Do you remember the little ditty, There was a little girl. Who had a little curl. Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very good and when she was bad, she was horrid!
Guess who has a head full of curls and always hated that poem? Anyhow, I have been deadheading, cleaning up crispy, burnt leaves, etc., on my roses. I also have been thinking of that "lovely" little poem. Which rose for you lives up to this "poem?"
For me, it has to be the following;
Wedding Cake. She looks great in the spring...for about two weeks to a month. The rest of the year, not so much. Once those hoplia beetles hit, it is pretty much downhill until the next spring. Flowers get very small (not that they were huge...), prone to some black spot, not much in the bloom department (compared to others). I hate to get rid of her especially given that she is getting pretty rare, but I think others would do better in that spot. Her flowers feel like they are made of leather. Very weird and very different.
No pictures of when she looks bad as I am too embarrassed to take them and show them. Picture burnt, bent twigs with burnt leaves, tiny fried flowers and you get the picture.
Jude the Obscure. Took me ten years to finally get rid of this rose and have never looked back. Blooms on the tippy top of canes that are over 6 feet tall. Pretty much a once bloomer in my yard. Not really a scent for me. Each year I thought I would finally get to see the rose everyone raves about. Never happened. So glad it is gone.
Candice. Love this rose. She is gorgeous. So are her thorns. They are long, sharp and definitely grab you as you try to clean her up. She is usually very good, but when she is bad, she can be horrid and really hurt you. She is, however, on my definite stay list. She does have a tendency towards black spot even in my climate that doesn't really get black spot. With the prolonged wet spring we had, she is pretty much naked at this moment. Hoping her leaves will fill in soon. What the disease didn't get, the heat and sun did. Ugh! Feel so sorry for her at the moment.
Just picture the above for the bad photo, with smaller flowers and naked canes.
Midnight Blue and Blue for You--look great for the first two seconds the flowers open for me and then they turned into a gray mess. They went bye-bye last year.
Mustbnuts!
