As you can probably tell from the photo, there are two buds just being made. Should I pinch them back to help the plant focus on infrastructure (roots/leaves) or is it already old enough to let them be?

Thanks in advance for any advice. :D

'Golden Buddha' on April 25, 2013, right after being potted

First bloom opened, May 22, 2013

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.

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.

And this year, with Spring coming late and slow, its first bloom opened June 2nd.

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.

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'.

:-)

~Christopher

:-)

~Christopher

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

:-)

~Christopher

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

:-)

~Christopher

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

The yard when I first moved here, Summer 2012

I stared at that the rest of the year, then started cleaning things up in Spring 2013

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

June 2013

Cardboard was used to smother weeds/grasses and cover initial arborvitae trimmings, then covered with bagged mulch.

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

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

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

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

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

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