Today is International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers:

(aka HARbella, Coronation, United Nations Rose)

IrisLilli said:...or use an umbrella!

to the iris forum, Laurens!

@LaurensPasser

Yes, Laurens

I did a little deadheading this afternoon and had to clip several long stems off of Caramella, they were almost laying on the ground. Now enjoying them indoors.
The bloom trusses are huge and after I clipped off some of the old shattered blooms, I couldn't help taking more pictures, trying out different angles. This rose is humongous, probably 7 ft. tall and as wide, at least! (Prettier enlarged, click the first and then you just can click the center of each image to advance to next one.)





Grace, another one I just can;t get enough photos of.


Cute little Rose (Rosa 'Perle d'Or') and I spotted something in that first shot and went in for a closer look.


The lowering light in the evening just pops the colors but does mess with my focus sometimes. The colorful Jacob's Robe on left with Brothers Grimm in the background.


I had to stand on a large pot to get the tops of Lady Emma Hamilton, she is over 6 ft. this year.


Summer Song


And the always stunning Aloha (by Kordes)

Some of my Caramella roses were also lying on the ground, but I waited until they had finished blooming to cut the canes back to about 6 feet. So many roses are blocking my pathways, but I just let them do that and I take the long way around instead. It's because of all the rain, I guess. It's made everything so much more floriferous. Here's the top of just one branch of Confetti.



And the clematises have gone wild. Romantika broke its obelisk and crept over a bunch of roses. There are four or five roses under all of this.

Last night the rose curculios arrived and I started dis-budding the garden ... :sad:

It looks like I am going to miss most of my first flush this year. My roses are all covered with buds ... and rose slug damage. The roses were just beginning to pop ...

I did take a lot of photos this morning and will share bloom photos another time. But here are a few photos of some of the buds I hacked off this morning.
Irresistible


Linda Campbell




Margo Koster ... I know, the light is wrong, but when the sun comes up over the mountain in the morning it is way too bright for photos



Queen Elizabeth



Splish Splash



Tiffany



Perdita .. the bent bud is caused by curculio damage



@Steve812

A photo of the NOID orange floribunda just for you ...




There is good news ... Dis-budding the roses stimulates the plants to push new foliage and more buds. The roses need that new foliage. The only way I am going to be able to stop the saw fly slug infestations is to put down new mulch in the fall. I am using straw for this part of the year because I don't like the look of it and will use my oak leaves in the fall.

I agree, must be the rain Zuzu, what a difference it made!
My Romantika has never looked so full!

Looks darker in the evening shade. (First shot includes a chicken.)

Thank you all for being received with open arms

Great show of roses (and clematis!)

Lyn, it breaks my heart to think of all the buds you will have to prune...


Today is Water a Flower Day!
After hauling water for a month I wish for rain to do my watering for me and I promise I will be:

(aka Love's Spring, MACivy, Singing in the Rain, Spek's Centennial)

Great shots Suzanne! Caramella is such a fantastic rose! Mine was about 6' tall last fall before I pruned it back to move it to a new home. It seems to be happy with the new, sunnier spot.

Zuzu, I love Confetti! A huge bouquet on a single branch

Lyn, Irresistible is such a pretty, pure white! Your Queen Elizabeth looks great! The new QE I planted last week is opening a few buds and I see that it is not QE I'll need to move it, that spot is really only suited to something that will reach that grand height QE is famous for.

I agree, great photos, Suzanne.

My Caramella is entering its fourth year, I think. It's a more manageable size, about five feet across and four feet high. Its blossoms are the right color (for the first time showing some yellow) and it's becomming more generous with them.






This one's a keeper.

Lyn, thank you for the orange floribunda.

Peace Rose in this morning's gale. All over the place, but liked these shots. Especially in the different angles and stages of opening/development.

Always a photogenic beauty!

@Calif_Sue I'm thinking you need a career as a photographer. Your pictures are just stunning. You have me looking around my yard trying to figure out new garden spaces where I can plant roses even though creating new beds would probably get me kicked out of the house.

This is Foxy Lady, a new addition from Palatine this spring. These captured the color better than I thought at the time.





These were taken when it was overcast out, first a slightly faded bloom, then a freshly open one.

Red Riding Hood is making me very happy right now

Thanks Amanda, it's trial and error and lots of photo taking!

Love that Foxy Lady color, of course! And neat hot pink reverse on the petals too!

And look at those fabulous Kordes leaves on Red Riding Hood!

Lyn, so sad about having to dis-bud all those prolific roses! I hardly had any weevils this year, I have been religious at hand picking them and damaged buds like Zuzu the last couple of years and maybe that made a difference.

Just caught up on over a weeks posts! Lovely pics everyone.

Sue - lovely photo of Jubilee Celebration. I planted JC last fall and should have blooms any day now!

I have been so busy in the garden the last week or so! And I will admit that most of my attention was given to the iris and I have basically ignored my roses which were in such a sad state at the beginning of the month. Not so anymore - they are catching up nicely and I have some blooms.

This little seedling from last year survived the winter with flying colours - go figure!


New mini seedling from this year - I just love the fresh yellow


Neal - my first blooms on Buff Beauty


NOID Hybrid Perpetual - gorgeous scent


Baby Jack - just a pity that it suffers quite badly with BS


Angela - probably going to be the best year ever now that she has been given a bit more space


It has been unbelievably hot here the last three days. Record highs for May at 32C and no rain the last 10 days. (It takes me about 2-3 hours to water ) Blue for You is one rose that doesn't like this sort of sudden change in temperature!!


They have predicted more normal temperature from tomorrow on and maybe even some rain
Lots of buds ready to pop any day and now that the iris season has basically come to an end I can give my full attention to my roses.

My big Autumn Sunset climber has crown gall, a pretty big tumor at the base. Feel bad I never noticed it earlier but there was always foliage in the way. I got suspicious when the clematis planted next to it opened unusually small blooms and I went snooping around at the base and found the gall. Don't know if that's what affects it or not. Reading up on gall and reports say it will eventually affect the rose and needs to be removed. So far it's bloomed it's usual self and looks great. I dread having to remove it, it's huge and in the big vegetable planter. All surrounding soil will have to be changed out too.

This was Autumn Sunset with clematis Ashva year after I planted the two together, in 2012


A couple of years ago


and this was taken May 10th from my upper deck level looking down