Roses in My Garden

Purple and lavender roses…possibly the best smelling and most exquisite roses I have ever met. They say purple roses symbolize enchantment; in this case I was definitely enchanted.  I was at a plant show a few weeks ago (South Coast Plaza) when I saw my first lavender rose and I never thought I would grow roses in my super sunny garden (I have mostly succulents), but these were too beautiful to pass up!

Above is the lavender Blue Girl hybrid tea rose. I don’t really see much blue in it, but I do see tinges of silvery grey in it at times. The petals are absolutely perfect in every way.  Just the right amount, and velvety in texture. I LOVE the strong citrus and classic rose scent in this one. When I first brought this home, my plant loving kids could not stop sticking their noses in it…and I don’t blame them! The smell is most intense I find in the early morning, before the sun and wind diffuses everything. The outer leaves get scorched in the sun a bit, but otherwise it holds its perfect form well.

Next is a photo of the floribunda ‘Intrigue.’ I wanted something darker purple to contrast with the lighter lavender rose above. This one was definitely the winner. Multiple roses cluster together in varying shades of purple. It seems the younger roses are darker and mature into a lighter magenta purple. The smell is just as fabulous…just the right amount of citrus and classic rose.  The leaves on Intrigue are glossy and outlined with a dark purple, which I find quite spectacular. The best part: it supposedly does well in heat, and we will soon find out. Of course, I would give roses partial shade in California anyway, but it’s good to know it can take some heat.

Below are some photos of my miniature roses:

I always like the ‘fire and ice’ ones and the classic pink ones. I’ve grown these for a few months but they are not fussy so I treat them like annuals. They have done pretty well in this lovely spring weather, but the only drawbacks are that they are small and don’t have any scent.

And of course, here’s my wild rose: Lady Banks. Her scent is an extremely light lemon. I must admit, I’m not a fan of white roses. It does go well with my shabby chic garden, but I don’t know how big this one will get on my arch/arbor. So far it has not been blooming well in comparison to the tea rose and floribunda.

Below are more photos of my new favorites: Blue Girl and Intrigue.

And here are photos of them in my garden. One is in my potted urn, and the others are waiting to be planted. I might keep them in bigger containers as I read that they are less susceptible to disease that way and I can move them around until I can figure out the best location for them.

Above is a photo of my shabby chic trifold I’ve had in my room for some time. After I planted the roses in the potted urn, I suddenly realized maybe I’ve had my inspiration for years right in front of me and finally acted on it.

I’ll have to admit…I’ve been spending WAY too much time in the garden. Between hiking, family outings, gardening, and the daily grind, it has been a struggle to keep up with everything. But in a good way as I’m loving everything I’m doing…I just need to really carve out time to write about it all :). More garden posts are coming because I have started a mini dwarf fruit section in my garden. But I’ve been researching how to plant roses, learning about possible mildew, rust, blackspot, pest problems, and wondering how everything will do, especially when summer comes and beyond. Anyone with experience with roses? I’d appreciate any insight in the comments below 🙂

Thanks and have a wonderful day! 🙂