I finally have enough blooms for a short rose parade. Up to a week ago, only the yellow Banksia was in bloom, but now there are quite a few lovelies in my garden.

This is Almondeen, a hybid tea, on the left and Big Splash, a climbing hybrid tea, on the right. Big Splash is usually darker, but the spring bloom is lighter on many roses.



This is Catalonia, a Pedro Dot hybrid tea, and it will also be darker later in the season.



Elegant Design, on the left, is a Ralph Moore floribunda, and Fiesta, on the right, is one of Ping Lim's shrubs.



Francesca, on the left, is a hybrid musk, and Granada, on the right, is a hybrid tea.



Grandmother's Hat is a huge hybrid perpetual with wonderfully messy blooms.



I'll move on to a second post now. I always get worried that something (a power outage, a computer glitch, etc.) will happen and I'll lose a bunch of stuff.

Moving on, Madame Lombard, on the left, is a tea rose with wonderfully changing colors, and Marchenland, on the right, is a floribunda.



Maria Peral, on the left, is another Pedro Dot hybrid tea, and Marie d'Orleans, on the right, is a tea rose.



Nimbus is one of my favorite floribundas.



Rina Herholdt, on the left, is a hybrid tea, and Three Weddings, on the right, is a large-flowered climber.



Columbus Queen, on the left, is a hybrid tea, and Distant Thunder, on the right, is a Clements shrub with Distant Drums in its parentage.



Moving on to the next post again.

I think Edith Holden, on the left, is one of the most striking russet floribundas because of its vibrant golden center. Folksinger, on the right, is a Buck shrub. Please notice all of the black spot. Buck roses are the very worst in my garden when it comes to low resistance to black spot.



Freckle Face, on the left, is another Buck shrub, and Laura Bush, on the right, is another russet floribunda.



Norwich Castle, on the left, is a floribunda, and Old Fashioned Girl, on the right, is a mini rose.



Old Master, on the left, is one of McGredy's handpainted floribundas, and Sonia Rykiel, on the right, is one of the Generosa shrubs.



Demain, on the left, is a hybrid tea, and L'Aimant, on the right, is a floribunda.



Sisters at Heart is also a floribunda.



Here are a couple of stippled roses. The Imposter, on the left, looks like a clematis, and Incredible, on the right, looks like a mess. It's a Buck shrub and it's supposed to be a yellow and orange blend. I bought one and it turned out to be pink, so I assumed Chamblee had sent me the wrong rose and I ordered another. It's still pink.

Just a few more. Carnation, on the left, is a china rose, and Cinderella's Song, on the right, is a Buck shrub.



This is Mary Rose, an Austin (I had previously identified it as Georgetown Tea, but that was a lie.

Zuzu, what I like best about your rose parade is the wide variety. I shop nurseries everywhere, and tour botanical gardens far and wide. Your collection, and your descriptions, are better than any book or tour i could buy.

I have lots of buds, but no flowers yet. I *LOVE* that Edith Holden. I'm not one for not-full full roses, but the colors of russet with yellow is awesome! I may have to get one from Burling.

Lots of really great blossoms, Zuzu. Norwich Castle and Francesca photographed really well. So did Nimbus and Rina Herholt.

Oh yes, the rose parades have commenced!!! Some gorgeous shots Zuzu!

Here are some additions from today. Not too many because my battery went dead in the middle of my garden, so the camera had to go inside for the rest of the day.

Lady Waterlow, on the left, is a climbing hybrid tea. Leonie Lamesch, on the right, is a polyantha.



Souvenir de Madame Leonie Viennot, on the left, is a climbing noisette that grows well in the shade. The photo on the right is my wild and crazy wisteria.



Alice Pat, on the left, is a Jerabek floribunda. Buttercup, on the right, is an apricot-yellow hybrid tea that starts out with cream-colored blooms in spring.



California Dreamin' is a hybrid tea that puts out incredibly huge blooms. The buds are very pretty. The photo on the right shows one of the buds behind an open bloom.



Cinnamon Spice, on the left, is a Buck shrub. Fragrant Apricot, on the right, is a floribunda.



The photo on the left is the bud on High Sheriff, a hybrid tea. The one on the right is Mikado, another hybrid tea.



Wasn't it clever of Kisme (left) and Kiss Me (right) to bloom on the same day?



Oksana, on the left, is a hybrid tea, and Rusty, on the right, is a russet floribunda. The weather wasn't cooperating today, so I couldn't capture the russet color well enough.

Always loved the look of that Fragrant Apricot! And Wow, hadn't seen your wisteria at peak this year yet, it's awesome! I have been seeing them in full bloom all over town, I did drive by that house in town where they have 6 of the white standards yesterday, took some shots, they are pretty big and gnarly.

When I went out last Sunday I kept seeing wisteria everywhere. It's so unobtrusive when it isn't in bloom that I never notice how many of them there are in town.

I'll take some photos of the gnarliness at the bottom of mine tomorrow.

I don't think I've ever seen a wisteria in bloom other than in a nursery. Sharon sent me a sprig a few weeks ago and I'm hoping that it survives. It lost all it's leaves (to be expected) but is still green & flexible, so I'm holding onto hope that it'll make it. Didn't know they came in white!

The house I was born in was covered on one side by a huge wisteria vine - since wisteria shrinks as it grows, it nearly pulled the chimneys down and it did rearrange the columns on the front porch - but it was absolutely gorgeous when in bloom! I wish I had pictures to show.

Shrinks as it grows.

Yes, the older "branches" actually contract lengthwise slightly as they grow in girth and will pull down light arbors and fences - it's a powerful plant!

Ah! So they don't get longer, but rather thicker, thus the "shrinkage". I think Zuzu mentioned wisteria shrinking before. Amazing things!

Mine's growing up an ugly scrub oak tree that I wish it would pull down. I tried to kill the tree twice and it kept coming back, so I planted the wisteria to cover it. If you look at the picture, you'll see it's growing in two big clumps. The clump on the right is supported by my oak tree and the clump on the left is where the wisteria migrated and covered my neighbor's ugly oak tree.

LOLLL.. you can't kill a scrub oak. Seriously. One of the few things here that thrives in the wild.

That sounds like the kind of tree we need here. What is the real name of scrub oak?

I think ours is Quercus berberidifolia. I couldn't find a photo to reveal the true ugliness of these trees in winter, but I did find a photo of Quercus garryana, which resembles our scrub oaks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/b...

They're asymmetrical and creepy and I halfway expect to see Baba Yaga's hut on chicken legs behind them when I see them in winter.