I’ve been waiting for the roses. They are my all time favorite flower, and I really can’t pick one solid favorite. I do have some styles that I’m not fond of, others that are fine, but I wouldn’t lay money down to have in my garden. At the old house, I wound up with 17 different varieties. So far at the new place, I have 4. One of these is called “Double Delight” and that is a pretty highly ranked one in my list of must-haves. I prefer bicolor roses because they take the perfection of the whorled petals a step above with the color variance. That said, I do not like the painted roses, oddly enough. I shot a few pics of one yesterday and deleted all of them, despite the shots being perfectly fine in technique. I just didn’t like them.
The Double Delight was planted last year, and is blooming now. Holy cow, what beauty. Deep red with pale yellow, against the glossy green leaves. Mmm. I had a climber near the mailbox at the old house called Don Juan that the Scientist just adored, so at his request, I planted one at the mailbox at this house. It is barely showing new growth, but then, it’s a slow grower in general, and has only been in the ground for 3 weeks. [NB: The image here is NOT mine; I just wanted to show what it looks like.]
I also brought in another climber that I’ll train up the center column on the porch. It’s brilliant yellow with a heavy scent to it, aptly named, Scent From Above. I used to have a flowering crabapple tree that I’d planted for Christopher, but decided to go with a rose for him this time. It’s been in the ground for the same 3 weeks as the Don Juan, but it’s really showing growth quickly. [NB: The image here is NOT mine; I just wanted to show what it looks like.]
The last one I planted this spring is one that I cannot wait to see in full bloom. I bought it to honor my friendship with Kh; it’s called Mardi Gras. It’s got deep pink, apricot, and yellow in the blooms. Gorgeous! It’s almost reminiscent of a Grenada, which is similar to a Peace (another huge favorite of mine) but the Peace is much quieter, more pastel. This is riotous color, loud and fun, and it suits us. This one is growing slowly but quite steadily, so I’m happy with it. [NB: The image here is NOT mine; I just wanted to show what it looks like.]
NOTE: The rest of the images in here are indeed, my own.
Raulston’s rose gardens are quite beautiful, as they mixed up their varieties nicely. Hybrid teas are right next to Floribundas, and there is no semblance or order to the color. It’s gloriously -not- organized. =) So when I went wandering yesterday with Alejandro, we couldn’t decide what to do first! You all know my love for macro, but I also like whole flower shots of roses as well. I wound up doing some of each, just to revel in the perfection of the whole place.
The weather happened to cooperate well for me too, which I definitely appreciated. Most people believe that a bright sunny day is the best time to shoot flowers, and it’s so, so not. Your colors get blown out, your backgrounds are blinding, and detail is lost. Overcast or even lightly cloudy days are so much better! You can quiet down and blur out backgrounds such that the intricate details, the subtle folds and textures show in flawless contrast. There’s just nothing better than that, especially when my lunch hour, like most people’s, is in that photographer-hating overhead sun.
It does occur to me that I do not have any white roses in my own garden yet, and that’ll need to be remedied. I used to have Icebergs, but I want to get away from shrub-y roses. They were pretty, don’t get me wrong, but I prefer larger, more sturdy, single stem blooms. I did have one like that long ago; I had rescued it, along with a kordes (deep fuschia) from a neighbor’s garden when they were tearing it out, but they stayed with the house, of course. I liked the one here, with its edge of pink, but if I choose a white rose for my garden, it’ll be a pure white.
Strangely, I really don’t see myself putting in any of the soft, blush pink roses. They’re too bride-y or babyish for me, and it just doesn’t work. Even the blue roses I had planted long ago for my grandparents when they died were strong in color; while this one is interestingly designed with that fringed edge, the color is just kind of “eh” for me. I’m just weird, I get it. =)
Hmm. Maybe it’s time to go browse the rose catalogs. SHHHH! Just don’t tell my family!
