 |
|
 |
|
|||
 |
|||
 |  |  | 
|  |
 |
Dr. Leda's Rose Journal |
 |
|
New Roses Coming Out in 2006:
Part
One
By Dr. Leda Horticulture, O. R.
June, 2005
Dr. Leda spills the beans: the inside scoop on next year's new roses!
Dear Readers: I know it's early, but I'm just too impatient and excited to keep the lid on another minute. I need to rave about the new roses coming out in 2006! So here you have it, some preliminary first-hand reports on a few of the brand new 2006 introductions I've been testing, and which will be available for sale next fall. Save this list!
Julia Child
Golden Yellow Floribunda Rose,
2006 All America
Rose Selection Winner
Wild rambunctious kudos to Tom Carruth for hybridizing his eighth All America Rose Selection winner in less than 10 years! The man's on a serious roll, folks.
Even though I just planted mine in February, this unassuming little yellow rose has already become one of my all-time favorites, and is indisputably the centerpiece of my front yard this year. 'Julia Child' has at least four spectacular qualities that make it stand out in the garden. One, it's constantly covered in an abundance of sunny yellow blooms; two, so far it's completely free of disease with no spraying required; three, it's self-cleaning so when the petals are spent they drop discreetly to the ground; and four, the clusters of big old-fashioned flowers are the most exquisitely delicious shade of the most beautiful soft pale buttery yellow you can possibly imagine. (Continued below >>)
|
Free Rose WallpaperFor a free, monthly high resolution rose wallpaper, subscribe to Marsha's Journal. |
The buds open a bit darker with cheerful bright sunny gold overtones (reminiscent of 'Graham Thomas'), then gradually soften to the delightful creamy pastel butter color that makes my mouth water. This shade of yellow goes so well with everything, even pinks, but has always been a major challenge to achieve in the garden. Until now I've only been able to provide little bursts with early spring daffodils, or an occasional maverick sunflower that was supposed to be white but turns out to be this wonderful color. I'm elated to finally have it available as a year-round addition to my garden palette.
The bushy little floribunda maintains a nice tidy habit, small and rounded, just under 3' tall and wide (which means 'Julia Child' will also make an perfect standard tree rose). The attractive foliage is full and clean, medium green, and slightly glossy. Others have reported that it has the sweet strong licorice fragrance characteristic of many yellow roses, but for some reason my nose has never been able to detect that particular scent. I guess it depends on the individual sniffer, and maybe the climate, but to me, 'Julia Child' has a light, clean, refreshing, pleasantly typical-rose smell.
I've always been a huge fan of the late great epicurean Julia Child, but ironically I fell in love with this rose several months before I found out what its name was, back when it was just "Test Rose # Whatever." Apparently Ms. Child fell in love with it at first sight too. She had always turned down offers to have a rose named after her before, until she laid eyes on this beauty. Then she was instantly smitten, and requested that this be "the one." It's certainly a worthy tribute to such a great and beloved lady.
Wild Blue Yonder
Mauve Grandiflora Rose,
2006 All America
Rose Selection Winner
 |
| Wild Blue Yonder, a mauve Grandiflora Rose, is a hybrid by Tom Carruth and another All America Rose Selection Winner for Tom. |
Go, Tom, go! Here's yet another fabulous AARS award-winning beauty from Mr. Carruth. Does the man never sleep?
In fact, 'Wild Blue Yonder' is the first lavender-mauve rose to win the AARS award since 1978, which speaks highly of its exceptional disease resistance and vigor. The rich rosy lavender and warm velvety wine purple flowers have a ruffled camellia-like shape, and they bloom in such enormous clusters that on a young plant the canes may initially require some support.
Whenever mine blooms, each flower in the huge cluster, and even each individual wavy pink-edged petal, seems to be a slightly different shade of lavender, which creates a dazzling and impressionistic effect. From a distance this rose almost looks like a beautiful light purple Hydrangea.
The fragrance is strong and lovely, slow to build at first but deep and long lasting. The foliage is healthy, and the bush reblooms reliably following a brief rest between cycles. So far 'Wild Blue Yonder' has stood up remarkably well to Louisiana's brutal heat, torrential downpours, tropical hail, giant bugs, rampant fungal epidemics, and corrupt politicians. Just like a typical southern belle, it's tough as nails beneath its delicate grace and pretty face. My kind of rose!
Home Run
Single Red Shrub Rose
Hand out the cigars! That handsome ol' devil 'Knock Out' has crossed his pollen and become a proud papa. The resulting bundle of joy is a cheerful, festive little shrub rose called 'Home Run.' So far it's every bit the perpetual workhorse that Dad is: tough, impervious to disease, and a non-stop bloomer. But there are a few differences. 'Home Run' starts out a darker, more dignified crimson red; it's a lower, more compact bush; and the flowers are single, with only five petals. 'Home Run' is also reported to be more resistant to powdery mildew than Knockout, thus better suited for west coast gardens. I wouldn't know, because down here in Louisiana, both roses are healthy as cast iron and blissfully unaware that they're living in the Black Spot Capital of the Universe.
I barely had my new 'Home Run' in the ground for a month before he was up and running, tearing around the bases with dozens of buds. They quickly opened to a deep alluring crimson-cherry red, and with the five petals and bright yellow stamens, the flowers initially looked a lot like 'Altissimo.' But within a day or two, the blossoms softened to the exact same dark cerise pink as 'Knockout.' In fact, the two colors look quite appealing together and don't clash with each other a bit. Plus: this is another self-cleaning rose! All in all, 'Home Run' is an excellent new addition to the 'Knock Out' family, and to my garden.
Ebb Tide
Purple Floribunda Rose
I think 'Ebb Tide' may be the deepest darkest most scrumptious purple rose I've ever seen: the closest thing to that elusive "grape juice" shade we've all been hungering for. When it first burst into bloom in my front yard, people would stop every day and ask me, "What is that gorgeous flower?" They would refuse to believe me when I said it was a rose. "Are you sure about that?" they would demand skeptically. "I've never seen a rose that color before!" Then they would just stand and gawk at it in awe. Yes, it's that amazing.
But like most purple roses, the size and color of the flowers varies with the temperature, and this rose seems to be biggest and darkest when the weather is cooler. Since the brutal 95+ degree summer days have set in, the old-fashioned cupped blossoms have been coming in somewhat smaller, and have turned a lighter lavender-mauve with intriguing smoky overtones. They're still quite lovely though, not at all "washed out," and are still the star of the show even when surrounded by dark purple Salvias and Irises.
The fragrance of 'Ebb Tide' is officially described as "strong clove," but once again my defective nose says, "Huh?" What I detect is a strong delicious deep perfume that is best described as "pure heavenly typical rose." So far my healthy, glossy little bush has never been out of bloom for even a day.
Let Freedom Ring
Strawberry Red Hybrid Tea Rose
Some of you may already be familiar with this lovely rose; it had a limited release earlier this year under the name '2005 Better Homes & Gardens Rose.' Those who've experienced it will understand when I say: they really should have renamed it 'Jack and the Beanstalk on Steroids.' I planted my bareroot 'Let Freedom Ring' in the back yard in February, went inside for a cup of tea, and when I came back out the darn thing had grown taller than I am!
So yes: it has a splendidly vigorous, upright growth habit. But what else makes this rose more than just another nice red Hybrid Tea? Let me count the ways. First of all, the classically formed, perfectly swirled, five-inch flowers are a unique and dazzling shade of strawberry red. I put some in a vase with 'Veteran's Honor' so I could compare the two side by side. 'Let Freedom Ring' is definitely a lighter, brighter, more eye-catching red. Of course this may vary with climate, and I fear most cameras won't be able to capture this astonishing hue; blues tend to get lost in photographs and it may come across looking more orange than it actually is.
The cheerful strawberry color works well in traditional patriotic bouquets, with blue Delphiniums or Hydrangeas and white lilies or Shasta Daisies. But it's also fun tossed in a summery fruit-salad themed arrangement, along with peach and lemon colored roses (I've been using 'Just Joey' and 'St. Patrick'), kiwifruit-green 'Envy' zinnias or lime green Nicotiana, and punctuated with festive clusters of berry-colored Gomphrena. Yum! It all but exudes antioxidants.
In addition to its delicious strawberry color, 'Let Freedom Ring' is graced with amazingly long straight stems, exquisite exhibition-quality form, a light but sweet fragrance, and is remarkably disease resistant for a Hybrid Tea rose. The elegant high-centered flowers are slow to open, and exceptionally long lasting in the vase. Plus, the bush never seems to want to stop blooming. So far, I've been thrilled with it.
Next month: New Roses, Part Two—more exciting news and updates on the 2006 picks and winners.
