So what is this post about ? .. "A funny thing happened to a gardener ..." A gardener who said she didn't like Austin roses .. the structure didn't suit her requirements ? ..
Then POW ! .. just by accident she leaned over one in a garden center and caught a whiff of Shakespeare's SCENT .. it was a truly profound experience .. have you ever smelled something that drove you straight back to childhood in a good way ? wink wink
When I was a child and we were living on the very east, of the east coast, my father planted a wild rose shrub on the corner of our well kept lawn .. and it was WILD ! thorns galore ... but the scent was totally intoxicating .. I would suffer any thorn to snip one of those beauties to carry the poor thing with me all day ..
So .. that DID it for me .. no matter what this Austin rose looked like .. it was coming home with me and I was going to sniff it's roses as many times as I could .. it was too good to be true : )
Thus William Shakespeare 2000
It morphs into different shapes .. more than I ever expected ! It truly is a beauty : )
.... and now for yet another obsession session ? I just missed out on "White Licorice Weeks" rose at Botanus .. I was so mad at myself for being indecisive .. pausing .. and ultimately losing out on it.
So what do I do ? .. I hunt for a white rose, to pair with William .. Vesey had it in the Austin rose .. Winchester Cathedral .. a little pricey considering the shipping cost added to it .. but it was perfect and Vesey stands behind its plants .. I know if it "croaked" on me with no good reason , a replacement would be found for me !
Again from looking at these pictures I can see it will go through different formation changes, as it matures .. this is going to be a beauty with the combination of red and white together : )
So .. the "war" part ? .. well, I was avoiding roses for the most part .. aphids, black spot, rust, powdery mildew .. any one who has grown roses knows what I am talking about .. roses need lots of TLC to look good and stay healthy. I have been trying to keep plants that would be low level care and worry .. but some times you just have to throw your ideas and rules out the window when a plant grabs you.
I want to smell that amazing scent that I did as a child .. I want to see these two beauties grow together .. I want a few of my very own roses in a vase in my house. So watch out what rules you set for yourself with your garden .. you are bound to break them no matter how strong you think you are !
19 comments:
Just beautiful- I can only imagine what they smell like! I had a few roses in Portland. I couldn't get them to look nice for some reason- and in the 'City of Roses'! Hope you are enjoying your spring so far. We had a beautiful day yesterday and I got so much done, sunny all day- this morning I'm looking at light snow falling!
I've always avoided roses for the same reasons. Too much work! but then I inherited some wild roses with our property and that scent. yup, pow is right. Couldn't smell anything nicer on a June day.
And, may it go just as you hope and plan.
I know exactly what you mean girl about certain rose scents bring you back to memories. I feel the same way about my Crimson Bouquet roses. These both look like great choices. I ordered five new roses already. Just like I needed the things! LOL! How does your Zepirine Drouhin preform for you? Does it repeat blooms?
We have a few white roses that seem very attention-craving and delicate. Well, perish at your own will, I say! We also have one white climbing rose that seems indomitable... Even after this fierce winter it is proudly showing off shoots and buds and whatnot, and I dare say I probably ought to have cut it back even more roughly than I did! I love that; I want to take cuttings of it and place all over the garden and then let it fend for itself! (It seems up to the task...)
We also have one red rose that I literally pulled from the ground then night before the bulldozers arrived to re-do the landscaping around my apartment. It spent a week in a plastic bag on my kitchen floor last autumn and was then thrown into the ground in the garden just before the first frost. And this spring I see signs of Life! Now, THIS is what roses should be like...
I agree totally. I said I wouldn't have roses here as they require too much care & the humidity here is too much. My brother sent me 2 so I had to start a rose garden. I now have those 2 also 2 knockout. The knockouts seem to take less care.
Roses will do that to a girl!!!
Hello Tessa girl : )
We have NO Spring here yet .. this is one of the worst late Spring years to date ..jeez !
My garden needs TLC so badly I can't look out the window ? haha
I know it has to come eventually though .. then I will be scrambling!
Marguerite hello there !
there truly isn't anything like a wild rose scent .. except I seem to smell it in WS and had to have it .. but yes .. it will come with a price and I hope I can keep up with it : )
Barbee' I really hope so ! i have so many "pots on the stove" I could be in for some boil overs ?LOL
Lona girl I think we are both hooked on so many different plants we will be frayed at the edges come high noon ? haha .. Zeph was cut way back last year in preparation to redo that bed this Spring(if it ever arrives?).. the soil level was all wrong .. so I am hoping she didn't hate me for that brutal surgery and will smile again .. she truly is a beautiful rose !
Soren I am so curious as to what that indomitable white rose is ? This weakness I have for white roses lately .. leads me to investigate as many as possible!
And ouch ! isn't that amazing how some roses are as tough as hob nailed boots ? .. the one thing I don't understand from breeders are roses with no scent .. I just can't adjust to that absence, it MAKES a rose a ROSE !!
Lola I heard the knockouts are really easy care .. but they lack scent ? I don't know for sure since I don't have any, so can you tell me if they really don't have a scent or not ? and are we crazy for making more work for ourselves?LOL
Hey Sandy girl : ) do you have roses? I have to get over to your place and see what you are up to !
Joy, have you requested a copy of the David Austin catalog? You can do so on the website - davidaustinroses.com. You'll need to pick from the ones that show up on their hardy list AND on their most fragrant list. My 'Lady Emma Hamilton' has the most amazing fragrance . . . can't wait for summer.
I am afraid I cannot give up roses not matter how many failures I have and I do have them. Even if they don't have a scent I have to grow them.
Guess what, we are expecting snow, can't believe it although we many times have snow into April.
Eileen
Hi there Joy, I think you are onto something. I have long admired "Winchester" online and in catalogues. It looks like a beauty. :)
Re Spring: a friend's 8 yr old said it is like Narnia here. I say down with the Snow Queen, we should join forces with the wild creatures and plot her retreat. lol
VW you have me so curious about that rose of yours ! I totally forgot to request a catalog .. I will do that .. just for reference material ? LOL Thanks : )
PS .. it didn't snow here yesterday while south of us got a foot ! eeeeekkkkkkk!!!
Eileen I remember we had snow in April too ! But the snow just south of us in the Toronto area was about a foot deep my friend said .. I'm so glad husband was right and it didn't reach us .. we are to have some sunny days but it is COLD still .. jeez !
Ms S hello there girl!
Vesey is offering it .. a bit pricey but their stock is excellent and they stand behind it: ) .. you really should get it and then we can compare how it does for us ? LOL
I also agree about joining forces to fight the Winter Queen ! enough is enough !! LOL
Gardening rules are meant to be broken. I bet your roses do well.
Beautiful choices indeed. I think you'll have minor problems with the Austin rose they seem to be tough as well as smell good and bloom well. I have 'Falstaff' and it is a very healthy rose as far as roses go. I adore it. Shakespeare is a beauty!
Hey there Lisa girl : )
Yup .. I figure if there are any to break .. I will go ahead and JUST DO IT ? LOL
Hello there Tina girl !
I was so shocked with Will's scent I just had to have it .. I am hoping WC has a wonderful one too .. so being red and white together .. great for Canada Day too! LOL
rules are meant to be broken.
look how nice your sumac turned out :)
if you ever get across the border let me know. I've got something for you to smell. I'll leave it up to you to decide if you want to smuggle my "bubblegum iris' or not. It smells like bazooka joe bubblegum - you know the one that comes wrapped in a comic.
Dear Mr. WiseA**
Now isn't this funny ? I was just thinking of you today and there you are in the comment section !
Yes .. gardeners can be rebels can't they! We can either tip toe through the tulips, or dropkick a Japanese beetle in a flash ;-)
My Sumac thanks you for your compliment and so do I.
YES !! I so totally loved Bazooka Joe bubble gum and that SMELL was heavenly : ) .. who knows, maybe I will take you up on that offer and come barreling down the road in my KIA ? LOL .. with lots of space to smuggle plants in *BIG GRIN*
PS I used to save all of those comics : )
I don't know what it is about roses, but they're addictive. I swore I would not add any to my garden, worried that I wouldn't be able to grow them successfully, and don't I go and add three large ones and a gazillion miniature ones to boot. LOL... I don't know what happened; I just feel in love with them at the garden centers I visited and brought some home. And I can't stop there; I want more. This year I'd like to add a couple more, and I'd like one of them to be the climbing type. I'm so looking forward to the garden centers opening up!
Martha you have great areas for your roses and climbing ones too .. I didn't want to get into roses too deep that is and yet I am obsessed just like you .. so what are we to do then ? how many other things do we feel as passionately as we do with our gardens and plants .. so I say indulge !!
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