Calling all gardeners -- Need the 411

A couple of years ago, I brought home some prairie rose seeds from Texas. The picture on the seed packet was a very pronounced pink. It is only this year that this plant has grown very large and has started to bloom. Is this my prairie rose? The blossom looks a little bit like a Cherokee rose. It also looks a little bit like a blackberry blossom.

You can't tell it from the photo, but this part of the bush is supported on a makeshift trellis against a brick wall. The bush wants to grow out sideways, sending out long canes and runners.

There is a white variety of prairie rose that grows up north, I think, but I wasn't expecting that from the seed packet. Whatever it is, it's lovely. However, I'd love to be able to identify it.

It is growing near cultivated (not wild) roses. Is that a problem?

Let me know what y'all think.

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I've been looking for an old garden rose to add to my yard this year. I've decided on the one in the photo above. It's a Great Maiden's Blush, and it's an old Alba rose. I'll let y'all know how it does here in my Tennessee yard.

The author of the lovely blog, "very CALM" shared a link with me in the comments section of my earlier post about my search for the perfect rose. The link is a fun site called Love of Roses, and it has a special page about the meanings that have been attached to certain roses. With Valentine's Day coming up, now is a wonderful time to think about roses.

According to the site, my favorite color of rose -- pink -- signifies

• Elegance, style, and poetic romance.
• Sweet thoughts and thank yous.
• joy and grace

Those are lovely things to think about whenever I see pink roses. :)

Re growing roses: My husband heard a new report that reiterates some old information. It seems that for the past couple of centuries, our climate has undergone alternating cycles of warming and cooling that last about thirty years each. We have just finished about a thirty year warming cycle, according to the researchers, and we are headed into a cooling cycle. This is influenced at least in part by currents in the Pacific, which affect the fronts that spread from the northwestern U.S. down to the southeastern U.S. I wonder if that could be true, since we are certainly having an unusually cold winter here in the States. If this is true, I wonder how that might affect garden plants, including roses. Has anyone else heard about this?

Enjoy!
Elizabeth

On the hunt for an old-fashioned, hardy rose...

I'm no rose expert, just an avid rose lover. I am a great fan of old garden roses. However, the only rose bushes I have right now are a miniature rose in a pot and two rose bushes that I rescued from a bargain table.

I'm in the market for a hardy, old-fashioned rose -- one that is very disease resistant. I'd prefer one that is grown on its own root stock rather than being grafted. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Here are some older roses that I think are pretty:

This is a tea rose called Sombreuil. It is a climber. It is supposed to be hardy, though I always thought that tea roses can be quite delicate.
The picture is from Antique Rose Emporium.


















This is Souvenier de Malmaison. It is a Bourbon rose. This might be a good choice for me as it does well in the cold, but also does well in the humid South. Since I live in the mid-South, I mostly have to deal with the problems that roses can have in the South. But, we're just far enough to get a few really cold temps during some winters -- a la this winter.

This photo is also from Antique Rose Emporium.




Marchella Bocella is a light pink old rose that does well in our area.

Some say that Darlow's Enigma is a rose that grows well almost anywhere.

Or, I'm toying with thought of adding a pale pink rambler to my garden.

Our hardiness zone is 6 and our heat zone is 7.

So, all you rose lovers, send in your thoughts.

Enjoy!
Elizabeth