“I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.”
–Emma Goldman
BELINDA’S DREAM SHRUB ROSE
I have no use for diamonds, either, but roses, I can’t live without! Growing them in Florida is always a challenge, with our extremes of weather and the constant humidity. Plenty of sun, but plenty of wet weather, giving blackspot and powdery mildew a foothold every summer. But still, for me, it is worth the extra work to have roses in my garden.
I no longer delude myself into thinking I can keep an entire bed of roses looking good, but I have found if I scatter the roses here and there, with plenty of other plants around them, it works. The surrounding plants will disguise the rose when it is not performing at its best, thus giving me a chance to prune it back, feed it thoroughly, and wait for it to return to glory. Roses have amazing recuperative powers, and 99 times out of a hundred, like a certain terminator we all know, they’ll be back!
Here are a few pictures of some of my current favorites. (Click on the picture to see a larger version).
ALL AMERICAN MIRACLE
This rose is smallish for me, and struggles with blackspot, but the spectacular red & yellow striped blooms fade to pink & white, and are worth the effort.
DON JUAN CLIMBING HYBRID TEA
An old standard for years, Don Juan has a wonderful fragrance, and an exceptionally deep red color. It’s hardy, and seems to be less prone to disease and pests than many varieties.
ABRAHAM DARBY
This is a David Austin rose, and one of the most beautiful & fragrant roses I have in my garden. Austen’s roses have the look & vigor of old roses, and are so easy to grow.
FLORIDA HOME RUN PINK
The Home Run series of single roses with a wild rose look was developed by the popular KnockOut Rose folks. So far, I love this little rose, and it blooms constantly. We’ll see how it performs as it gets bigger.
BELINDA’S DREAM SHRUB ROSE
This is definitely the most dependable and consistently beautiful rose I grow. It repeat blooms all year long, and the gorgeous pink flowers have a terrific fragrance. They last a long time in a vase, too, making this one a winner all the way around.
Do you grow roses in your garden? I’m interested in hearing which perform best for you, especially if you have a Florida garden? Or if you grow under similar conditions.
Who's Your Granny? 
Our roses struggle here, too because of the summer heat. They are gorgeous in the spring, so in about two months, you’ll see some beautiful pictures from me. I’ll send you some from last year. Portland, where I lived for many years is the City of Roses and I used to live not far from the Rose Garden. It is a beautiful place to be!! 🙂
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Oh, I visited Oregon once, and saw so many beautiful rose gardens there. I only saw Portland in passing, but it was gorgeous, I remember. I was teaching an acrylic certification class in Salem, and wishing the whole time I could get out and see more. Where do you live now, Marsha? My daughter is in San Diego, and that’s another fantastic place for roses. Nice, dry air, so no black spot. Even the smallest and poorest looking homes had roses the size of apple trees!
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If you click on that last picture above to see it full sized, you can see all the beautiful brickwork my husband has been doing in our back yard. It’s all paths and flower beds, now. And the pond, of course, which you can barely see in that picture.
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