22,795 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
I have Amber Queen in its second year now, and I'm quite liking it. It is a short bloomer, but has cheerful open blooms in a nicely dark gold-amber color that draws the eye. It survived the winter without particular problems, though no surviving cane in zone5. Mine is from Roses Unlimited, and I'll bet Pat would have one of these to save for next spring for you.
Cynthia
In my experience growing rugosa roses the bottom leaves often turn yellow and fall off with age. I have never worried about that. The flowers only last a few days on the rugosas, once they are done the petals wilt and rose hips usually form. Perhaps your soil is a bit dry and they need to be watered especially if these are first year roses. They are tough. I am not sure where you live so cannot comment much further. I would pick off the spent blooms and the ones that are dying and dispose of them. If it is an insect then you will take the insect off with the old dried bloom.
Good luck.
Valerie
Any chance you could continue the trellising around the back of the steps, or around & onto the back wall, so the rose might have more room to stretch? If you could wrap the trellising past the steps onto the back wall, you might plant the climber on the corner. Nice trellis job!
Kittymoonbeam, I didn't find this out about MAC until after I had purchased her, but after reading more on her I think she's just too big for my property, I just don't have that kind of space... I really do like the idea of heritage or a pale shell pink and / or a white rose on this wall, mixed with the a soft blueish lavender clematis... Although I do love yellow & apricot .... Further up the path to the right of this bed there will be a lady Hillingdon climber on the section of wall behind my fireplace, so I can't decide if I like or dislike the idea having another climber of the same color family on that same wall, even though it is not right next to it..
Christopher, thanks for the advice! I just always see photos of crepuscule looking incredibly bushy, But I guess that is just how those people decided to grow it! If I can keep it within 3-4 feet of the wall, looking fairly neat then I might try that one, the photo on HMF of it at Mottisfont is beautiful, the good thing about crepuscule is that it grows fairly fast, at least this one has. I'm just torn on which color scheme I would rather have.
Vesuve, thank you! I did think about having him wrap the trellis to the other side, the thig is that side of the house does not get much sun at all, until the late afternoon, so I don't know how happy a rose would be over on at side.. But I did want to wrap it at least a little just in case.
There's no telling when they would sell out of a given rose, and if she has her heart set on a particular rose, she ought to order it now and then specify a shipping date on their order form. Of course, if she's like my kids when they were four, she may rapidly change her mind and want to change it before the roses are delivered, which can cause grief and/or be costly with some companies. My advice would be to order them unless she's not settled on particular roses, though now isn't a high selling rose season. I've never noticed Regan's having sales, so I don't think she'd need to try to wait for that.
Cynthia
No problem hijacking my post. I was well aware some people would love Dark Desire at first sight from seeing my photos, and the fact is, with our cool weather still in progress, they are indeed significantly darker and I'll certainly be keeping it. But I went out at 8:30 pm tonight and the fully opened ones were still glowing in the dark. The full blown colour is still a dual coral and purplish tone, but darker and I'm more used to it now. Everybody should show their disappointments online and by the time everyone looks at it and comments, they appreciate it much better. As for disease resistance, despite rain not a hint of blackspot on Dark Desire. I mentioned that roses next to it got attacked by aphids before I applied Cornell formula. Those roses were a couple of potted Paul Ricaults. They were a magnet for aphids; the leaves were bitten so badly I pulled them off. Dancing in the Wind and Taboo (my all-time favorite red rose) had some slight damage, but Dark Desire virtually untouched even though the leaves of Paul Ricault and Dark Desire were actually intermingled.
How true bcroselover - we shouldn't just post our roses at their best, but we should show our disappointments to give the true scope of the roses. Having said that, disease resistance plus prompt blooming plus "glow in the dark" still sounds like a good thing to me, though obviously not what you were looking for. I'm glad they're darkening up for you and hopefully the rain will help.
Cynthia
Here she is. She's about 2 feet tall and she has very large leafs that go all the way down to the bottom (unusual here in blackspot country). She has about 3 buds on her right now, but you cant really see them very clearly. Once she blooms I'll post pics of the flowers.Continuing briefly, I promise, are a couple of pics from 2015. Diane
Ebb Tide in 2015.
Another shot of ET 2015, showing less fading. 
Twilight Zone, 2015.
Another close up of TZ in 2015. I can't find a full bush shot. But TZ is gearing up for a big show, so I'll get some photos then. Diane
I moved my TZ and the plant split into pieces so now I have own roots growing in pots. They are doing well as potted plants. I'm moving them around to see where they they like it best. The hot wall was a disaster because the petals fried with the reflected heat. The color seems prettiest and longer lasting in morning sun ( no surprise).
I have my Claire Austin pillared on a 4x4, and I'm very pleased with this rose. The blooms start out facing up, but when heavy with petals they turn downward; a beautiful effect for the way I'm using it. The canes are pliable and easy to work with, but the thorns make me pay attention when I'm pillaring.
I keep hearing that the blooms shatter quickly, but I have yet to get an answer from anyone what "quickly" means -- mine seem to last for close to a week, and I've never seen one shatter after only one day. That it eventually shatters is a plus for me, since it saves me the work of deadheading. I have not cut this rose for a vase, so I can't comment on vase life, but the roses on this very young shrub have weak necks. Alnwick, with it's upright habit and heavenly raspberry fragrance might be a better choice for a cut rose.
This is a new rose for me, so I don't know how it will perform over time. I haven't seen Claire with a major flush yet, but it always has a few lovely blooms. The climate here is hot and dry, and our weather has been erratic since I've planted this rose, jumping from 50's to 102F soon after planting it; 70's to high 90's since. I planted it in well amended peaty/composty soil (not a planting hole -- I amended the whole bed), and it gets drip irrigation with a good hosing off about once a week. Has not been fed or fertilized yet. Picture is below.
jannike
Nicola, its most likely a combination of extreme heat and immaturity. For the most part, had you started it in cooler weather, it would most likely have produced a deeper color and more petals (and larger bloom too). But in the summer they tend to form less petealed, lighter colored blooms. Come September, you'll see the deeper purple you are hoping for.
I went once in January and it was all stumps and heaps of foul smelling manure. The Japanese garden however, was beautiful and totally worth the visit.
Oh yes!! The Japanese garden is fabulous in fall and winter!!! I believe the Chinese garden downtown is open through all seasons as well. I looked at the Rose test garden website to check for you and it seems like they leave the roses un-pruned through October, but that doesn't guarantee they will be flowering nicely. It's free and you can just park and pop out to see it. So, if there are roses, great, if no, no big loss. There is also a lovely, small neighborhood rose garden in Ladd's Addition that is a nice hidden gem