Winner!

And the award for first bloom of the year goes to..., a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

The first garden (not potted) rose of the year to bloom is Rugosa Rose "Polareis!"

We planted her in May of last year and she didn't even have the decency to bloom until now. But hey, she is a pretty one, and she has a nice tea fragrance! All is forgiven (for now)!

Hello, old girl...

First "Silver Shadows.", a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

Silver Shadows was one of the first roses we bought. We've been keeping this plant in a pot for 2 years and it is huge! Silver Shadows has always bloomed well for us, but sometimes the flowers themselves are less than perfect. This one turned out pretty nice, I think. This girl really needs some shade to bloom the proper color, and when it's too hot her flowers open flat like a daisy! Lovely fragrance, though...