Hope Reflected

Encouragement and Hope from God's Word

rose bush Archive

Tuesday

20

September 2016

Oscar Peterson Roses

Written by , Posted in Gardening

Earlier this Summer, I got an amazing deal on some roses that were listed as clearance at a local store. Marked down to less than half price, I couldn’t resist purchasing a bush of Oscar Peterson roses, part of the Canadian Artists series. It wasn’t necessarily the quality and good condition of the rose bush that sold me, it was more the fact that these were Oscar Peterson roses! (If you know Wes and I, you know our obsession with all things jazz music). Naturally, the Oscar Peterson roses seemed like they’d be a perfect fit for our front garden.

oscar peterson roses

As you can see from the photo above, our rose bush was in need of some tender love and care. We planted it as is, and trimmed off the dead blooms, and we also fertilized. Not discouraged, I thought it might help new growth if we trimmed the entire rose bush back. Sure enough, the plant grew back, however after about one month there were still no blooms.

oscar peterson roses

It looked good and appeared healthy, however nearer the end of August, our Oscar Peterson rose bush still had no blooms. It could have been related to the fact that we experienced a cooler period in the weather, or the fact that we trimmed back the entire rose bush. That being said, last week, after two months of no blooms, our Oscar Peterson rose bush finally produced the most beautiful, delicate blooms!

oscar peterson rose bush

Aren’t they absolutely lovely? We are loving these roses. As a mature flower, the Oscar Peterson rose features vivid white petals and a yellow stamen. The two roses pictured above were our first two blooms of the season, followed by two additional blooms that haven’t quite opened.

oscar peterson roses

As you can see, the blooms above are the roses before they’ve fully bloomed. The Oscar Peterson rose variety begins its life as a very soft yellow rose, and as it opens becomes a bright white. We’re thinking the two yellow blooms could be due to the cooler weather we experienced last week, and are looking forward to later this week when the roses totally open up.

The unfortunate thing about our Oscar Peterson roses is that since we’ve trimmed the bush back, the plant regrew and appeared healthy, however once the roses started blooming, we noted the leaves have taken on a spotted appearance, where the skin of the leaves actually takes on a transparent appearance. [#Gardenchat friends, any advice here would be appreciated.]

oscar peterson roses

Wes and I are looking forward to adding additional roses from the Canadian Artists Roses Consortium to our garden next year. If you’re not familiar with Canadian Artist roses, more than 1,000 original hybrids were made in the development of this series. 35 of these made the final selection list, and in 2007, two varieties (the Felix LeClerc rose and the Emily Carr rose) were introduced; in 2012, the Bill Reid rose was introduced; in 2014, the Campfire rose (named in honour of Group of Seven artist Tom Thomson) was introduced; and this year, in 2016, the Oscar Peterson rose was introduced.

If you’re looking for a unique flower for your garden, we would definitely recommend checking out the Canadian Artist rose series. Each bloom is beautiful, a different colour, and tells a story you can share in your garden for years to come. For more information, visit the Canadian Artists Roses website.

“In the plant world, none is more revered than the elegant rose, a symbol of true love for millennia, a flower of singular beauty with no equals.”

 

Tuesday

12

July 2016

Roses: Rosa Hybrid Bolero Floribunda Rose

Written by , Posted in Gardening

roses bolero floribunda rose

Our rose bushes after we first planted.

It’s no secret that I’ve always had a soft spot for roses. This Spring, Wes suggested that we plant some of our own rose bushes to grow some blooms at home. We picked out three varieties — the Bolero Floribunda Rose, the Ten-Ten Hybrid Tea Rose, and the ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ Floribunda Rose — and we planted them in our front garden.

roses bolero floribunda rose

First bloom of our Bolero Floribunda Rose.

We chose our front garden as it gets the majority of sun (6+ hours each day), which is a requirement for successfully growing any plant in the rose family. Most roses do well with lots of sunlight, as well as regular watering.

roses bolero floribunda rose

First blooms from our Bolero Floribunda Roses!

Bolero Floridbunda roses are usually 2-3 inch blooms with seemingly endless layers of petals and a unique fragrance. Their full petals resemble a small peony, and their foliage is typically a very rich green.

roses bolero floribunda rose

Bolero Floribunda Rose

Originally from France (now grown all over, and in Canada), Bolero Floribunda roses are known to be one of the more disease-resistance varieties of roses. Spoken from experience, our Bolero Floribunda roses were the first bush to bloom of the three that we planted in our front garden.

roses bolero floribunda rose

13 blooms at the peak of the Bolero Floribunda Rose.

The blooms have come and gone for this season, and Wes and I have pruned them back. We fertilize every other week, and we’re already starting to see new growth!

roses bolero floribunda rose

Lots of layers in the blooms of the Bolero Floribunda Rose.