Drying Out After Andrea.

[leene_chan]

Quietness Start!, a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

I'm hoping that a two-day dry spell before another stretch of rainy weather will allow some of these poor roses to bloom unmolested. Claire Austin and Cornelia bloomed for the first time yesterday, but their flowers got too mushy to photograph.

Allegra has been holding up surprisingly well, as have Simon Estes and Carding Mill. I had to run out in the torrential rain to stake Konigin von Danemark, though. She only has three buds this year. I guess that the Albas don't bloom as heavily as the Damasks, because Madame Hardy has about twelve buds now, and I only planted her a month before KvD last year.

Up and coming roses: Quietness (as you can see here), Prairie Star, Madame Hardy, Evelyn, Madame Plantier.

I had been derisive about the big purple hybrid tea rose Heirloom last year. I remember that she produced exactly one perfect flower and the rest of them were like little daisies. Well, this year she is the star of the cutting roses! I cut an opening flower from her and put it in a vase and it lasted for five days! Both she and Honeysweet seem to have a higher petal count this year. You really do have to be patient with these plants...people have called Heirloom a bouquet factory, and I believe it!