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Firefighter & Golden Showers
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Posted by
Kippy-the-Hippy 10 Sunset 24 (
My Page) on
Sat, Nov 3, 12 at 20:54
| I was at Home Depot today and saw they had some different roses on their $8 table, one was Firefighter.
They also had Golden Showers with the usual climbers. I am not really looking for either, but was curious about them. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| Despite the appalling name, Golden Showers is really beautiful, and hardy enough to be used as Highway Rest Stop landscaping. Jeri |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| I choose roses that are "more" disease resistant and Firefighter made the cut. Plus, he's a great red with fragrance, too. My kinda man! Angel Gardens will be mailing him to me as a bareroot in Feb. He has good reviews on the Roses Forum. I say go for it! |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| Jeri, that is one rose that needs a better name! But good to know it is hardy. For the price, hard to skip Firefighter, any guesses if it can handle some shade? I have some reds around one plum tree that has a hole |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| Kippy -- 'Golden Showers' in an old Northern CA Cemetery. Jeri |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| I bought two Firefighters the first year they were offered at Edmunds, based on the early word on it. I was looking for form and fragrance and good rebloom. They weren't very happy here, and after several years, I gave them away. But at least one regular poster here (who I respect a lot) in a similar zone to mine loves this rose. Go figure... maybe I ditched them too soon. |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| What did yours do Susan? Since your local, if they did not grow or bloom for you, they might not for us either (San Roque area) |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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I planted Golden Showers in my garden 25 years ago, in partial shade. It went straight up to about 15 feet, and it seems as if it has been blooming ever since. It got some rust for a bout the first 10 years, but now I don't see much on it. The only thing I would complain about is that the blooms last about one day, but they are self cleaning, and set huge red/orange hips, so that is not bad.
Jackie |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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- Posted by hoovb z9 Southern CA (My Page) on
Sun, Nov 4, 12 at 10:13
| 'Firefighter' is about my favorite HT, especially for the vase, because it does the 'perfume the room' thing right up until it falls apart. The color is not as pure and clear as 'Veteran's Honor', the form is not as reliable as 'Beloved', but its superiority as a fragrance broadcaster and rust resistance have made it my favorite. One drawback to remember, it is terrible the first couple of years until it really establishes. The first two years, almost nothing happens. I've found this with both own-root and grafted versions. I have several plants now so I can always have a big vase of their flowers in the house. Sweet! |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Sun, Nov 4, 12 at 13:17
| Just out of curiosity, what's wrong with the name Golden Showers? Seems rather pretty to me. |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| For those of you who slightly cringe at the name "Golden Showers," you might take consolation in the possibility that the name probably comes from Greek mythology. When Zeus decided to have sex with the mortal woman Danae, he came down from Mt. Olympus in the form of what is sometimes called a "golden shower" [either golden-colored liquid or sun-drenched liquid appearing golden] or what others have considered a "shower of gold" [as in gold coins]. Scholars argue over whether Danae was "paid" for her services or not--but at any rate Zeus's "shower" impregnated her with Perseus who would grow up and be the slayer of the monstrous gorgon Medusa--for which I have never forgiven him since Medusa (most unfairly besmirched by Greek patriarchal and misogynistic culture) is one of my favorite Greek goddesses. My growing conditions are so different than those in California that I can't offer much help on the rose itself, but it needed considerably more water in my Kansas garden than my other roses did. After every good watering, it would burst into bloom again. Some BS problems also here in Kansas, but they tell me CA doesn't have BS problems, so you are probably all right on that score. Supposedly can be grown in a bit of shade, but I'd recommend mostly sun--if you like lots of flowers. I grew one for many years and liked it very much, but when it got RRD and had to be tossed, I had no desire to replace it. Kate |
Ahem!
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| Seil, I can't think of a real delicate way to say this, but in the myth, Zeus's "shower" impregnates Danae--so you can guess the kind of "shower" being referred to, but delete the female recipient and impregnating quality of the "shower," and you will be closer to contemporary (censored) usuage. Don't know if that is too frank or too obscure. : ) Kate |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| Seil, you are right that the name was meant to be attractive in that it asserts Zeus's "shower" is as wonderful as sunlight in the rain, shining and glistening and golden--or alternately, that his "shower" is as valuable as a big pile of gold coins. You know how guys sometimes exaggerate their fertile manliness (to put it politely). But as I said, contemporary usage has changed all that. Hmmmm--I better quit responding before I get kicked off this forum. LOL Kate |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| If you "Google" Golden Shower -- the problem is made sadly clear. But the rose is lovely enough to deserve a better name. It's as if they had made permanent the original, or "working" name of the seedling that became 'Honey Dijon' -- "Baby Poo." Jeri |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Sun, Nov 4, 12 at 16:31
| I never would have thought of such a thing. Although having a reference to a Greek myth doesn't seem so awful to me anyway. I always just thought about the sun shining through the rain myself and I prefer to and will continue to do so. As far as I'm concerned there are a lot worse rose names out there! |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| Yeah, I can never bring myself to say 'Golden Showers' without a smirk - water sports ya know..... |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| LOL. No doubt you're right about that working name for 'Honey Dijon', Jeri. In precisely the same vein, a person involved with the introduction of 'Honey Dijon' once revealed that, during the early days of its production, another popular sobriquet for that uniquely colored rose was "Pamper Me". |
RE: Firefighter & Golden Showers
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| I'm another fan of Firefighter, which took about a year to get going here and now makes gorgeous, fragrant red blooms on long stems. No disease problems in my coastal climate. |
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