A New Rose Garden, Part II
It's always fun to plant a new garden - especially when it includes lots of beautiful, fragrant roses.
Over the last several weeks, I've been working on a new formal garden. The bed was previously planted with beautiful lilacs as well as roses, but it was in need of a complete overhaul to revitalize the space and add some new young plants. The roses are from Star Roses and Plants, a company of brands that focuses on breeding and introducing specimens offering longer-lasting, disease resistant blooms. I planted more than 140 new roses to add to the existing rose bushes and surrounded them all with a border of boxwood. I'm looking forward to seeing this garden mature and fill the area with gorgeous color, form, and fragrance.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- This garden was once my allée of lilacs, Syringa vulgaris. The garden was filled with sweet-smelling lilacs in white, lavender, and purple – with some shrubs reaching 15 to 20 feet tall. After 20 years, the garden needed to be refreshed, so I replanted it with young roses and a border of boxwood.
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- The roses were planted in two rows – each variety in groups of four all the way down. I shared the planting process in a previous blog.
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- After they were planted, I decided to put down industrial strength weed fabric to deter the pesky weeds. Wide strips were cut and secured with landscape staples.
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- This fabric is durable and long lasting.
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- Next is a layer of mulch. Small, manageable amounts are dropped in between the plants.
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- I make this mulch right here at the farm. Mulch is great to maintain moisture, suppress weeds, regulate soil temperature, and improve soil health.
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- Chhiring spreads the mulch to create a two to three inch layer across the entire bed.
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- In the end, both sides look so gorgeous. On the left are older rose bushes – some of which were transplanted from my previous home in East Hampton. I love roses and have been growing them for decades.
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- Every row is perfectly lined up. The boxwood that surrounds the garden will grow into a nice formal hedge.
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- Rose leaves are borne alternately on the stem. In most species, they are about two to five inches long, pinnate, with at least three leaflets and basal stipules. The leaflets also usually have a serrated margin. and remember, rose stems are often armed with sharp prickles, not thorns. A prickle can be easily broken off the plant because it is really a feature of the outer layers rather than part of the wood, like a thorn.
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- Among the varieties now planted here – Parfuma® Earth Angel™ ‘KORgeowim’ – a beautiful, peony-shaped rose with blooms in cream and warm pink in the center. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- Bolero™ ‘Meidelweis’ is a compact Floribunda rose with a strong sweet fragrance. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- I also planted Raspberry Cupcake™ ‘KORcarmsis’ which has a strong raspberry and lemon fragrance. Its blooms are medium to light pink with large, cup-like petals. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- Parfuma® Bliss ‘KORmarzau’ is a delicate, creamy pink blend rose with an apricot colored center. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- This is Michelangelo™ ‘Meitelov.’ It has a sweet, lemony scent with vibrantly saturated, golden yellow petals. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- Sunbelt® Savannah™ is a very hardy and disease-resistant pink Hybrid Tea Rose with an extraordinary fragrance. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- Romantica® Moonlight ‘Meikaquinz’ has large, light yellow flowers that are great for cutting. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- Princesse Charlene de Monaco® ‘Meidysouk’ is a charming Hybrid Tea Rose with double flowers in light apricot to shell pink in color. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- Dee-Lish® ‘Meiclusif’ is a tall Hybrid Tea Rose with a strong fragrance of verbena and citrus. It has large, deep pink, non-fading blooms. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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- Top Cream™ ‘Meiroguste’ has large, old-fashioned blooms of creamy-white with light pink blush. All are very disease resistant and beautiful for use in arrangements. This garden is sure to bring years of fragrant beauty to my farm. (Photo provided by Star Roses and Plants)
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