There are buds showing color all over the yard, so I'll be adding to this thread very soon.

:-)

~Christopher

Maybe next year we can start a thread documenting all of our very first rose blooms for Spring 2015. (Mine was Smith's Parish.)

I am happy for you, Christopher. You've worked so hard and put so much thought into your new garden.

Diane

Ingrid

In other garden news, the seeds I planted in trays have been getting molested by squirrels who must think that any soil they find is a place they buried stuff last year. In case of germination failures, I didn't plant all from any packet, so last week I sprinkled most of the rest where I intended to plant them, anyway. We're getting rain about every third day lately, so I'm hoping things do better out there on their own. Whatever doesn't come up I'll re-order and save for Winter-sowing -- why didn't I discover that technique a few months ago?

And, incidentally, I got an email from Bluestone Perennials about a big end-of-season sale. I'm tempted to add a few more things, but I want to mull over my shopping cart for another day or two. I also want to get annuals for the planters and to fill-in spots in the beds, so I'm going to wait a little on more perennials. If anything, I'm probably going to focus on Autumn-blooming plants -- especially more Asters. And I have to remind myself that I can always add a few more things after Summer and next Spring -- it doesn't ALL have to be planted now.

Oh, and the Clematis I planted along the fence are really doing well climbing the deer netting. I got them started with a little gentle guidance, but I've mostly stood back and let them do their own thing the last couple weeks. They're growing fast -- and some are blooming.

And I also saw the first (and only, so far) bud forming on 'Orfeo', the climbing rose I planted to "hug" the Callery pear. I hope more will come, but from what I've read, I wasn't expecting blooms until next (its third) year. It's focusing on growing now, and there are some new fat canes shooting up fast from the base. In the meantime, the Clematis 'Henryi' and 'H. F. Young' are rapidly making their way up 'Orfeo' on either side.

While I enjoy checking the progress on growth, I'm going to hold off on taking more pictures until I can include actual rose blooms. I'm thinking that within a week that will begin.

:-)

~Christopher

That was the only other rose with open flowers today, but there will be more soon.

Three black-red buds about to open on 'Nigrette'.

A few on 'Prospero'.

I gush a bit about 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau', mostly because I'm amazed at how well it has grown and how healthy it is (despite being a Bourbon growing in NJ). Last year and the year before, it had virtually no blackspot until about September. I don't think it's immune, but rather it's quick to drop any affected leaves, is so vigorous that new growth keeps coming, and thus it never goes naked.

Here is a wide shot of 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' -- with its canes spreading laterally, it stretches to about six feet wide. No blooms yet, but it's covered in buds waiting to open.

To get close enough to see the buds on the entire SdVL, I have to take three pics. Here's the left side...

...the middle...

...and the right side.

'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' is also covered in buds. I can't wait to see them against the white railing on my front porch. And I can't wait for more canes to sprout so I can continue training it further.

Clematis -- as of now, the only one with a pic-worthy bloom is 'Ruutel'. A couple others have ragged blooms which were already fading by the time the rain came last night -- and now have lost several petals.

In this shot, you can see the previous flower of Clematis 'Ruutel' on the left of the rose 'Purple Skyliner' tacked against the deer netting. Thanks, Kim Rupert! This rose is from the rooted cutting you sent me last year. If you look closely, you'll see another flower of the Clematis 'Ruutel' behind the middle of 'Purple Skyliner'. This Clematis had two long stems which I spread wide when weaving into the deer netting. The Clematis to the right of 'Purple Skyliner' is 'Omoshiro', but no flowers yet on that one. When it does bloom, the flowers will be almost-white with a candy-pink edge. Oh, and the upright rose in the right-edge of the pic is 'Jude the Obscure'.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have more to share.

:-)

~Christopher

'Georg Arends' has 15 buds, but this one is the closest to opening.

'Nouveau Monde' has really grown well since being planted last year. I have it tied to the deck railing. That one long cane on the left stretches to where the edge of the tree trunk is in this pic. And it's covered with buds. Planted near its base is the Clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' which will use the rose as its trellis, continuing to climb into the railing as well.

Even before they open, the buds of 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' are covered in balsam-scented moss.

The other, larger, cane on 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux'. There was a third cane about this size, but it broke last year while the landlord and I were cutting back the tree.

'Yolande d'Aragon' has a cane that grew tall and straight-up, until the weight of its top-growth bent it over. I tied it to a tree branch I stuck in the ground to keep it from whipping around in the wind. As a result of this, it sprouted flower buds along the top third rather than just at the tip, with buds for more laterals starting to swell along the naked part of the cane. This is the benefit of pegging.

One of many buds on 'Yolande d'Aragon' getting ready to open.

I pegged two long canes of 'Botzaris' to the log edging, leaving two other shorter canes to grow naturally up.

See all the buds on the pegged canes of 'Botzaris'?

A closer shot of the buds on one pegged cane of 'Botzaris'.

'Clotilde Soupert' is getting ready to pop.

"Rose de Rescht" had some canes so thin that they "self-pegged" under the weight of their own growth. The result will be a mass of flowers along the base.

The canes on "Rose de Rescht" which remained upright are full of buds as well.

'Rose du Roi -- original' is also a bit floppy with its baby canes all heavy with buds -- though one thicker cane remains upright. The purple flowers behind it belong to Salvia 'Twilight Serenade.' And the rose after the Salvia is "Bermuda Spice."

A bud on 'Rose du Roi -- original' about to open (probably tomorrow). I can already catch its fragrance.

'Abraham Darby' will be gracing the garden with his presence very soon.

:-)

~Christopher

'Nigrette' again, showing another bud getting ready to open.

First open bloom on 'Rose du Roi -- original.'

And that's all I've got for today.

:-)

~Christopher

:-)

~Christopher

"Rose de Rescht" is blooming on its thin stems which flopped down under their own weight (it also has thicker stems which have remained upright).

First open flower on 'Souvenir du Docteur Jamain' appears more fiery and less purple via my iPhone than it is in real life.

There are a few more open flowers on 'Marie Pavie' but they are a bit too nestled among the foliage to show up well in a pic. However, it has buds aplenty further out on the tips that I'll capture when they open.

This flush is creeping along at too much of a snail's pace for this impatient gardener, but I'm loving each step along the way.

:-)

~Christopher

Ingrid

"Sophie's Perpetual"

'Botzaris'

'Yolande d'Aragon' -- not quite open, but already generous with perfume.

'Louis Philippe' (I hope...I'm still waiting for the fully-double flowers to appear to confirm I got the right rose, but this one already has more than the few from last year)

Pegged cane of 'Blanc de Vibert' has lots of buds...

...but it seems the first flower of the year on this rose will come from a new shoot at the base.

The last of three buds on Kim Rupert's 'DLFED 3' -- before I clipped the anthers to freeze the pollen. I want it to "meet up" with 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' which, as of now, has no open flowers. I keep 'DLFED 3' and 'R. fedtschenkoana' in pots on pavement to prevent them from spreading through the garrden.

The first flower of the year on 'Nouveau Monde' opened today, and just behind it in this pic you can see one of the many buds on the clematis 'Countess of Lovelace'. I have this clematis using 'Nouveau Monde' as its trellis, and together they'll eventually spread across the back deck railing.

'Nigrette' was the first of my pot-pet red HTs to open. These two shots are of its third flower -- I snipped the other two for two friends from work. And as is usually the case, my iPhone can't capture the dark purplish reds very well -- it makes them look too fiery.

'Clotilde Soupert' is still slowly unfurling its first flowers. Yesterday:

And today -- "Look, Mom...no balling!":

So that's about it for the onesies and twosies. But a few have what I'd call their first flushes of the year.

OK, so not much of a "flush" on 'Reine des Violettes', but considering its small size, it's not too shabby. I just tied it up yesterday, so it looks awkward today. It was spayed out forward, leaves facing up, so now things aren't really facing the "new up".

But the flowers are looking -- and smelling -- great. Believe it or not, my iPhone captured some of the violet-blue tones -- but it still looks pinker in these pics than in real life.

Yes, it's actually less-pink than this in real life. It didn't bloom last year, so this is our first "introduction."

'Rose du Roi -- original' is continuing its awkward-adolescent flush. I tried gently propping up its canes a little -- just enough to keep the flowers out of the mulch.

'Rose du Roi -- original' up-close. One of these days I'll have to get a proper camera that doesn't have "issues" with shades of red. The color isn't totally off, but does appear lighter, more muddied, and lacking in definition as compared to real-life.

"Rose de Rescht" gave itself a skirt this year.

"Rose de Rescht" up-close. Again, my iPhone camera muddies up the color, but you get the idea.

'Souvenir du Dr. Jamain' had a few baby flowers last year soon after it arrived as a band. They were nothing compared to what it produced in its second year -- these have more perfume, more velvety tones, and larger size. Unfortunately, my iPhone (again) makes these dark purplish reds look too fiery. I'm hoping for more canes to shoot up from the ground so I can keep training it along the railing on my front porch. Oh, and ignore the boxes in the background -- I'm saving the cardboard for another project.

'Marie Pavie' continues her flush in the front yard. While the scent up-close doesn't seem strong, it certainly carries on the air some distance away from the plant. Blooms start palest pink then open to virtually white.

And that's all I've got for today...but more will be coming soon.

:-)

~Christopher

This is 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'. I can't wait to take pics when it's loaded with open flowers -- it's covered with buds right now.

The half-opened flower on 'Yolande d'Aragon' opened fully today, and others on the rose will likely be fully open tomorrow. I'm happy I put this next to the brick-lined path, because its scent carries several feet away. Actually, the whole back yard has the faint but pervasive perfume of the various rose scents mixed with clove from the Dianthus in bloom.

First flower on 'Honorine de Brabant' is my first striped rose of the year. Others in the garden are the Gallicas 'Tricolore de Flandre' and 'Georges Vibert', and the Hybrid Perpetual 'Ferdinand Pichard.' The others have buds, but they're probably a week away from opening.

:-)

~Christopher

Ingrid

I'm envious of the beauty of the mature gardens I see via pictures on this forum. I'm trying to catch up as fast as I can. You all are very inspiring.

:-)

~Christopher

And some pics from yesterday. This is 'Bubble Bath' against the netting on the fence, with clematis on either side -- 'Red Star' on the left, and 'Blue Light' on the right. Neither clematis is blooming right now, but I can smell 'Bubble Bath' from the lawn -- its scent is different from the others currently in bloom, is only moderate up-close, but carries far. The two perennials further in front are echinacea -- 'Sunrise' on the right, and 'Hope' on the left. Slowly coming up in the mulch between the plants are various seeds I direct-sowed.

'Mme Dore' reminds me a lot of the 'SDLM' clan -- its lineage isn't recorded, but I'd suspect it's another of the "Bourbon-Teas." It smells totally different from SDLM, and different from the other Bourbons as well.

'Monsieur Boncenne' yesterday, and today its flowers still aren't quite open. Last year it had another tall cane to the right of the one you see, but it broke when a tree branch fell on it while the landlord and I were cutting back the Callery pear. 'Jude the Obscure' behind it, with a yellow bud showing in the pic, also lost a big cane from that same branch falling.

But as you can see, there's lots of new growth on 'Monsieur Boncenne' coming from the base.

"Darlow's Enigma" isn't blooming yet (though there are some buds), but I wanted to show how, in a shady spot, it's shooting for the sky. Another couple of feet and it'll be in the lower branches of the pine tree.

I took a pic of 'Louis Philippe' with a flower about to open the other day. Yesterday, it opened fully, and it has me scratching my head. This is its second year, so as Kim and Jeri reassured me on facebook, Chinas are often inconsistent as babies. Mine came from RVR. The little blue flower to the right belongs to Geranium 'Nimbus' which is growing fast.

This is 'Napoleon', which really does have a strong "candy" smell (like a cross between cherry Nibs and a jawbreaker/gobstopper). And as you can see, it's being eaten by rose slugs which keep evading my detection. This is planted on the side of the neighbor's house (the brick-lined border I put together this year, seen in my "Things are greening up!" post here -- http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg0423241224880.html ), and there are only two other roses there, but it's also the only spot the sawflies seem to have found.

"Grandmother's Hat" has a few flowers as well -- and also a few nibbled leaves. This is also in the new brick-lined bed. The third rose there is 'Perle d'Or'. The rest of the bed is various perennials that like things on the hot-and-dry side.

Here's "Grandmother's Hat" again, with Penstemon 'Dark Towers' to its right, a green Santolina down front, and cut-off on the right edge of the pic is Salvia 'Madeline.'

In this pic, you see 'Nouveau Monde' peeking through the railing on the back deck of the neighbor's house. Clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' is growing within this rose, and is also about to bloom. While the rose is a Hybrid China, to me it smells like an Alba.

'Nouveau Monde' again, as viewed from the bed. The perennial at the base of the tree trunk is Monarda 'Aquarius'. Hugging the trunk is the rose 'Orfeo'. You can see the mossy buds of 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' photo-bombing on the right. Behind it, not quite against the railing, is 'Abraham Darby'.

It's not just roses in bloom! The yard also carries the scent of clove from the various Dianthus I planted. This is 'Raspberry Surprise' which is actually less glaring in real-life than in this pic.

Dianthus 'Greystone' was given room to spread, being as it can grow to 4' wide. That's "Rose de Rescht" peeking in from the top right corner.

Dianthus 'Bath's Pink' is finishing its first flush.

And so is Dianthus 'Fire Witch.' Remember -- these are all babies I planted just this Spring -- they'll be bigger next year.

And I took a few pics today. 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' is beginning its show, but the rose is too big to get in one pic and still show the detail of the flowers. Here's the right third of the plant.

And here's the left third of SdVL. The middle doesn't have open flowers yet, but likely tomorrow.

'Cardinal de Richelieu' is just starting to open some blooms. In front of it you'll see two white buds on 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'.

'Prospero' appears too scarlet via my iPhone -- the shade of red is far more on the violet side than this, but I'm sure most of you are already familiar with this rose. This is just to the left of 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau', and in front of 'Souvenir de la Malmaison.' The perennial behind it is Phlox carolina 'Miss Lingard.'

:-)

~Christopher

Here's an up-close of 'Cardinal de Richelieu.' It seems my iPhone can capture the purples better when the pic is taken in bright shade.

Paul Barden's 'Golden Buddha' stays small as a plant, but has HUGE blooms that smell like ripe apricots.

'Paul Neyron' is beginning his show.

'Abraham Darby' is nearby and also has a couple flowers.

'Lady Hillingdon' was cut back to the ground by that crazy Winter, but is growing again from the roots.

'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' seems to have opened up overnight.

I was looking forward to seeing this combination in bloom -- Clematis 'Noibe' and Rose 'Yellow Sweetheart, Climbing.' To the right of the rose, and not currently in bloom, is the clematis 'Lasurstern' which has flowers of lavender-blue.

Clematis 'Ruutel' is to the left of 'Purple Skyliner', with Clematis 'Omoshiro' (not in bloom) on the other side of the rose. At the bottom edge of the pic is the top growth on 'Jude the Obscure.'

'Jude the Obscure' has its first flower open.

'Mme de Sevigne' was a replacement for 'Mme Isaac Pereire' which died before I could plant it. Linda Loe at Long Ago Roses suggested I try this as a substitute for a fragrant long-caned Bourbon, and I'm glad she did.

'Monsieur Boncenne' actually has a bit more purple shading than this pic shows.

'Mme Dore' -- another small rose with big blooms.

Strangely, "Bermuda Spice" didn't have nearly as much Winter-dieback as I expected. I love the grapefruit smell to the blooms.

First bloom on 'Blanc de Vibert' came from a tiny new shoot at the base.

'Bubble Bath' continues to perfume the yard.

First bloom on a tiny 'Perle d'Or' which is planted in the new brick-lined bed on the side of the neighbor's house.

I trained two long canes of 'Botzaris' against the logs, leaving the stouter shorter canes to remain upright.

'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' has one open flower, but generally they come in clusters.

:-)

~Christopher

'Golden Celebration' opened its first flowers yesterday during the heat, but today it seems unfazed.

If it continues to arch to the point of flopping, I just may put together a rebar tripod for it.

'Purple Skyliner' was also unfazed by the heat, and continues to grow and grow against the fence. There are two fat new shoots going straight up from the base. You can clearly see the one in the center in this pic. It's hard to believe that this came as a rooted cutting from Kim Rupert just last year.

Flashback to when it first arrived a year ago, June 2013:

This is a pic of Paul Barden's 'Golden Buddha', with a one-day-old flower on the left, next to a four-days-old flower on the right (and another cut-off in the top edge of the pic). The color fades, especially in the heat, but the form of the flower remains for a long time. The petals won't crumple or look unattractive for another week if I leave the flowers on the plant, and I actually LIKE the faded color. So I don't deadhead this one until the flowers start to fall apart -- which is usually over a week from the day they open.

The first flower on 'Georges Vibert' -- one of my two striped Gallicas -- shrunk after yesterday's heat, but still smells very nice. There are many other buds waiting to open, and the next few days will be more mild.

'Charles de Mills' also unfortunately opened its first three blooms yesterday, and today they are looking a bit droopy. I know some people say it's scentless, but I can catch a moderate-to-strong fragrance on it. The scent isn't as sharp as Damask, nor sweet -- it's something like a floral-herbal potpourri smell.

'Honorine de Brabant' still has only baby-canes that have self-pegged under their own weight. I won't cut them back until thick new shoots have come up -- for now, they're feeding the plant. And as you can see, many flowers got fried in yesterday's heat and high-humidity.

'Nouveau Monde' just keeps on blooming -- no fried flowers, though there are some that are fading simply from age. I told myself that I'm not going to deadhead any of the once-bloomers to see if any make hips. Whichever don't I'll know to deadhead next year simply for neatness. And besides that, there are seedlings of Nicotiana 'Bella' coming up in front of 'Nouveau Monde', so I don't want to step there right now.

The new brick-lined bed I made against the neighbor's house has only three roses -- "Grandmother's Hat", 'Napoleon' and 'Perle d'Or.' The rest of the plants are Summer-blooming perennials that like the heat, since this bed gets full-sun until mid-afternoon. This is Coreopsis 'Moonlight' beginning to bloom. The rose to the left is 'Napoleon.'

Planted in front and to the left of the rose "Grandmother's Hat" is Penstemon 'Mesa' which has also started to bloom.

The one long cane on 'Duchesse d'Angouleme' I tied against my front porch railing has started to bloom, just as the flowers on its neighbor-to-the-left 'Souvenir du Docteur Jamain' are beginning to fade. To its right is 'Archduke Charles' which is still rather tiny, and should be blooming soon.

:-)

~Christopher

I'm looking forward to see its evolution...

:-(

I'm going to have to find it again. Before I knew how hard it was to find, I gifted one to someone before I left Buffalo (it was among my first Vintage Gardens purchase). I'm going to ask for cuttings after the first flush. If that fails, I'll get it from Greenmantle whenever they have it available.

And btw, let me know if you have room to try something else -- I'm going to try rooting some things from my yard. I still owe you a rose in return for MdSJ.

:-)

~Christopher

Mazel tov on your new garden!

'Georg Arends' had its first open flower of the year, with many more buds to follow. This one seems a tad short on petals, but still looks -- and smells -- wonderful. I have this one growing as a (future) small-climber against the corner of the raised back deck, right next to the brick-lined path, and near the Callery pear. Its stems are thornless (only a few tiny hooks under the leaves), which is why I planted it here.

'Paul Neyron' needed two branches to hold up its huge wet flowers earlier today. You might not be able to see them easily -- that's why I like using leftover tree branches for stakes.

Clematis 'Countess of Lovelace' is climbing into the rose 'Nouveau Monde' (pictured a few times previously in this thread), and today its first flowers opened. There are more buds getting ready to pop, but they are hard to see against the rose until they open. Also, this bloom is lighter, and has what looks like a pink bar across each tepal. In real-life, it looks solid, and a darker shade -- more like medium purplish-blue.

A new flower opened on 'Jude the Obscure.' There aren't many buds right now on this rose, but the ones there are huge. There's several new shoots coming from the base, so perhaps it's focusing more on growth. Still, not bad for an own-root Austin in its second year -- it's already at least 4' tall.

Pardon how terrible my iPhone camera depicts reds. In any case, this is 'Pierre Notting' starting to bloom. Some buds were nibbled by squirrels before they opened (this seems to happen only with red rose buds within easy reach, and thus why I hardly get any flowers surviving to open on low-growing 'Eugene de Beauharnais'). According to Vintage Gardens' growth-habit illustrations, this will eventually grow like a long-caned Bourbon, but take longer to get there. I have 'Mme de Sevigne' in the same row, and last year they were the same size and growing in the same manner. This year, however, 'Mme de Sevigne' is pushing its first fat canes which will likely grow very long. I'm still waiting for those to emerge on 'Pierre Notting.'

An up-close shot of a bloom from 'Pierre Notting.' When I look at it, I think it reminds me so much of many of David Austin's reds in color, form and size. It's interesting that in one of his books I have, he dismisses the Hybrid Perpetuals when discussing the OGRs, and says that they didn't feature in his breeding (which, according to ancestry of some of his roses, isn't entirely true). So I think it's kinda ironic that some of what he put out there looks a lot like what he didn't think "epitomized the old roses."

And thanks to that steady light rain that went on for about 12 hours, the struggling seedlings all throughout the bed are looking good, though I'm still thinking they were planted too late. I'll end up buying the packets again and starting much earlier next year.

:-)

~Christopher