catsmum
honoured helper
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Fruhlingsmorgen
2 Oct '06 3:07 pm About a year ago, I remember writing to see if anyone could tell me how big my Fruhlingsmorgen [ probably spelled that wrong but too lazy to check ] might get. It was a housewarming gift from I know not who ... no card ... anyway today she's blooming for the first time. One big blowsy beautiful open faced flower precisely the colour of a spring dawn...pink flushing into lemon . Her name of course translates as spring morning ... just divine and so aptly named. Apart from the yellow banksia rose, she is the only one actually fully open at the moment although quite a few are in bud. Prospero looks ready to pop any day and there is a hint of red on one barely opening bud on Papa Meilland.
Every day is a surprise at this time of year isn't it?
cheers
Susan
OZtralia
moosey
head gardener
3 Oct '06 8:50 am Susan, Last weekend I was weeding and composting underneath mu Fruhlinsmorgen - lots of buds, I can see the pink, but not yet open. Then today the Yellow Banksia which - oops - covers my washing line (and is pullng the supporting posts down, but that's another story) opened for the first time. Yippee! And Canary Bird is flowering, scrambling for light in a shrubby shrubbery. Hurray - the rose season is starting!
Jack Holloway
Passionate Gardener
SEQUOIA FARM Haenertsburg South Africa
Early roses
4 Oct '06 7:52 pm Fruhlinsmorgen is always one of the first in bloom - as is the yellow banksia. My Fm was planted last season against a huge magenta azalea absolutely covered in fading blooms at the moment - a most unfortunate combination I am going to have to move it! I think they get very big as mine is very robust! (i.e. move it SOON, Jack )
Having just visited Ludwig's Roses, by far the country's largest supplier, on his farm north of Pretoria in a MUCH warmer part of the world, it was wonderful to see literally tens of thousands of bushes in perfect health and in bloom!
My first rose this season was a perfect 'Double Delight' carried just above ground level on a mature shrub. It flowered for my sister's arrival on the 22nd! Anybody else had such an experience?
I am going to have to move it! I think they get very big as mine is very robust! (i.e. move it SOON, Jack 
)