Most of us are in agreement that there’s nothing quite as showy as the first blooms of spring, right?  The roses in particular seem to stand out in my little garden.  Spring, whenever she decides to arrive, never ceases to astonish me.

How quickly it can look like this one winter day…

and seemingly overnight, the garden announces Spring’s arrival…{full disclosure: the two pictures of our formal garden are from my files, but you get the idea}

The wooden fence shares space with a ‘Sally Holmes’ climbing rose; the quadrant to the right (rear) of the sun dial has a ‘Guy de Maupassant ®’, a Romantica rose bred by Alain Meilland (France, 1995); in front of that is another Romantica,  Eden Rose®.  I have an Eden climber as well and they both perform well in my garden and seem relatively pest free.  {I know pests vary from region to region but we had a huge problem with a particular caterpillar that caused pin holes in each leaf.}

Left of the sundial in back is a new Romantica by the name of ‘bolero’, a white multi-petaled  beauty that was only planted last spring.  I like to give newly planted roses 3 seasons before they get their first report card.  In front is St. Patrick, a hybrid tea rose that has been in since I first planted the garden many years ago.

One of the most beautiful romantic roses ever created is the Meilland rose; Pierre De Ronsard also known as Eden rose. It belongs to a class of roses known as Romanticas. Fully double roses with a romantic old fashioned look. It is the French Rose company’s response to the popularity of the English Austin Roses. Modern roses with an old fashioned look. Many of the Romanticas are Hybrid Teas to the core, but not Eden Rose, that is more like climber —Niels Plougmann, Roses in Gardens blog

Eden Climber™ is one of my favorites, I cannot believe how well it, and the shrub version in the formal garden, performs.  Eden was a little shy this past weekend while I was taking pictures.  She’s not in full bloom yet, but I wanted  you to see the color of Eden (above).

Because my yard has very few sunny locations, ideal for rose growing, I’ve filled in sun/shade areas with Iceberg roses.  Here in California there are a few rose snobs that consider the Iceberg too common for the serious gardener…to this I say, “nonsense”.  It’s a foolproof shrub rose that gives consistent snowy-white blooms from March through October (sometimes even longer) and it demands nothing other than fertilizer and water. For new readers, I live in Southern California, Zone 9, we barely have seasons.  It’s a mixed blessing.  I long for chilly mornings with the burst of fall colors in October and wish for  a smattering of snow in the winter.  That’s the “downside” of living in a mild climate—another post for another time.

A couple of years ago I helped design our youngest son and his sweet wife’s front yard.  We placed an espaliered apple tree on the front of their house.  It has performed so well, but being a cheapskate on my own yard, I thought I’d give espaliering a try with this humble ‘rosa banks’.  It’s done very well, but there will be NO apples.  🙂 I may have to break down and buy an apple in the near future.

This picture (below) doesn’t do the apple tree justice, but it really has performed well and even had some apple blossoms early this year.

A close-up of Lady Banks…

The final two roses I’d like to share are the reliable Cecile Brunner, probably one of the oldest roses in my yard.  We have cut him to within 6 feet off the ground for painters to paint the patio posts, and each time he returns with new canes and more blooms than the year before.

 

~ and ~

the Burgandy Iceberg, which like it’s white cousin, blooms from early March until late October.

Do you have roses in your garden?  Do you have a favorite variety, I’d love to hear from you.