Late to the Party?

Griffith Buck Rose "Golden Princess.", a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

Griffith Buck Rose "Golden Princess" finally bloomed this morning!

The flowers are much smaller, but this girl really looks like "Iobelle." To her credit, of course. Most of the photos I've seen of GP featured the blooms in various states of necrosis. I had to take people's word for it that the rose was pretty. And she is!

To be fair, we got GP as a puny chlorotic gallon from Chamblee's, and she's grown out to the same size as the much-healthier "Distant Drums." She tried to do a small flush in the beginning of July, but the beetles got to it. Just the same, GP is not regarded as one of the healthiest Buck roses. But I'm a sucker for a pretty face. I just hope she doesn't get weird foliar diseases...

An Enchanting Princess.

More "Golden Princess.", a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

Well..I admit that I wasn't expecting much from this pokey rose. So now that she's produced some gorgeous flowers, I'm enthralled! She looks a bit like the famous hybrid tea rose "Peace" but as far as I know she doesn't have any "Peace" in her breeding ("Iobelle" does). One of her parents is "Hawkeye Belle," a Buck rose I'd give my left kidney for. I don't know how these flowers would hold up on a hot summer day. On a cloudy day they're nearly perfect!

On a sad note...I think that "Charles de Mills" might be dead. I don't know what to say...NR told me that the band was undersized, but I didn't expect it to be diseased. I guess I can't complain because I got it for 50% off and CdM is notoriously susceptible to powdery mildew. Still, it's a shame.

On the lighter side, "Evelyn" has become a terrifying monster of a rose, with several canes as long as my arm. I wasn't expecting that at all from a rose that's considered a slow grower. She has one bud ready to go. I wish she had more, but she seems to be more interested in shooting out "Aptos"-like canes!

AUSjo has a good-looking bud, and appears to be having a petite revival. Funny how "Scepter'd Isle" is still the more lazy of our Austin roses. It has the highest ARS rating!