That's even further along than mine looked when it came last year. I was disbudding for a little while, then left it alone. It won't grow big even with disbudding (I'm guessing it'll top out at 24"), and yours looks like it has a nice head start. If it was me, I'd just leave it alone and enjoy the flowers. Mine tends to bloom in flushes rather than a few flowers constantly, so you'll probably have a period of no buds for a while, anyway. Enjoy sniffing them! To me, they smell like ripe fresh apricots.

'Golden Buddha' on April 25, 2013, right after being potted
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First bloom opened, May 22, 2013
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September 28, 2013 -- note how clean the foliage is in a no-spray New Jersey garden. And the second pic reminded me that I needed something blue, white and/or silver between it and 'Prospero' because their colors clashed.
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And here it is this Spring, a few weeks before the first flush (on the far right in this pic). Even in the horrid Winter we had, there was little dieback.
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And this year, with Spring coming late and slow, its first bloom opened June 2nd.
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The color begins to fade the day after opening fully, but (in my opinion) the flowers remain attractive on the plant for a week, holding their shape for quite a while. The flower on the left is one day old. The flower on the right (and the one cut off on the top) are three days old.
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If you cut the flowers for indoors, the color will last longer. This is a little "plonk" I made for someone -- 'Golden Buddha' and 'Golden Celebration'.
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:-)

~Christopher

This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 1:35

Beautiful color! Wish I had a larger garden.

If you have room for a 15" diameter pot, you have room for 'Golden Buddha'.

:-)

~Christopher

This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 11:05

I'm thrilled for you, Joe! Post more when it opens please.

Christopher, lovely blooms on a good looking healthy plant. Are you saying that this one stays very small?

Seil, mine has barely hit 12" in height, but is not wimpy at all. Canes are thick and sturdy, leaves stay healthy all season without fungicide for me, and the plant stays dense and shrubby. Paul Barden uploaded a pic of his plant at 4 years of age to HMF, kept in an 18" pot, and states that it receives minimal shaping in Winter (see link below). The way mine grows, new canes emerge from the base (or branch low down on existing canes), leaf out up to about 12" from the surface, and then send up flower buds. When I dead-head, I snip just below the receptacle, but still have yet to see new shoots emerging from that point. It's as though the canes are "programmed" to grow only to just under a foot, then bloom.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: Paul Barden's photo of 'Golden Buddha' at HelpMeFind

This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 23:58

AquaEyes: That is a superb photo. So pretty. *makes notes to find a 15' pot at the local gardening store*

I like this rose a lot because it has stayed reliably small. Here most roses get ridiculously large. It's nice to have one that stays about knee high but blooms, blooms, blooms.

I am excited about mine. too. Brand new with a bloom and several buds.

Christopher, those are beautiful blooms. Also in the 6th picture there are some very beautiful purple roses in the back ground. Could you let me know what they are. Is it Ebb tide or Twilight zone, the purple color is gorgeous.
Thanks, Madri

Madri, the purple flowers belong to 'Cardinal de Richelieu'. It's an old once-blooming Gallica / Hybrid China, but it's about as purple as a rose can get. The pic below is a close-up of one bloom, and see the link at the end of the post.

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I put it and two other Gallicas back there because I figured that vigorously-spreading once-blooming roses would do well battling the arborvitae roots. That part of the bed is separated from the row containing 'Golden Buddha' and other repeat-blooming shorter roses by railroad ties. I'm not finished with putting things in this garden (roses went in only last year, perennials and clematis this year), and plan to add Autumn-blooming Asters in that area. I also sowed seeds of various things (some perennials, some self-seeding annuals), but they can't really be seen in those pics.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Cardinal Richelieu' at HelpMeFind

P.S. If you're in zone 5, the once-blooming OGRs (Gallicas, Damasks, Centifolias, Albas) should do very well for you. Here, their bloom time is a bit shorter (just a few weeks) because the heat sets in soon after they get started. The Hybrid Chinas last a little longer for me before they're finished for the year. But if you have a cooler late-Spring / early-Summer, they can last a month. And they'll probably be hardy to the tips after your Winters. They're certainly worth being added to the garden. If you're used to repeat-blooming roses, then think of them instead as "flowering shrubs" and plant them as you would other once-blooming flowering shrubs like azaleas, lilacs, etc. When they do come into bloom, they're simply covered in flowers.

:-)

~Christopher

Thank you so much for all the info Christopher. I will definitely add some OGR, you seem to have quite a few of them. I admire the pictures you post. Cardinal de Richelieu is gorgeous. Palatine roses has it, I will order it for spring. Also I have another question for you.
You seem to plant some roses very close to some big trees, but they seem to be thriving well. I have hard time growing any plants under big trees because when I try to dig, all I come across are tremendous amount of roots. Any advise based on your experience.
Thank you once again for your response.
Madri

The roses I am growing are still new -- virtually all came as own-root bands last Spring, were grown for a bit in 1- or 2-gallon containers with a nutrient-rich potting mix, and were planted by last August when the beds were ready. The holes I had to dig were thus only large enough to slip 1- or 2-galon rootballs into the "soil" here (which is more like fired red clay smashed into fragments).

The beds were prepped by laying cardboard down over existing grass and weeds, then covering that with snipped-up trimmings from a Callery pear tree and several arborvitae I was hacking back to bring sun into the yard. After all were planted, the beds were covered with 4-6" of proper mulch (shredded and composted tree/shrub leftovers from NJMulch.com) last Autumn. This Spring, a whole lot of composted manure was worked in, as well as various organic fertilizers and used coffee grounds from Starbucks.

The result is that the roses had a very rich medium for early growth, with various layers of other goodies and fertilizers working their way down and keeping the soil moist as roots explored beyond their original potting medium. I have noticed that the Gallicas, reputed to "take off running", needed a bit of pampering under the arborvitae for their first Summer before the mulch went down -- they seemed to have a hard time competing for water. This year (their second), they did fine on rain alone.

That's why I put them there -- they're tough. If you have areas under trees or shrubs that get enough light for roses but would have to deal with root competition, consider the once-blooming OGRs for those spots. There's a frequent poster on the Antiques forum named Mad_Gallica who also gardens in zone 5 and has a nice selection of them (and species) which do well in upstate NY.

:-)

~Christopher

Oh, I should also add that those arborvitae used to have branches all the way down to the ground. Last year, I limbed them up. The area underneath gets a mix of dappled sun and bright shade in the morning and early afternoon, then full-sun from about 2pm until sundown.

The yard when I first moved here, Summer 2012
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I stared at that the rest of the year, then started cleaning things up in Spring 2013
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While I kept going, roses I ordered the previous Autumn and Winter arrived, were potted up, and sat growing and waiting for planting.

May 2013
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June 2013
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Cardboard was used to smother weeds/grasses and cover initial arborvitae trimmings, then covered with bagged mulch.
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I quickly realized that buying mulch by the bag would take too long, and cost a fortune, so I switched to laying cardboard directly on the ground and putting tree trimmings on top to weigh it down.

The rest of my progress can be seen here:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg0914445024222.html

Before and after pics to show growth:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg0611414417374.html

This Spring, my garden's second year, with the first wave of perennials going in:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg0423241224880.html

And some of this year's first blooms:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg051326393268.html

:-)

~Christopher

This post was edited by AquaEyes on Wed, Jul 23, 14 at 10:46

AquaEyes: Nice photos! And your progress links are pretty cool also. :D

And since I was asked to post more photos of my GB...

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The sun's too strong, so the petals burn a bit. I thought putting him under the front porch roof could help.

I'm amazed at how beautiful the foliage of Golden Buddha is. The color perfectly complements the golden yellow blooms, and the leaves look super healthy.

Christopher, these photos again made me aware of the sheer hard work that went into creating your garden. From the pictures I've seen, it's already worth it, but every year it's going to be more and more spectacular. I'm already looking forward to those photos!

Ingrid

Oh, Joe, thank you! It's beautiful! I love roses that surprise you with all those tiny petals in the center.

Thanks so much, Ingrid! I haven't been taking pics lately because the garden is a bit dowdy now. I planned for blooms this part of the season to come from direct-sown perennials and self-seeding annuals to fill the spaces between the roses and perennials I put in as plants, but so few survived on rain alone. My landlord didn't come by to turn on the hose this year until after most of the seedlings bit the dust. I also noticed that while the thick layer of mulch I put down last year is keeping the soil below moist, the top layer drains too quickly to allow seedlings to grow within it.

So for now, I'm just tending what's there, which is mostly a sea of foliage with scattered blooms among some roses and some perennials and clematis. But I'll be correcting this for next year. I'm getting Oriental and Trumpet lilies (along with a bunch of early Spring bulbs) to plant in Autumn, which will be in their glory this time of year. And I'll be adding layers of my version of "Mel's Mix" on top of the mulch periodically through Spring to allow a better medium for germinating seeds, which I'll direct-sow again next year earlier in Spring than I did this year.

:-)

~Christopher

You have done some heroic work on that property, Christopher. What a transformation!

JoeMoose your GB looks fantastic, even with a bit of summer crispiness.