

A garden is all the poorer if it doesn't have a rose - not just the beauty of the blooms, but for the wonderful scent :). A very interesting post.

Kerri said...

Trudi, I agree! Give me roses over a Bentley or diamonds any day, and a gardener thrown in would be very nice :)
Your roses are superb! I haven't had much experience with roses yet, but I'm trying to do better with them. Something is totally consuming the leaves on 2 of them. I sprayed yesterday so I hope that helps.
'Chance' is my favorite too. I adore the color.

Barbee' said...

Titania, I did not know that roses like bananas. I have read that they like leather and it was recommended to bury one's old worn out leather gloves and belts beside a rose.

I do put banana peels in my compost. There is a young woman who helps me a few hours each week. I am the only person she knows who gets excited when she brings me rotten bananas from home :)

ROUGH.ROSA said...

wow! your roses are just gorgeous.. however I wonder if they bloom profusely there in subtropics. My roses here in the tropic seems to be lacking in blooms, even for varieties known to be so generous and prolific. well, can't hv all can we? Year long flowering seems to make up for the lack of blooms..