BOUQUET

For all the AUGUST BIRTHDAY guys and gals!

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

ROSES AND BEE

How Doth the Little Busy Bee
by Isaac Watts

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!

How skilfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labors hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labor or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ROSA 'EIFFEL TOWER'

There is something very special about a rose that can consistently produce 7–10cm long rich pink flowers on strong, straight stems of 0.5m – 0.75m. This rose was aptly named Eiffel Tower and was bred and released by David Armstrong and Herbert Swim, in the USA, almost 50 years ago.

As a bush, Eiffel Tower will generally reach a height of 2 metres or more and 1.1m in width. It has a delightful rose fragrance. Unusually, Eiffel Tower is most renowned and admired for its long, elegant pink buds with 2 to 4 petals unfurling, rather than as a medium to fully open flower. It is often used to great advantage to form the outline of a large floral arrangement. In the garden, it makes a ideal backdrop as a tall rose planted near a fence or shed. Eiffel Tower enjoys hot, dry Mediterranean climate and flowers throughout the entire growing season. It is relatively disease resistant.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

MIRANDA LAMBERT ROSE

Rosa hybrida "Miranda Lambert" is a wonderfully scented, bright pink tea rose. Named for country music star and Grammy Award winner Miranda Lambert, this rose lives up to its name. It is a beautiful rose with blossoms reaching more than 12 cm diameter and radiate a strong scent of rose and fruit. Petals are saturated with an intense deep pink and foliage is a complementary rich deep green.

Miranda Lambert blooms are double and old fashioned in form. The petal count is about 35 and the flowers have neat pointed buds. The hot pink colour is sure to be a stand out in the garden. Nurseries selling this rose donate a portion of all proceeds to the MultiNation Foundation, an animal rescue organisation co-founded by Miss Lambert.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

AUTUMN ROSES

The last of the roses in our garden after the Autumn rain.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

RAINY ROSE

Autumn showers in our garden are welcomed by the plants. The roses put forth their last brilliant display... This is a wonderfully fragrant "Just Joey" rose.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

ROSE TIME

It's well and truly rose season in Melbourne at the moment and all of the rose bushes are full of blooms.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

ROSES IN SPRING

Spring has sprung in Melbourne and the roses have begun to bloom in our garden. We are having some changeable weather at the moment (32˚C maximum, sunny and fine last Sunday, then 15˚C maximum yesterday, with rain overnight), but that does not deter the blooming.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

AUTUMN ROSE

We have been enjoying some warm, fair Autumn days in Melbourne during the past week and the gardens are showing some interesting phenomena. New rose flowers are blooming, some Spring blossoming trees are flowering and I've even seen some lilac bushes in full bloom. It is as though the weather has tricked some plants into going in Spring mode...

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

AUTUMN RED ROSES

These roses are the last we picked from our garden. As it is Autumn now, our rose bushes are going into dormancy. The roses will return again next Spring...

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

BURGUNDY ICEBERG ROSE

Burgundy Iceberg is a beautiful, eye-catching rose worth planting en masse. Abundant velvety, generally wine-red flowers with a very delicate fragrance cover the plant. The colours often vary, from wine red to pink, and there is always a pinch of white in the heart of the open rose, with dark filaments in the centre. The petals have a light, almost pale back. A gardening book that discusses bestsellers and favourites would be incomplete if it did not include the iconic Iceberg rose. Introduced way back in 1958, this white floribunda rose has been sold by the millions around the world and it is still going strong.

This lovely rose that flowers so willingly, producing pointy rosebuds and large open flowers cannot be resisted. They are planted in formal rose gardens, in pots, between other flowering shrubs in mixed beds, and with lavenders in the popular Tuscan style. They are even planted as security hedges, because, planted as close together as 1,5 m or even closer, they make quite a formidable barrier.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

GRANDE AMORE ROSE

Rosa 'Grande Amore' is a standout among red hybrid tea roses, acclaimed for its depth of colour and exceptional disease resistance. It produces continuous flushes of dark red, pointed buds, which open into high-centred blooms of shiny, intense red, set against dark green, slightly glossy foliage. Resistance to blackspot and powdery mildew is outstanding. Awarded 5 International medals, including Golden Rose at the Hague Lyon, Rose Hills International and the ADR award. Winner of the International Gold Certificate in the Portland International Rose Garden in 2012. Flower Size: 10 cm. Fragrance: Moderate. Hybridiser: Kordes, 2004.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,

and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

QUEEN ELIZABETH ROSE

The Queen Elizabeth rose is a beautiful grandiflora rose. It was hybridised by Dr. Walter E. Lammerts and its year of introduction was 1954. This rose has achieved much recognition with the Portland gold medal in 1954, AARS award in 1955, NRS PIT in 1955, ARS gold medal in 1957 and Golden Rose of The Hague in 1968. It has maintained its place in the top 10 roses for the last 40 years and is one of the favourite roses among rose breeders across the world. Its parentage is the Floradora and Charlotte Armstrong. Charlotte Armstrong is a dark pink color tea rose whereas Floradora is an orange blend floribunda rose.

The Queen Elizabeth rose is a great pink coloured Grandiflora that appears singly on the stem. The bloom of the flower is large size with 26 to 40 petals. They form high centre and elegant cup-shaped blooms. To add to the beauty of this flower the blooms range from single petals to fully double petals. Average diameter of the bloom is 10 cm and bears a moderate fragrance. The blooms of the rose are profuse and repetitive throughout the season which is from mid-Spring to mid-Autumn. Normally a bush can attain the height of 2 metres and a width of about 1 metre. The bud formation is normally pointed. The rose has an upright and bushy growth. Foliage is dark green, glossy and leathery to touch.

The rose requires a little pruning to train it to grow out. Removal of dead canes is the only regular pruning required. Other pruning need to be done is once in several years so that the plant starts off with new canes. There are a large number of blooms on new canes. This pruning could be done in the winter. The plant is susceptible to diseases and not very resistant to blackspots and mildews. But with proper cultivation techniques and little care this drawback can be avoided. The rose requires partial sun to full sun for its growth. The soil should be loamy and moist. The rose is hardy for USDA zones 6b to 10a.

The Queen Elizabeth is a charming beauty is an exhibition rose that looks excellent in any flower arrangement like bouquet or table centrepieces. The medium pink coloured heavy blooms blend easily with any surrounding plants and flowers enhancing the beauty of the garden.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ROSA 'MR LINCOLN'

Rosa 'Mister Lincoln' is a large flowered (hybrid tea) bush rose introduced in 1964. (AARS 1965). It is a tall red rose is renowned for its strong fragrance (in still air it can be detected up to 3 metres away) and its deep, red colour. It grows to about 1.2 metres high and 1 metre across. The leaves are matt dark green. The buds are deep red and open up into large, velvety red, double blossoms. It has typically around 30 to 35 petals per flower. It is a vigorous plant that performs well in all climates. Mister Lincoln is hardy to zone 5-9.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme.

TRANQUIL MORNING

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

PEACE ROSE

The Peace rose, correctly Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland', is a well-known and successful garden rose. Over one hundred million plants had been sold, as of 1992. It is a Hybrid Tea rose with large flowers of a light yellow to cream colour, slightly flushed at the petal edges with crimson-pink, being slightly fragrant also. It is hardy and vigorous and relatively resistant to disease, making it popular in gardens as well as in the floral trade.

It was developed by French horticulturist Francis Meilland in the years 1935 to 1939. When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. It is said, that it was sent to the US on the last plane available before the German invasion, where it was safely propagated by the Conard Pyle Co. during the war.

The rose became known as Peace in the following way: In early 1945 Meilland wrote to Field Marshal Alan Brooke (later Viscount Alanbrooke), the principal author of the master strategy that won the Second World War, to thank him for his key part in the liberation of France and to ask if Brooke would give his name to the rose. Brooke declined saying that, though he was honoured to be asked, his name would soon be forgotten and a much better and more enduring name would be "Peace".

The adoption of the trade name "Peace" was publicly announced in the United States on 29 April 1945 by the introducers, Messrs Conard Pyle Co. This was the very day that Berlin fell, officially considered the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note which read: "We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

PINK ROSE

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

Enjoy your day!

ROSE AND BEE

This post is part of the Pink Saturday meme,
and also part of the I Heart Macros meme.

RED, RED ROSE

A beautiful single rose... Introduced in 1966, the blood-red flowers of 'Altissimo', is one of the best red climbing roses. Blooms in early summer continuing through autumn on old and new wood. Develops larger flowers during cool weather. Generally disease resistant. Used along fences, pillars, trellises, or arches.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

RED FLOWERS

It was a glorious day today, fine, sunny and warm, so we went for a walk around the neighbourhood. The gardens were all abloom and the red flowers especially were putting on a show.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.