(Continued...)
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| Black Cherry |
Black Cherry Stand
back! This mouth-watering new floribunda from Jackson & Perkins
is everything delicious that the name suggests, and I predict
a stampede of shopping carts heading straight in its direction.
Outrageous velvety black buds swirl open into rich juicy
dark red flowers that bloom in enormous showy clusters.
The stems are long and strong, and the compact 3 1/2 foot
bush boasts excellent disease resistance.
The fragrance is a traditional damask, but like most healthy
red roses, the scent is just a wee bit on the light side.
The reason for this is that lack of fragrance tends to
be a dominant trait in roses, whereas a strong heady perfume
is recessive. And the genes for strong fragrance, especially
in reds, seem to be linked to the same gene that promotes
a five-minute shelf-life in the flowers, and a severe propensity
for hideous infections in the foliage. Thus, most self-respecting
hybridizers often opt to sacrifice intense fragrance, though
I'm sure it breaks their hearts to do so. But in the case
of 'Black Cherry' I think we can forgive this minor omission, since
everything else about the rose is so sublimely outstanding.
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| Spellbound |
Spellbound - This
gorgeous creature immediately grabbed my eye and has steadfastly
refused to give it back. The flowers are an absolutely
stunning shade of deep coral pink, with the exquisitely
perfect high-centered form and long vase life of an ideal
exhibition rose. The rare combination of sweet fragrance,
abundant rebloom, and disease resistance are a delight
in the garden as well. But what else would you expect from
the proud offspring of 'Pristine'
and 'Ingrid Bergman'?
That's a match made in heaven! And the apple, as they say,
never falls far from the tree. I am truly love-struck by
'Spellbound.'
Climbing White Eden - Thanks to a rather enthusiastic
pruning binge from Hurricane Rita, I now have a brand new
10-foot stretch of fence that's suddenly in full sun. I'm
really sorry about what happened to that stately old magnolia
and all, but you know? Life goes on and who has time to
complain about having space for one or two more climbing
roses! Since the adjacent section of that fence is already
occupied by the voluptuous climbing pink 'Eden'
(aka 'Pierre de Ronsard') and the promiscuous climbing
'Red Eden'
(aka 'Eric Tabarly'), I can't resist throwing the virginal
new 'White Eden'
into the mix. This new sport has the same big, fat, old-fashioned,
cottage-garden, globe-shaped blossoms, but in a soft innocent
shade of pristine white that takes on a demure blush in
cool weather. The lusty thought of the three Edens intertwined
along the fence, co-mingling with clematis and lilies and
Japanese irises, is enough to make me call for my smelling
salts and a defibrillator. Exactly how much excitement
can one woman take? Stay tuned, we'll soon find out...
Roseberry
Blanket - In case you haven't already guessed,
roses with the word 'Blanket' in their name tend to
be groundcover roses. Which means that rather than
growing upwards like a bush rose or a climber, they
spread out sideways, covering the ground like--yep,
you got it!-- a blanket. Unless they happen to be grafted
onto a standard tree-rose trunk, or planted in a hanging
basket, in which case they weep gracefully like a willow,
draping and cascading like beautiful jewel-colored
waterfalls. (Does that image make your socks go up
and down, or what?) I'm planning to order several 'Roseberry
Blanket' tree roses to serve as focal points amongst
my perennials, and a few for the big pots on the porch.
I just love the bright sparkling ruby-fuchsia flowers,
not to mention the tough, hardy, vigorous plants. This
is such an easy way to create a little melodrama
in the beds.
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| Christopher Marlowe |
Christopher
Marlowe - Rose lovers everywhere are shocked,
shocked I tell you! The normally staid and decorous
David Austen must be undergoing a midlife crisis: he
has actually introduced a brilliant, vibrant, radiant,
intensely orange-red-salmon-pink rose. "This rose is
of a colour not usually associated with English Roses," the
brochure says primly in the wry British understatement
of the century. In fact, this rose is simply dazzling.
I'm always looking for bright splashes of sizzling
color to complement my pastels and plywood, and this
compact 3-foot bush is perfect for a front of the border
star of the show. Imagine it blooming next to 'Tamora'
and 'Crown Princess
Margareta,' against a backdrop of tar paper and
duct tape! The scent is described as a "pleasing tea
fragrance with a hint of lemon." Available in the US
for the first time in 2006, 'Christopher Marlowe' is
aptly named for the brilliant, colorful, and groundbreaking
Elizabethan playwright and poet.
Pink Traviata - Very full, large, huge, enormous,
old-fashioned, quartered Romantica flowers in a deep rich
shade of perfect pink! Yum. This new Hybrid Tea rose has
excellent disease resistance, and makes a stunning cut
flower. I'm going to make room for this show-off even if
I have to bring out the chainsaw and the wrecking ball
to do it.
Climbing Carefree Sunshine - I confess, I'm a
fool when it comes to sturdy workaholic roses. You know,
those tough hardy no-nonsense bloom-machines that resist
disease like cast-iron, and perform like Olympic athletes
all summer. The ones that never scream for me to go outdoors
in the sweltering heat and humidity, battling my way through
swarms of voracious mosquitoes and armies of vindictive
fire ants and 150 mph winds in order to fuss over them.
This sunny yellow climber is every bit as stalwart and
independent as its parent, the landscape shrub rose
'Carefree Sunshine'
(which was bred by William Radler, the same heroic hybridizer
who brought us the indomitable 'Knock
Out'). As an added bonus, 'Climbing Carefree Sunshine'
produces an abundance of beautiful sexy zaftig rose hips
every fall. Lock the door, and pass the iced tea and pralines:
the fittest will survive just fine out there without me! |
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