Author Archives: Joanne

About Joanne

Got interested in photography at an early age. When my friends played with their Barbie Dolls I played fashion photographer. Now a wife and a mother of two grown children, I spend more time in the garden caring for my plants and photographing them at their best.

The Hunter Update

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Rosa Rugosa

The Hunter is updated and moved but will get more details soon.
I will count the petals on the next bloom.
I also notice that the prickles are not as vigorous.
When I first brought it home I got scratched just moving it.
Now the prickles, for some reason, are smaller.
This rose needs good drainage and a thick mulch.
I placed small stones around the base to prevent the mud from splashing on the leaves.
When I tried a cedar mulch, our heavy rains kept the soil damp too long.
The flowers rotted before they were fully opened, and the leaves were covered with mildew.
The small stones help the top layer dry faster, and the rose is doing much better.

Summer Showers Lavender

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Trailing pelargonium

Summer Showers is now blooming.
The first shade to open is lavender, similar to Blue Blizzard.
The second is a white and third a red.
I will present each shade on its own.
So far, the leaves show no signs of stress or blisters.
The flowers are slightly smaller than the Blizzards.
Summer Showers is a Gold Medal winner and a keeper.

Adelaide Hoodless

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Parkland Rose

Adelaide Hoodless is a Canadian bred rose and very hardy.
The rose’s resistance to mildew is very good in my garden.
Black spot is a problem so good air circulation is a must.
Adelaide repeats well from July to fall.

Paul Neyron Update

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Hybrid Perpetual

I lost the Paul Neyron hybrid perpetual last spring.
The new garden bed was not ready for a rose yet.
I usually grow bulbs for two years before planting a rose.
I tried moving the weak shrub late last summer, but it was already too late.

I did find another source.
Pickering Nurseries has a nice selection of hybrid perpetual.
First, I will take the time to prepare the flower bed properly.
Antique roses are well worth the extra work.

Common Moss

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Old Garden Rose

The Common Moss was the first rose planted in my present garden.
A descendant of a shrub planted in a family garden in the early 1900s.
I intend to keep the tradition by planting offshoots in the gardens of my children.

Prone to powdery mildew, this rose needs good air circulation and to be watered at the soil level.
This rose is very thorny and is not a good choice for a children play area.
Common Moss responds well to heavy pruning, and this can be used to control pest infestations.

Arthur de Sansal

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Portland Rose

When I notice a rose is starting to decline, I usually move it.
Fresh soil can do wonders to restore a rose’s health.
For the Arthur de Sansal I chose to refresh the soil in the existing spot.

I lift the shrub and placed it in a tub of water while I removed deep-rooted weeds.
Before adding more compost and amendments, I mixed in coir.
This fiber is an alternative to peat moss and a great way to recycle a byproduct.

Compost, rock phosphate, alfalfa and bone meal were mixed in next.
Hopefully, this will help the rose gain enough strength before the dormant season.

Apothecary Rose

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Gallica

I started my Apothecary rose hedge with two offshoots.
The owner of the mother plant still does not believe they came from her shrub.
In her garden, the roses bloom a darker shade.

In the same part of the garden where I planted the hedge, I found white and yellow violets.
I moved one of each to a flower bed near the house.
When they bloomed the following summer, they were violet.

Now I am trying the same thing with the roses.
I got another offshoot and planted it near the house.
Will the gallica bloom light or dark?

Alba Maxima

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Old Garden Rose

The Alba Maxima rose hardly bloomed this year.
The season started late, which gave the one flush roses a rough start.
The canes are checked often for damage caused by pest or disease, and the base is kept tidy.
I do grow one lavender in the same bed.
It looks great but does not deter pest.
The rose caterpillars were picked off before they could do any serious damage.