 |
|
 |
|
|||
 |
|||
 |  |  | 
|  |
 |
Dr. Leda's Rose Journal #5 |
 |
|
Roses: The Cheap Therapy for 2002
By Dr. Leda Horticulture,
A Clinically Diagnosed Rose Addict
November 15, 2001
Roses have a long, admirable history of comforting and inspiring people through frightening times. During the blitz of WWII, Londoners courageously tended their gardens between bombs, and would later tell stories of indomitable roses growing up through the rubble. I recently met a woman from Kosovo who told me that when she returned from a refugee camp to find her village and home destroyed, the first thing she did was run straight to her garden looking for her favorite rose bush. All of us who love roses can understand.
A new rose season is here, but the world has changed. This year, we'll find ourselves planting roses as living memorials, as beacons of hope and optimism, and as much-needed reminders of what's still good and beautiful in life. I suspect some of us will also be planting roses for hours of cheap therapy, and heaven knows we need it.
In this spirit, I've been daydreaming over the new 2002 catalog. Remember the old Gary Larson cartoon where a woman outside a candy shop is clinging desperately to a parking meter while a powerful but invisible force sucks her inside? Well, here are a few of the new roses that are having that same effect on me.
"Bronze Star": This traffic-stopping hybrid tea has enormous, shapely, heavily perfumed flowers. (When I read how tall the bush can grow and how huge the flowers tend to be, I thought of that old Mae West line, "Never mind the six feet, let's talk about the seven inches.") The color is a deep, warm apricot-amber, suffused with yellow highlights that give the giant blossoms a "glows-from-within" look. Early reports say it's a healthy, vigorous, high-performance rose. Eight "Bronze Stars" have recently been planted at the White House Rose Garden, where they're said to be shamelessly stealing the show from all the other (forgive me) bushes.
"Cesar E. Chavez": The quest for the perfect velvety red rose continues, and legendary hybridizer Dr. Keith Zary speaks quite highly of this new one. It boasts exquisitely long straight stems, a light lovely fragrance, and a cheerful, healthy disposition. A portion of the proceeds go to support the (Cesar E. Chavez Foundation). Another handsome new red rose, "Habitat for Humanity," is donating a portion of its proceeds to--you guessed it!--(Habitat for Humanity ). If you're feeling philanthropic or perhaps planning a patriotic red-white-and-blue garden, these look like excellent choices.
"Outta the Blue": Tom Carruth has done it again, damn it. He's hybridized the horticultural equivalent of creme broulee: an utterly, wickedly, hopelessly irresistible temptation that he's calling "Outta the Blue." This love-child of "Stephens Big Purple" is one of the "modern antiques," combining clusters of charmingly old-fashioned flowers with state-of-the-art disease resistance and repeat bloom. The intriguingly unique coloration is a delicious blend of blue-hued magentas, deep wines, and warm lavenders that change with time and temperatures. (Drool alert: Do Not look at photographs of this rose without a bib.) If roses had calories, I'm afraid Tom Carruth would be my arch enemy.
"Spice So Nice": And if Tom's roses were illegal, I would probably be holding up convenience stores. This new climber is getting rave reviews all over the internet. Cheered on by Mr. Carruth, two top-notch roses, "Westerland" and "Flutterbye," enjoyed a little roll in the hay and ended up producing this extraordinarily beautiful offspring. The pastel salmon-orange climber resists disease like Henry Tudor's vanguard at the Battle of Bosworth, and has a fragrance that will make your socks go up and down. (The petals have an especially exotic spicy aroma when rubbed together.) I suggest getting your orders in early on this one, there's likely to be a stampede.
"The Fairy" Family: No, not a fey offshoot of the Brady Bunch. These magnificent little creatures are being sold as Old Garden Roses, though they're actually new sports (color mutations) of the beloved 1932 polyantha, "The Fairy." "The Fairy" is a low, 3-foot mounding shrub that billows continuously with clusters of tiny soft pink blossoms. The new sports share the same gracefully arching form as well as the remontance and disease-resistance of their parent. Only the colors differ. "Lovely Fairy" is a rich dark pink; "Fairy Queen" is a bright crimson red; and "Crystal Fairy" is pure white. These well-mannered roses are perfect for mixing in perennial borders, and are spectacular trailing in containers or weeping over low walls.
"Teasing Georgia": This newly released David Austin rose is an absolute stunner. Gardeners in Europe and Australia have been singing arias and writing sonnets about the darn thing for several seasons, just to torment us. The heavy, cupped blossoms are two-toned, with soft creamy yellow outer petals surrounding a rich apricot center. The dark green foliage is remarkably healthy, and the fragrance is gorgeous. . This rose grows quickly, and like many Austins in mild climates, it grows tall (though the form is reported to be graceful rather than rigidly upright). Plan on giving it plenty of room, and something to climb on. Training the long canes horizontally will greatly increase the number of blooms.
Finally, this year seems like as good a time as any to plant a "Peace" rose. There are many to choose from nowadays: "Chicago Peace," "Desert Peace," "Flaming Peace," "Glowing Peace," "Lasting Peace," "Love and Peace," "Pink Peace," "World Peace," or, of course, the most famous rose on earth, plain old "Peace."
I hope you all enjoy the new Regan Nursery catalog as much as I did!
