Aquarell

Aquarell, Tantau 2007

Hybrid Tea

Sport of Augusta Luise 

Augusta Luise is one of the most loved roses in the world and rightfully so: Her huge flowers turn into many shades of apricot and pink and are deliciously fragrant. Combined with a very good reblooming and good health Augusta Luise is a marvel. 

In 1999 Augusta Luise got a sport with just a little less petals but with more outspoken colors. Blooms are cream, carmine with cream, carmine with apricot, yellow with carmine etc... much more outspoken than Augusta. Fragrance and health are identical. Tantau named the sport Aquarell. Many people think it's just another name for Augusta Luise but no, it's definitely another flower.

For those who love Augusta Luise, and I'm one of them, Aquarell is a nice addition to your fragrant roses. With her 🌈 colors and heavenly fruity scent she'll bloom all summer and autumn long. Highly recommend! 

Zone 6b to 9b. Full sun. Rain tolerant, moderately heat resistant 

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand, Carruth 2001

Introduced by Weeks wholesale roses 

Hybrid Tea 

Good old Barb was very picky when it came to choosing a rose which would bear her name. Barbra, a rose lover herself, was very clear about which rose: The color needed to stand out, she had to be elegant and above all she had to be very fragrant.

In the end she chose a creation of Tom Carruth, a gorgeous lavender/Mauve Hybrid Tea with a good strong citrus old rose fragrance. Zone 6b to 10b

A good reblooming and vigorous rose which can get up to 120 cm or 4 feet.

Weeks says this rose grows bigger blooms in milder climates.

Health wise it's not so good. She's really susceptible to Blackspot and Helpmefind even recommends owners to keep spraying non stop. Well now, that can't be the meaning of growing roses? 

It seems that Barbs rose of choice is just like her, she needs tons of attention and care 

Brother Cadfael

Brother Cadfael, Austin 1990

English rose 

Charles Austin X Unnamed seedling 

One of the most magnificent roses bred by David Austin senior. Again the parent was Charles Austin and this early English rose is probably the father of more than 1/3 of all David Austin varieties and even today Charles Austin is used in breeding programs by nurseries all over the world.

But back to Brother Cadfael: It's a vigorous, rather upright plant with almost Hybrid Tea like stems on which the giant blooms appear. 150X100 cm or 6X3 feet and more if trained as a climber. The flowers are very large, pink to cyclamen pink and very cupped, chalice shaped. When they open up fully they are extremely puffy and remind us of Mme Caroline Testout or Constance Spry. Brother Cadfael doesn't like rain and in damp, wet conditions the big buds don't open properly and they ball. The blooms have a very strong old rose fragrance. Reblooming is good and two to three flushes isn't an exception. Brother Cadfael is known to be extremely blackspot resistant, she can however get some mildew.

Zone 5b to 9b 

Named after the main Character from the novels of Ellis Peeters. Brother Cadfael is a medieval monk who returns to his home in Shrewsbury during the reign of Queen Maud. He solves all kinds of murder cases. The novels were made into a TV series. Dereck Jacobi played Cadfael 

Wedding bells

Wedding bells

Eleganza collection, Kordes 2001

Kordes' Eleganza collection stands for elegant no nonsense Hybrid Teas which can cope with all types of weather and especially rainy climates. The classic "Beverly" is also part of the Eleganza collection. 

Wedding Bells is very popular in the USA and it's promoted as very rain resistant and reliable. It's a quintessential Hybrid Tea with upright stems and fabulous deep pink /Cyclamen Hybrid Tea blooms in the best sense. They are big and have a good honest old rose fragrance. Wedding bells reblooms quickly and has very Blackspot resistant foliage which is again a big plus in wet conditions 

Zone 5b to 9b 

An honest and reliable good rose

Capricia Renaissance

Capricia Renaissance

One in a million, Poulsen 2012

Poulsen's Renaissance collection Was the Danish answer to the growing popularity of very fragrant roses. We all know the fabulous Claire or Ghita Renaissance but in the meantime Poulsen has expanded his Renaissance collection with several stunning varieties. They all share the same richly fragrant blooms.

This time I wanna introduce you to Capricia Renaissance or One in a million as she is called in the UK. It is a deep red floribunda with a vigorous growth, great health and an extreme old rose fragrance. The flowers aren't old fashioned but are typical floribunda blooms as we knew them not that long ago. They are very double, stand in clusters and exude a strong powerful fragrance. It's a vigorous grower and can reach 150 X 90 cm or 5 X 3 feet. With a little effort she becomes a climber and in some catalogs she's effectively sold as a climber. When she blooms she's covered in red, a striking sight and ideal for creating that splash of color where you want it. Red, healthy roses aren't easy to create and if it's true what I've been told than David Austin is going to stop selling his red roses all together and they are starting from scratch to create new red roses which are disease resistant and can cope with climate change.

Capricia is healthy and very rain tolerant. Full hot sun can damage the blooms a little bit but nothing serious. Reblooming as the best this rose will ensure that you have red fragrant blooms all summer and autumn long. 

Ideal for pots, beds, hedge, tree rose and as a small climber 

Johan Strauss

Johan Strauss

Sweet sonata, Meilland 1994

Back in the nineties, when the old fashioned bloom shape wasn't yet really popular as today, the House of Meilland was already producing very good, healthy roses with old fashioned blooms and often a nice smell. This was even long before David Austin roses got popular. Pierre de Ronsard (Eden), Bonica (Meidomonac), Leonardo Da Vinci, Paul Ricard and Frederic Mistral are just a few power roses which Meilland gave us in the eighties and nineties.

Today Leonardo da Vinci and Bonica are a bit less popular due to lack of fragrance but we must never forget that they produce an abundance of good, weatherproof roses. I often criticized Leonardo da Vinci as being too artificial but the times I visited my aunty I always was jealous of her Leonardo da Vinci tree roses. Never ever without blooms and rain or heat, they looked pristine. I Ow an apology to Leonardo da Vinci, maybe not the most elegant rose but my God she's certainly one of the toughest ones. 

Johan Strauss has different blooms, they are a blend of light pink and very double resulting in an old fashioned bloom shape. They are born in clusters of four or five. They have a pleasant citrus Tea fragrance. Foliage is incorruptible and glossy green. Height up to 150 cm 5 feet but in my experience the rose stays way smaller up to 100 cm or 3 feet. Perpetual blooming throughout summer and autumn. Rain tolerant although less than Leonardo da Vinci. An extremely pretty rose in the border with perennials. Zone 5b to 9b

It's a pity this rose is somewhat forgotten and she deserves a comeback. We need healthy roses which can cope with heat, drought and rain without using chemicals. Johan Strauss fits that Bill perfectly! Highly recommended 

Planting climbers against walls

Walls covered with climbing roses or ramblers are a romantic, majestic feature in any home and garden. But many people seem to struggle with the climbers getting started and often the rose even dies.

What can cause this? And how do we solve this problem? 

One of the problems is that the soil near the wall is often very poor due to debris like stones, lots of sand etc...

Second major problem is the sucking power of brick walls. Brick walls act like a big sponge, they suck up the water from the soil close to the wall and evaporate it through the bricks themselves. Especially in late spring and summer when those walls catch lots of sunshine, they warm up and evaporate liters and liters, gallons and gallons of water from the soil. For young roses planted close to the wall this can be a death sentence. It's unbelievable how quickly the soil dries out in summer close to a wall. Even if you water the rose once a week it isn't enough. You need to water it daily during hot days or she definitely will die.

There is however a way to get around this. If you have a hot wall and you want to plant climbers against it this is what you must do:

Don't plant the rose directly against the wall but plant it 60 cm or two feet away from the wall. Make a spacious hole and mix compost through the soil, this will increase the water retaining capacity. Plant the rose in an angle towards the wall, let's say at 02.00 o'clock. Mulch with a thick layer of compost. Now you take a small climbing trellis of approx 4X2 feet or 120X60 cm. Stick it behind the rose and let it rest against the wall so now you have the ideal support for the rose to get to the wall.

If you wanna be completely sure your rose will get enough moisture you can bury a piece of drainpipe right next to the rose's roots. Now you can water your rose via this pipe sticking out of the soil and the water will definitely go to the roots.

I recommend using container roses for walls. They already have more roots and can cope better with starting problems. 

With these tips your climbers will definitely take off soon. Don't forget to water them almost daily in summer the first year. 

This piece of climbing trellis is ideal for making a bridge to the wall so your climber can access it easily without getting planted right next to the wall 

Maria Theresia

Maria Theresia is a marvelous floribunda bred by Tantau in 2003. She quickly gained huge popularity because she's indestructible in every weather type, blooms forever and is exceptionally good as a cut flower. She's like Leonardo da Vinci from Meilland: A rose for people who want a carefree, beautiful rose.

Maria Theresia (named after the Austrian Empress) has medium light pink quartered blooms in clusters. They look incredibly beautiful. The plant is short and won't get taller than 90X70 cm or 3X2 feet. She's covered with blooms each flush and there are at least three to four flushes. Slowly the light pink color fades into Cream. One of the best roses for in bouquets as she keeps good for days and days.

Extremely disease resistant, rain and heat tolerant and zone 5b to 9b. For front of the border, pots and as a standard rose.

She has one drawback: She only has a light smell but I absolve her because she's so good on the other features. 

A wonderful rose