keep or toss

'Savannah'

I'm at that point in my garden where if I get any more roses, I will need to get rid of something. Some of my roses I'm not terribly happy about, and those are relatively easy to put on the chopping block. Some roses have their qualities, even though they have their faults (don't we all?), but they are more "gray zone" roses. They don't quite have the qualities that I'm looking for, but they are not roses that are particularly bad. So I have to judge whether or not they are worth their rent.

'Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg'

'Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg' is on the chopping block. After three years of struggling with her, I finally got her to grow. She's been putting out long canes and putting out flowers. The problem is that I find the flowers to be rather boring, and without much scent. They are also very susceptible to damage from thrips and wind, so they only time I get nice flowers is when I spray insecticides. I'm having the same problems with 'Earth Angel'. 'Earth Angel' can have very beautiful flowers, and has a wonderful fragrance, but such thrip damage. It is also a plant that needs coddling in my garden.

'Earth Angel'

At its best, it looks like this:

What I'm looking for in my garden is a very specific kind of rose. I want roses that are pale pink, darker in the center, pale blush to white on the outer petals, very fragrant, cup shaped, and tolerant of thrips and the intense sun and wind that we get here. Not too much to ask, is it? Well, yes, it seems that it is indeed too much to ask. At its best, 'Earth Angel' is pretty close to what I want. But how much do I want to struggle, and how much insecticide do I want to spray?

'Fabulous!' was indeed fabulous with the first flush of blooms in the spring, but since that, it has been quite a bit less than fabulous. It took a long time to rebloom, and in the heat, the flowers were deformed, and the white flowers were damaged by heat and thrips. So 'Fabulous!' is likely to be removed this winter.

'Savannah' (top picture) is a grey zone rose for me. It is a Sunbelt rose, a rose that the company Kordes says is especially tolerant of heat. This year, with enough water, it does seem to be able to tolerate the intense sun fairly well. It does have a good fragrance. But the flowers are very flat, and don't have much grace. The color is not really what I want. I guess it stays for now.

'Sonia Rykiel'

'Sonia Rykiel' certainly has her faults, but she's staying. Flowers are more pale than I want, and the flowers don't last long in the heat. But this year, she has been very productive and charming. Flowers are deliciously scented.

'Abraham Darby'

 You'd wonder why 'Abraham Darby' would be a grey zone rose since he is such a beauty, and his fragrance is among the top 3 of all the roses I have ever smelled. He is the whole reason I began growing roses in the first place. But Abe can be very inconsistent. His flowers can sometimes be stridently orange, and sometimes very pale, and the orange bothers me. Worst of all, is his total intolerance of the intense sunlight here. Flowers don't last much more than a day. Still, he has my heart.

'Evelyn'

'Evelyn' in June

'Evelyn' and I have a history. I bought 3 plants that arrived completely crushed. There was almost nothing left of them. But I nurtured them to some health and planted them. In the wrong spot, which was too shady and with too much competition with tree roots. Still they struggled on. I moved them to a better spot and they have taken off this year, producing a number of lovely roses with the fragrance of fresh peaches. Why is she a grey zone rose? Because she is more orange than I'd like. And because her flowers also don't last long in the heat. But when she is "on", she is just gorgeous.  I'm keeping her.

'Radio Times'

'Radio Times' in May

When I look at the qualities of 'Radio Times', I'm a little amazed that he has been on the chopping block a few times. I'm realizing that his previous poor performance was not his fault, but mine. I had failed to give him decent water and nutrition. Since then, he has been an impressive performer. First flush flowers were an example of near perfection. He has slightly cup-shaped flowers displayed with a sense of poise, darker pink in the center and pale outer petals. The warm pink is just the shade I'm looking for. Best of all, the fragrance is intense, and beautiful (although not "delicious" like Abe). Or...is the best thing about him his ability to produce flowers through intense heat, flowers that last for a few days before having heat damage. The top photo is from today, after weeks of temperatures in the upper 90's, and against a south facing wall. You can't have much more challenging conditions than that. So I feel a little guilty about putting him on the chopping block in the past. Apparently David Austin is not as impressed, as he has discontinued this rose, and it is not available anywhere.