The Wait Has Ended

The wait has ended.  The buds on the rescued mystery climbing rose bush were ready to bloom.  I absolutely love, love, love the rich red color.

It's so pretty!  It was so worth the wait!  I am so pleased that we were able to rescue this rose bush and that it is actually blooming!

Here's a closeup of one of the roses.  When opened, it's much lighter than the deep red of the bud.

Isn't it gorgeous how many blooms it has?  It is quite beautiful!  I was hoping for some blooms but this is more than I expected.  What an amazing surprise!

I did notice one thing that concerned me about the rose bush.  On some of the leaves, there were blackspots and the leaves were turning yellow.  I know that some roses are susceptible to blackspots.  For your rose growers out there, do you have an organic method of getting rid of this?  I read that manure tea helps, have you tried that?

A Rose By Any Other Name

I finally placed my order for my David Austin Roses.  (jump for joy) I always admired the roses featured on Davy's Louisiana's Gardening Blog.   He grows the most stunning specimens.  I asked him where he ordered his roses and he recommended  Chamblee's Rose Nursery.  I placed my order for the following rose bushes.  I ordered the Anne Boleyn, it's a stunning soft pink rose with lots of petals and a nice fragrance.  What I like about this rose is that it's a repeat bloomer, so it should bloom well into the fall. 

photo from Chamblee's Nursery website

I knew I also wanted a white rose so I picked out this one.  It's called Glamis Castle.  On the Chamblee website is says the rose is named after, "Glamis Castle, the childhood home of the late Queen Mother and the legendary setting of Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth'".  I love that the color is a creamy off-white.  It also has a fragrance and a repeat bloomer.

photo from Chamblee's Nursery website

Lastly, I ordered this deep yellow rose called Graham Thomas.  It is named after "one of the most influential rosarians and garden writers of our time." What I like about this rose is that it's disease resistant and the color is amazing.

photo from Chamblee's Nursery website

The roses are being shipping out next week. I can't wait to get them in the garden. I planted only hybrid tea roses last year, so I am really excited to add David Austin roses to the garden this year.

Planning Out New Shrubs and Plants

I'm having a lot of fun with planning out what to plant in the yard and garden for this Spring.  New to our garden this year are 6 peony bushes.  I need to figure out where to put them where they will get ample sun.  I'm a bit hesitant putting them so near to the house, since they attract ants like crazy.  However, since we have lots of large trees near our property, sunshine is at a premium in our yard.  I decided the only place that will work is the side yard. Do you plant your peonies near your house?  If so, does it impose an ant problem?  I'm also planning to order 2 David Austin Rose bushes to add to our rose garden.  I am so excited.  I really adore the ones in Davy's garden and he recommended Chamblee's Rose Nursery which has an amazing selection of David Austin varieties.  I have 4 hybrid tea roses that we planted from bare root last year, and although they are pretty, I really am looking forward to roses that have a nice scent and larger heads and petal count.  What are you excited to plant this season?