Winter Blooms among the Heirloom Roses .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

Heirloom Roses  .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

 

Our Heirloom Roses here AT MY ROSE GARDEN are grown as nature intended ... under the sun in our country garden nestled around a century old Queenslander-style home.   Our Heirloom Roses are gorgeously fragrant, from a by-gone era, passed down through the generations.    Located on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in S.E. Queensland, our Heirloom Roses AT MY ROSE GARDEN are not generally found in cold climates, preferring warmer climates, and include old-fashioned Bourbon, Hybrid Musk, Noisette and Tea roses.  Tea roses, ancestor of modern Hybrid Teas, are a favourite from the 19^th Century, said to be named because of their sweet, dry tea-like fragrance.

Right now it is July, and that means it is mid-winter in Australia.  Winter in S.E. Queensland can be cooler than many people consider usual for a sub-tropical climate.  The expectation is that Queensland is warm throughout winter.  Here in the Hinterland of the Sunshine Coast we are experiencing temperatures as low as minus 1 degree Centigrade, resulting in crisp, white frosts.  Our warm climate Heirloom Roses, including our Tea roses, continue to bloom, despite their dislike of the cold.  

Madame de Watteville, said to be a sport of the forever-blooming pink Tea rose, Duchesse de Brabant, looks like a snow queen here against the backdrop of frost.  Her sweetly fragrant blooms are hardier than their delicate appearance might suggest.

Tea Rose – G. Nabonnand (sometimes sold as Jean Ducher in Australia) continues flowering against a frosty backdrop.  G. Nabonnand's soft pink, nodding flowers cover the bushes through all seasons.  Not even frost will deter her proliferation of blooms.

Also defying the frosty mornings in mid July, is the lovely Safrano, another Tea rose with a delicate appearance.  Safrano is continuing to supply us here AT MY ROSE GARDEN with the prettiest apricot buds opening into gorgeous, transient blooms.  Safrano was popular in the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries as a bud rose for men’s jacket lapels ... a lovely trend that must surely have looked very dapper!  Worthy of revival, perhaps?

Known in the early 20^th Century as the ‘magnolia rose’, the Tea rose, Devoniensis, also blooms throughout winter.  The lusciously rich cream rose petals unfold from soft pink buds.  Devoniensis bears a hauntingly sweet perfume.  Only the brave dare to lean in close enough to sniff her blooms. Her stems are fiercely armed with dark red, hooked, very sharp thorns.   Admire this exquisite Tea rose from afar!