Glass-House Garden Roses
Rescued Rose
The Glass-House Garden started out filled with easy-grow perennials and shrubs like Hebes, Lavateras, red Cordylines, and Ake Ake. I liked this busy look, but the garden was so sunny and sheltered - perfect for roses. Hee hee - this was a temptation I just couldn't resist.
So over the next two years I deliberately made space for quite a number of new roses. Some were shifted in from other less suitable areas of my garden.
Names, Colours Unknown
About six came in as a result of my online plant auction mania, where I bid on unknown roses that I had to personally dig out of other people's gardens. They were never very dear, and it was late winter - the right time for roses to be moved.
The owners didn't know their names, and in all cases had no idea what colour they were or even how tall they'd grow. How exciting!
The white rose pictured on the right, supposedly called 'Princess Diana', cost me just fifty cents - she'd been already pre-dug out of her small suburban garden, and was sitting by the letter box waiting to be picked up. But I suspect this may not be her correct name.
Unknown Rose - Just Joey?
A few other roses were rescued from the supermarket sale table and planed at the edge of the Glass-House Garden. They should still have their labels still attached, or at least their names recorded. Somewhere. Oh dear...
Unknown Rose - Possibly Topaz Jewel
I'm pretty certain that the apricot beauty is Just Joey, though maybe the colour isn't quite orange enough. I wish I was more of a rose expert, and took notice of flower form and shrub form.
Guy Savoy Striped Rose
One year I 'rescued' some standard roses which were struggling and drying out in plastic bags. I planted them (with stakes) around the edge of the Glass-House Garden. Not all made it, and those that did seem to be struggling still. Five similarly rescued Glamis Castles arrived, and almost immediately disappointed me with their scruffy foliage. But others, like the splendid striped show-off Guy Savoy, have taken root and taken off, with healthy canes and beautiful blooms. I guess it's nothing personal. Some roses are just born healthy!