June 13, 2006

Mini roses yet again

Red Hit Parade mini-roseIt's rose season in Ottawa! Hit Parade is strutting its stuff, and very fine stuff it is too! This photo shows what was a single plant from one of those little potted roses they sell around Easter and Mother's Day. In one year it has expanded to many times its original size. And the others are much the same, except for the ones that got trampled.

I can't say enough good things about these little beauties. They experience almost no winter dieback, even without protection (although a tough winter might be a little different), they have had no problems with pests or disease and they flower abundantly from late May through till frost. They don't require dead-heading, though I often remove fading flowers for purely esthetic reasons.

It's not fair to compare the Orange Kordana I just put in, because they're a full year behind the Hit Parades. So far, they've been settling in well, with healthy new canes starting to appear.

Orange Kordanna rosesIt is fair to say that I don't find them very orange. They looked relatively orange at the garden centre, next to cherry red roses. But at home they are near the scarlet Hit Parades and in that context the difference in colour can be made out if you stare long enough. Unfortunately, that kind of nuance is tricky to catch with a camera. In real life the Kordanas look redder than they appear in these photos.

In all fairness to the breeders, they weren't the ones who called them orange. I checked their website and this wasn't one of the names they used, so it's just a descriptive term, not a name. But it really was stretching it a bit.

5 comments:

Sandy said...

Thank you for the nice comment on my blog. Your roses look lovely indeed:)

Kasmira said...

I've got parade roses planted next to my front steps and I'm not sure if I like them or not. They bloom well and the new foliage is a gorgeous red, but the old foliage and blooms tend to MOLD! I'm not sure if it is environmental conditions or a genetic flaw. I am observing them for awhile before I decide to treat them with chemicals or just yank them.

Janet said...

Wow, Kasmira! Mold?? I've never seen that here, although our summer weather is best described as sticky. But you have to grow what works where you are. What's good for one place ain't necessarily good elsewhere.

A little baking soda spray might help.

Anonymous said...

I am thrilled to find this site and the description of the Orange Kordana. I just bought several OK's at Walmart (of all places, and for only $2.95 per pot.)

I planted them in FRONT of the rock garden, expecting a true mini, but from your pictures it looks like they might need to go further back!

In our area of upstate New York, roses are a challenge (zone 4 and hardpan soil) but I'm finally getting the hang of it. I grew up in Detroit, MI, and shared Janet's climate and soil for most of my life -- one of the few things I miss about the flatlands.

I discovered that planting roses "too deep" got them all through this winter. For several years all we could expect back in the spring were the rugosas, and Buffalo Gal remains the pride of my rose collection, standing six feet tall and constantly saturated with her pale blooms. Now the excitement of Orange Kordana has me eager to watch them develop... in a new location!

Thank you for your blog, and thank you for the "head's up" on my new roses.

Janet said...

Dave, I'm further north than upstate New York and there are many roses that will grow for us here. You might want to check out the Explorer and Parkland series in particular. I believe Pickering Roses ships to the US, and they will have a very wide selection of hardy roses, seeing as they are a Canadian company.

Your advice about burying them more deeply against cold winters is good stuff.