An Illustrated List of Roses in my Garden, with commentary

WARNING: this post has multiple images that will take a while to download if you don't have high speed cable access.



Magic Carousel: My first minature, from K-Mart. Originally planted in the ground, now in a container. Keeps hanging on. Buds are exceptionally lovely.


Sun Sprinkle: Another miniature that I grow in a pot on the patio. Slow to kick in, but wonderful coin-sized brilliant yellow blossoms.


Rhonda (climber): A rarity now, this descendent of New Dawn is a tough cookie, surviving on an arbor that is increasingly shadowed by the neighbor's oak tree. (Handel shares the other half of the arbor). Lovely medium pink blossoms with a bluish cast.

Pristine: Of all my bushes it is most resistant to blackspot, though it blows quickly. The blossoms are so perfect that you think they are made of bone china.


Sunsprite: A bright lemon yellow with wonderful light fragrance; always blooming. Steve's favorite. So good I have two, and have given them as gifts to two of the girls' elementary teachers. They planted them outside their classrooms. When one retired, she took it with her!

Julia Child: a small floribunda with golden-yellow blossoms. My newest aquisition. Seated where JFK once presided, and doing beautifully. Higher than normal resistance to blackspot.

Gemini: I first saw this at the Portland rose garden when it was still an unnamed test bush. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. It doesn't have any fragrance, but my oh my are the blossoms huge! Instead of the magenta edges that Double Delight boasts, Gemini has salmon-coral edging.


Sheer Bliss: an oldie. Tall, with marvelous fragrance, but not especially good in the vase as it tends to turn tannish once cut.


Johann Strauss: My one and only Romantica, and I can't recoomend it highly enough. Tons of delicate pink blooms that remind me of the icing roses on my Grandmother's birthday cakes. Blends well with other flowers in arrangements.


John F. Kennedy: This one is a witness to my grace. After repeatedly vowing to shovel prune it, I gave it a second chance in a subprime location. It got the message and is now finally performing. Julia Child now has his former spot.


Joseph's Coat (Climber) Rescued from rose abuse at the Springfield Target, this one has warmed to its new home along the fence. Each blossom goes through succeeding stages of red, pink, coral, orange, yellow. I've paired it with a brilliant purple Jackmani clematis, and the two make a striking couple.

Handel: A horrible blackspot magnet, defoliated most of the season, but its blossoms are exquisite. Shares an arbor with Rhonda.


Don Juan: Adjusting nicely to his new location, the buds are almost black. Highly fragrant. My only completely red rose. Shares arbor with Jackmani clematis.


Double Delight: Lives up to its name in fragrance and flower. One of my absolute favorites, so I have two of them in their own private bed.


Sexy Rexy: seems to like its new location. Flat faced floribunda with a ridiculous name. The breeders did penance by naming her offspring "Our Lady of Guadalupe."


The Fairy: My only polyantha, she has thousands of tiny pink blossoms which, once they finally kick in, are rarely out of bloom. She has her own special place alone by the front door since she takes up so much room.


Peace: When she blooms, she's beautiful; but a horrific blackspot magnet, second only to Handel. I love what a little epsom salt does for her colors.


America (climber) Absolutely incredible. She stands against the greeny-blue gray of the house, soaks up the southern sun and throws buckets of these incredible blossoms. Very vigorous. Sadly, no fragrance. I love the color, especially with the reddish purple clematis.


Queen Elizabeth: Sine qua non of roses. Blossoms start out intensely pink and fade to light pink. The first rose I ever planted, and so good that I now have two. The second one shares an arbor with "Multi Blue" clematis.


Scentimental: a treasured gift from Susan. Showy and fragrant, I have her standing alone next to the fence in the front yard, as it is difficult for her to blend in with other bushes.


Iceberg: doing its best to perform without as much sun as he'd like, and so susceptible to blackspot. A real trooper.


Bonica: No scent, but vigorous and a real bloom machine. I have one at each end of the front yard bed. Wonderful hips in the fall.

Winchester Cathedral: Another gift from Susan. Sometimes it throws blossoms that show its Mary Rose parentage. Part of my homage to Vita Sackville-West's White Garden, it stands next to a white dogwood, white rhodie, and two white clemati.


Mary Rose: Poor thing has never had enough light, in either location I've put her. Sulked after moving, and only now is beginning to snap out of it.