Wednesday 27 April 2011

The Race of the Roses

There I was, wondering which of my climbing roses would be first to bloom this year - it's usually the 'Dreaming Spires' and it's looking promising, covered in buds and almost ready to open -


But the 'Albertine', the one that usually flowers for my birthday in June, is a close contender this year -



But it was only while I was taking these photos that I noticed that the 'Alchemist' has quietly pipped both of them at the post!


Nobody seems to have told it that it's still only April!

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12 comments:

DogBreedz - Pet Photography by Peggy Mundell said...

I love the fragrant roses - we just picked up the Tropicana for our yard and it is heavenly. Of course, living in SoCal we get to enjoy them almost year 'round ... bonus! Enjoy yours ...

Crystal said...

Your roses are beautiful. I have a less than green thumb so even though I have tried to grow roses many times, I am sad to say I have failed. :-(

Judy Adamson said...

Hi Peggy - how wonderful to have roses all the year round! June is the main month for roses here although some do go on flowering almost till Christmas time!

I just googled Tropicana rose and it's beautiful! I thought, from the photos, that it looked a bit similar to the 'Metanoia' that I bought last year -

http://judyadamsonartanddesign.blogspot.com/2010/06/birthday-roses.html

My garden is very small with high walls, topped by trellis all round, so I grow mostly climbers and ramblers to make the most of the space!

Judy Adamson said...

Hi Crystal - your lack of success with roses may have nothing to do with your thumbs, green or otherwise. They are quite fussy about the soil and it seems that what we have here in Abergavenny suits them well. They also say they need to face the right way but mine all seem to thrive wherever I plant them, though the north-facing ones flower a bit later than the south-facing ones.

If you type 'roses' into the search box, you'll see photos from last year showing how mine grow - somewhat out of control! :)

jeanlivingsimple said...

Judy, Your roses are lovely! All my flowers are ahead of their blooming schedule due to our weird weather.

Judy Adamson said...

Hi Jean - my daughter is worrying that if everything blooms too soon, there's going to be a gap when nothing is flowering!

My worry is that my big apple tree, the one that usually provides so much food for the blackbirds through the winter, hasn't flowered at all so there probably won't be any apples. They don't seem to be interested in the pears!

It's all very weird, as you say!

Carole Barkett said...

Beautiful Roses. It's been so cool here this spring my Forsythia only had about 6 blooms and now my Magnolia only has a few so it's weird here too.

Michele said...

I have sadly had to lose a climbing rose on a garage we are about to demolish, I took a cutting but it died! On the plus side some Iris's I moved into a pot when we were re-arranging the garden last year were planted out into the flower bed 2 weeks ago. "You need to do something, or you are in the bin" I warned them, now I have a beautiful show of purple Iris's. Prince Charles was right, talking to flowers works!!

Judy Adamson said...

Hi Carole - it seems as if we've had your share of Spring this year! Maybe I can blow some of the warm weather your way? One, two, three...BLOW!!!

Judy Adamson said...

Hi Michele - I love irises but don't seem to have any room left in my garden for them. Maybe you could take a photo of them?

And yes, definitely talk to your flowers - and vegetables! If the right music can make cows give more milk, I don't see why saying encouraging things to your plants shouldn't be just as effective!

Betsy Grant said...

Such lovely roses. Thanks for sharing!

Judy Adamson said...

Thank you, Betsy - and, looking back at photos I took last year, they are more than a month too early!