My rose garden is in Islamabad, Pakistan. The climate of Islamabad is like zone 9b in US, with a major difference of monsoon rains that typically last from mid July to end Aug. This thread is dedicated to photos of my roses taken from 15 May to date. This is the hottest part of the year when the temperatures during day stay between 100 to 108*F on normal days and on very hot days, they touch 115*F which is quite hot. During night, temps drop down to 70 to 85*F. It generally rains once a week that brings the temp down for a while.
Few roses go into a survival mode during this period however many keep growing well if the soil is kept moist all the time and some shade is provided. The bloom size, shade and fragrance is seriously affected in most cases though there are few cultivars that are not affected much. On many rose cultivars, blooms just fry out in few hours, however, few roses retain the shape of blooms for whole day or even two days.
My garden is 100% organic with no chemical spray or even a synthetic fertilizer ever used. I feed my roses with a home made compost that is high in N, K and Ca and low in P and Mg. Contains trace elements like Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu, Bo etc. I mostly use fruit / vegetable peels, used black tea bags / leaves and egg shells etc in my compost. High Ca content in the compost has helped my roses to grow well this summers better than ever before and their ability to take high heat has enhanced. During hot summers, I ensure that my rose pits, beds and pots have a layer of leaves / grass clippings so that the ground is not exposed to high temps. The top 2-3 inch layer in all pots and beds is of homemade compost. I use natural river soil with lot of compost as the main potting medium. I have around 75 roses in pots and over 50 in ground. All my pots are clay pots now as I had very bad experience with plastic pots last year and many of my roses either dehydrated or had a retarded growth and were vulnerable to diseases and pests.
Please note that the photos that I post are the best but there are many worst ugly looking photos with fried blooms too. I will prefer not to post the ugly looking photos though I will make a comment to that affect. Here we go.......
August Luise is in 14" pot. Blooms size is still good (like 3.5") and fragrance, though less than spring, is still nice. Blooms last the whole day which is a good bloom life in this temperature. Bush is growing strong. My Augusta Luise does well in neutral or slightly alkaline pH. In spring, blooms size was 5" and fragrance was strong. The bush gets around 6-8 hrs sun up to midday.
Belle Epoque is in a 16" pot, under a tree where it gets 7-8 hours sun with intervals of shade. Blooms size is ok, (2.5 to 3") and fragrance is mild. Bush is growing well. Blooms size was 4.5" in spring and fragrance was strong.
Black Prince is in a 18" pot in full sun. Bloom shade is lighter as compared to cooler months but fragrance is still quite strong, specially in early morning hours. Bush is growing well. A wonderful rose for hot climate. Blooms last 8-10 hours.
stay tuned........
