Auld Acquaintance: Belle Story

One of my all-time favorite roses is Belle Story.
I grew her in my previous garden and hope to have her blooming in my garden again soon--perhaps even this spring. I feel I've been without her far too long.
Some roses are more fragrant. Madame Hardy perfumes a couple of acres when she is her glory--but she blooms madly, passionately only for a couple of weeks each spring and then she is spent for the year. Others bloom more heavily, bearing great bowers of blossoms that completely hide the foliage. Belle Story does neither of those. Her blooms are borne singly or in small clusters of three or so--each unassumingly presented for admiration. She earns her place in my affection for her loveliness. Her blossoms are exquisite open cups of clear pink petals with stunning knots of gold stamens at the heart. They are, in a word, perfection. The foliage is healthy and the size of the shrub is reasonable, about 4'x4'. Belle Story is hardy in my northwest Ohio garden, USDA Zone 5.
I never coddled her or fussed over her, and she bloomed repeatedly, providing a steady supply of sweetly fragrant flowers from spring to fall. Her sister, The Herbalist, another Austin favorite of mine, bloomed beside her, and the two of them kept me in delicious bouquets all summer.
Why did I ever let them go? We razed an old farmhouse to build a new one on our property and the entire yard was torn up. There was no practical way to save old landscaping. We were fortunate enough to keep the few trees dotting our property.
I think now that everything is settled--after all, it's been six years or so--it's time to bring these dear "auld acquaintances" back into my garden once again. Belle Story photo by JulenaJo.
~~~~~
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne ?"
~~~~~

Rose Ramblings

One winter day I bought a $5 bunch of flowers from the grocery store and enjoyed them for several days before they dropped their petals. This single rose far outlasted all the others, and defying the odds, opened into an enormous blossom. I just had to take a picture.
The $5 was well-spent, if you ask me, as I get so hungry for flowers, especially roses, in the winter. The temporary fix will never fully compensate for the lush reward of my own rose garden, however, because this gorgeous, florist-grown rose had absolutely no scent.
It's astounding to me that, in the course of developing roses for the florist trade, hybridizers went so exclusively for form over substance. In breeding for a perfect, high-centered bloom that lasts long in the vase, little thought was given to fragrance or disease-resistance.
Nowadays, we've seen a complete turnaround in rose hybridization. William Radler developed Knock Out roses, with foliage seemingly impervious to black spot. Black spot is probably the most dreaded rose affliction--and the reason many people consider roses too persnickety to grow. Not only does Knock Out rose foliage radiate healthy indifference to disease, but the flowers come on continuously from spring to frost. The only thing that would make it perfect is scent. It has precious little.
David Austin, probably the most famous rose hybridizer of recent history, has bred a whole new type of roses, the so-called "English roses." Austin's roses remind you of those that bloomed each spring on grandma's farm with their profusion of petals and heady perfume. Unlike grandma's roses, however, these roses bloom again and again all summer long. Thank you, David Austin!
Will the next generation of roses bring about a blending of Knock Out's disease resistance and bloom power, and Austin's form and fragrance? What a wonderful thought! Unnamed rose photo by JulenaJo.

New Roses

Last weekend I found myself in a flea market in Hocking County, Ohio, where I found container grown roses marked down to $10 each. At such I price I had to investigate. To my delight, the selection included some David Austins. Although none of them were my longed-for names, Belle Story or The Herbalist, for example--both roses I had in my garden 7 years ago and did not transplant when we tore down our old house to build a new one (I lament them still)--there was The Cottage Rose, which I purchased. It's pictured above. The plant is tall and the blooms are clear, strong pink, and deliciously fragrant with a perfume of rose and lilac. I also bought Rosa de Rescht for her heady damask fragrance and Burgundy Iceberg for her unbelievable color. I could have bought more quite easily but we had only our 2-door Ford Focus and had to return home to northwest Ohio, a three-hour drive, with 3 adults and two dogs in tow. We were packed tight as sardines in the car, but we made it.
Now I am trying to decide whether to plant the roses now or leave them in their containers until spring. Decisions, decisions. "The Cottage Rose" photo by JulenaJo.