Flowers and more flowers...

Lauren already took(and posted) all the pictures...so I guess all that's left for me to do is talk.

I got up extra-early today to see if two of our bearded irises bloomed--Coral Sunset and Oh Jamaica. Oh Jamaica is an iris that I planted many years ago that only bloomed twice. It's monstrous(almost 4 feet tall) and an interesting blend of plum purple and beige pink. No picture online seems true to color--they're all a weird orange/brown mix. Last year, I dug it up and divided it, and one of the divisions bloomed today! You can see the picture in Lauren's blog...it's massive!

Coral Sunset is seriously beautiful--it's pale apricot(more yellow than pink) and smells like Tang. Seriously.

We also got some rose packages today. I was was a bit worried about the Rogue Valley Roses order, since some people said they got barely rooted cuttings, and I had ordered Rook, a 3-foot dark purple Paul Barden Gallica that nobody on the planet has ever grown. It's a cross between Charles de Mills and an old David Austin rose called Chianti. The band I got was very much alive and had leaves and everything, and some roots poking out of the bottom of the band pot. Very small thorns. Not as large as the Northland Rosarium bands but perfectly acceptable.

Gallicandy looks...weird. It's this reaaaaaally tall stick with leaves coming out of the very top only. Looks like a potted-up sucker to me. Well, it is a Gallica, after all.

I got a gallon Marianne. It has 3 big fat flower buds. I'll probably put that straight in the ground. I only had enough potting mix for Iobelle.

I'm entranced by the beauty of Madame Plantier(and the size of the Northland Rosarium bands) and terrified by the thorns on Polareis. Umm...I really don't like people cutting through my yard, so...

So, no half-dead sticks this time. I'm relieved. The Northland Rosarium bands were the nicer ones but the Rogue Valley Roses bands were fine.

This is why I'm broke.

I spent the time before dinner digging a first class hole for Madame Hardy, potting up our bands of Felicite Parmentier, Rook, Duchesse de Montebello, and the bizarre stick that is Gallicandy, and now we just have to wait for the everbloomers to show up tomorrow.

I'm a little miffed that Felicite Parmentier was barely rooted, but Rook and Gallicandy were okay, and Duchesse de Montebello had a mighty root system when I removed it from its band pot. I can't get over how silly the Gallicandy band looks. It's like a two foot tall stick with a tiny tuft of leaves growing out of the top. I certainly hope RVR gave Lauren her money back on Gallicandy, as she paid for the gallon and got a band instead! She did give them permission to substitute, but she really ought to go over her invoice and credit card statements.

Polareis will likely be the only rugosa we get, as Topaz Jewel is the only other one we even remotely like and we have enough yellow flowers already. I found several of Polareis's thorns embedded in Madame Hardy when I was planting it. Scary...