A walk around my garden today found several of my roses in bloom. Several more had heavy buds and will be in bloom soon.
Autumn is actually a prime time for roses here. The first flush of blooms in the spring is the heaviest, of course, and most of my roses do bloom more or less continually through the summer. But as the heat and humidity intensify, the blooms get sparser and smaller. Then the humidity and the temperatures begin to drop a bit. Rain becomes more frequent and dependable. Autumn arrives and, with it, most of the roses hurry to get in that last bright volley of blossoms for this year.
I have several 'Caldwell Pink' rose bushes scattered around the yard, but all of them are offspring of this plant, my original 'Caldwell Pink' that was a Valentine's Day gift from my husband many years ago. All of the bushes bloom faithfully from April to December, but some of their best blooms come at this time of the year.
Knockout shrub roses are not the prettiest of the roses but they do have the virtue of blooming just about twelve months of the year in our climate, providing us with some bright color even in the grayest and brownest of months. I have several different colors of Knockouts but I find that the 'Radazz' cherry red is the best of the lot.
'Belinda's Dream' is not an antique rose, but it has all the best characteristics of those tough old roses. It is a waterwise plant that needs very little care once it is established, and it rewards the gardener throughout much of the year with these big, puffy pink blossoms.
Then, of course, there is the David Austin rose 'Graham Thomas' which is just about at its best - at least in my garden - at this time of year.
Autumn is my favorite season of the year for many reasons, mostly having to do with the pleasant weather and the reduced growth rate of the weeds in my garden. But high on my list of reasons for autumn being my favorite has to be the roses of this season. They are the gardener's reward from Mother Nature for perseverance, the one that says, "See? I told you you could make it through summer!"
Very lovely. It's a lot colder around here, of course, but one of my roses is still blooming, a rambler called Darlow's Enigma.
ReplyDeleteWe really appreciate those that hang in there to give us late blooms, don't we, Jason?
DeleteMy Katy Road Pink just put forth a flush of blooms, though it never really quit despite the normal summer heat. The hybrid teas are not blooming, though - just trying to recover from the summer.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on hybrid teas years ago. I could never get them to survive and thrive in this climate. Now I stick to old roses and the tough waterwise types. David Austin roses also do well for me.
Delete