Garden journal

The first rose to bloom this year was Pat Austin. This lady spent the whole winter without pruning. It just downed on me that she really likes to be left alone. She is beautiful right now, preparing buds for a real show. Strangely, the blooms mutated from her normal 55-petal shallow cup to a many-petaled rosette. My brother Gabriel’s Pat did the same thing this year. I would be thrilled had I not planted three new rosettes this year, including a yellowy/orange one Crown Princess Margareta. I just heard that CPM gets only peach/cream in California anyway, so Margareta may turn out to be very distinguishable from Pat. We’ll see when Margareta feels ready to show up her face.

Another early bloomer is Baronne Prevost, (courtesy of Gabriel), an old French lady (1842), which has the fragrance that made roses famous. To think of dying without ever having smelled the true old rose fragrance! now that’s a scary thought. And she is good looking too! Too bad she is getting the rust so I had to half defoliate. It is her first year from a cutting and she has outdone all of the technological advanced XX and XXI century roses in the garden. So all is forgiven.

Honorable mention to Compassion who is doing great for the less than perfect east exposure and muddy spot where she lives. I was so disappointed when I first got her in 2004 and turned out to be light pink (instead of salmon like the picture). Now is the only light pink in the garden after construction did away with Sunset Celebration. The fragrance is strong tea with a little something else I haven’t figured out yet, has long vase life, beautiful curly petals. She has some blooms now but not picture worthy. I’ll be posting her later in the season.