March marks the start of the best 3 months in the Sydney rose gardener's year. The October - November period can be more exciting, especially if you have new purchases, but autumn has some other advantages. More rain and less wind are two that come to mind!
If treated well in spring and summer, rose bushes will return the investment and put on their best display in autumn. Since the bushes are established with good foliage, their blooms are often larger than in spring - and on longer stems too.
I'll be taking some more shots over the end of March and early April. I've toyed with a few shots of bushes in full flush, but to be honest not many of them work with the size restrictions of my web site.
So in the meantime, here's an 'old friend', Abraham Darby. It takes a special rose to persuade me to grow it more than once - after all there are so many new varieties to explore. But I've grown this Austin rose twice, and came back to it a third time in February when my Duchesse de Brabant succumbed to poor drainage.
The healthy specimen I bought from Swanes has literally taken off, with about a dozen fat buds on a bush less than 2 feet tall. Here's the first open bloom, large and with a distinctive fruity scent. I measured it fully open at 15 cm across, the day after I took this photo:
Many newer David Austin roses are disappointing compared to Abraham Darby. It was released in 1985 and has been a hard act to follow ever since. It is unique among the Austins for having two modern roses (a climber and a floribunda) as its parents. The blooms are perfectly old-fashioned in appearance, but the foliage and fragrance are modern. If you're considering a dabble in Austin roses, this one is great - so long as you have a 2 metre wide space to plant it in!
There are many pink/peach/apricot blend roses, often with the apricot yellow at the base of the petals. In many cases the autumn blooms are more pink than the spring ones. Abraham Darby is in this group. Here's an autumn bloom of Gruss an Aachen:
Notice the subtle colour change compared to the November bloom below:
Some experts can perceive differences in the rose smells from season to season. I don't doubt what they say. There's not much in it, but I find that blooms in cooler seasons do have a more powerful fragrance - perhaps because the bloom has more time to mature in the bud.
Until next month,
Daniel.
PS: Diary note: Swanes Rose Festival is on at Dural, 24 to 26 April 2004 (Anzac Day long weekend). Swanes' website doesn't have any information at the time of writing (28 March), but check closer to the day.