To be technical, I actually took most of these pictures yesterday afternoon, a few from last week, and a few this morning -- but they're all blooming today...

STARINA Mini Tree Rose -- I got this little tree rose from Ralph Moore back in the 1980's and it's still going strong. (Please forgive all the nutgrass, etc., in my beds -- I can't keep up!)


LOVING TOUCH Mini Tree Rose - Also from Ralph Moore's Sequoia Nursery back in the 1980's.


MICHEL CHOLET - Two mini tree roses that Jim Sproul gave me -- he actually gave me three, and I gave one to Sue. These little trees have the biggest gnarly bud unions I have ever seen on a miniature tree rose! But they bloom fantastically...


RAINBOW'S END Mini Tree Rose - Also from Ralph Moore's nursery back in the day...


The last three trees are my new KETCHUP AND MUSTARD, MONKEY BUSINESS, and ELECTRIC BLANKET


Can you tell I love tree roses?

WINTER MAGIC Mini - I took these pictures in a friend's yard a few days ago -- she fertilizes and I never get around to it, so my WINTER MAGICS don't have very many flowers -- nothing like hers!


MAURINE NEUBERGER and my own AUTUMN MAGIC minis.


GOLD BADGE and SEXY REXY Floribundas -- SR is just getting started.


And then on to the HT's -- I just noticed this opening flower on SHEER ELEGANCE yesterday, and then I discovered this bloom that was hiding in another rose bush -- it's my new RED INTUITION!


PRECIOUS PLATINUM - Just discovered this a few minutes ago. The plant picture shows the true color, but the closeups are brighter/lighter than the true color.


I have lots more in bloom, but I've run out of steam. Needless to say, spring is in full swing in good ole' Bakersfield. Anyone else have anything in bloom today?

W
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I think that sums it up. I don't have a single rose bloom yet but it's still waaaaaaaaaaaay early in the season for me. I *LOVE* that Red Intuition!! OMG I love it love it love it. And that Winter Magic is to die for. Mine never blooms that heavily.

Lucky duck

Oh Betty, I don't know which to choose as my favorite as there are so many stunning choices. I do really. really love STARINA though, such a lovely bloom and so many of them!

Gorgeous Betty! Absolutely beautiful

Thanks guys. I just looked at them yesterday and thought I'd better take more pictures. I don't think I've ever seen LOVING TOUCH look this floriferous -- must be that rain we've had recently, and now we hear we might get more next week. It's supposed to be in the 90's here for the next few days, then dropping back to the mid-70's or even 60's by midweek next week. What a roller coaster!

Rita, back in the 1980's the Meilland mini rose STARINA was rated the highest in the world by the ARS -- 9.4 out of 10. I'm sure that has changed since then, but it is a fabulous oldie but goodie!

I have never heard of it before now. I think I will have to research it some. Not that I have room for a new rose but it sure is a pretty one!

It's a mini, Rita. There's always room for a mini-rose.

Betty, this is an amazing display so early in the season. I still have nothing but an isolated bloom here and there, and certainly no bushes in full bloom. What a beautiful sight!

It's gotten quite warm here already, Zuzu, and this weekend it's supposed to be in the low to mid 90's -- and then, of course, it will drop 20 or 30 degrees by mid week. But that's OK, as long as we get some RAIN out of it! I guess you've gotten quite a bit of rain this year, but we're still below our average and I've been having to water for about a month now. Bummer!

Yes, we had a nice unexpected vacation from watering in the first half of April, but the dry winter really seems to have retarded the growth of my roses. Oh, well. May has always been the best month anyway.

Loving Touch is a truly exciting rose. I've never seen it before.

LOVING TOUCH won the Award of Excellence from the ARS back in the 1980's and was really about the only apricot mini around that time that people could exhibit. That's why Jim Sproul got so excited when he saw MICHEL CHOLET bloom and asked if he could send it to the rose trials for me. And MC does have a little more substance to the petals and a little more color than LOVING TOUCH, which always had loose, floppy petals for me. But this year LT looks absolutely wonderful -- that's what made me go looking for my camera yesterday.

Betty you mention Jim Sproul sending Michael Cholet to the rose trials for you; is it one of your roses? It is truly lovely, my favorite color rose!

Yes, it's hers and now one of my favorites! I hope to one day add her Winter Magic too!

Here are Betty's other intros:
http://www.helpmefind.com/gard...

Wow, Sue -- that's a great listing. At this point I couldn't even tell you how many minis I registered -- too many senior moments I guess!

I just noticed the "Mrs. Margaret" again -- one of these days I'm going to have to contact someone to tell them there is no "Mrs. Margaret" in my name...

Betty, use Sue's link to get to that page and then click on "Report Error" at the top. Tell them who you are and who you aren't. They're very quick to correct errors.

You have to be a registered member to post anything there, and I've just never done it. But I guess I should... at some point...

I thought it was possible to post as a guest. Do you want me to do it for you? You really should join. It's free and it only takes a minute, and you can keep track of all your roses and clematises there. Keeping a list on HMF has saved me from buying the same rose multiple times, although I still do in some cases just because they look so stunning at the nursery.

I am just amazed that I "know" someone who develops their own new roses!

It is exciting, isn't it, Porkpal? I only have one of Betty's roses, Winter Magic, but it's been a favorite for a long time.

Well, I haven't done any rose hybridizing since 1992, and I've forgotten the names of sooooo many roses now. Jim Sproul (hybridizer of those Eyeconic roses some of you like so much) lives here in Bakersfield and tried for years to get me interested again, but by then I was totally immersed in quilting -- then irises, and now I'm dabbling with hybridizing daylilies. And I have 139 cute little seedlings now -- and of course they won't bloom until next spring! I can never seem to stay interested in one thing for more than about ten years, and then I'm on to the next frontier... too many different "projects" to get interested in. Thank heavens I'm retired!

What I really like about WINTER MAGIC is that incredible fragrance that I don't even know how to describe. I'm not that fond of the heavy damask rose fragrance, but I could smell the WINTER MAGIC fragrance all day long! I also have a WINTER MAGIC seedling, a pink floribunda, that has the same fragrance. It has problems, but I do love to stick my nose in those blooms for a whiff!