Nothing Like a White Rose

I have three "white" rose plants and I love them all.  White roses stand out so beautifully- the blooms are highly visible from a distance - and they look great even under moonlight.  There is something delicate and enticing about them that is different from other colors of roses to me.  They are quite difficult to photograph with my cheap digital camera because they capture too much light and are overly bright under normal lighting conditions.

Ducher

This first picture is a wonderful China rose called Ducher.  It is one of the famous Earthkind roses, which means it is one of the most maintenance free of them all.  Ducher has a slight yellow tinge to it at first bloom. It has a slight but noticeable and lemony fragrance.  The bush form is full and lush getting to about 5' x 5' around.  I never spray mine and it gets practically no disease in my Louisiana climate.  If there is a complaint against this rose it is that the blooms crisp in the heat of summer and are much smaller.  In spring and fall this plant really shines.

Madame Alfred Carriere

 This next rose is actually a very light pink in color, but it quickly fades to almost pure white after being open for a few hours.  It is Madame Alfred Carriere, a rose sometimes classified as a noisette and sometimes as a tea.  It is a vigorous climber with a sweet, wafting fragrance that is impossible to miss.  The rose is a bushy climber that gets both long and full.  First bloom in spring is spectacular with the vine being covered with blooms.  The fragrance will fill a yard at that time.  It blooms more sporadically throughout the summer and then puts on a fairly large flush again in Autumn.  I get maybe 30% leaf loss on this plant in the summer without spraying at all.  I can't imagine not having this rose, but it definitely needs lots of space.  One last thing I appreciate about this rose is the small number of thorns it has.

Prosperity

Prosperity is the whitest of the white.  It's nearly pure white right from the start.  It blooms in large clusters on a sprawling plant that doesn't know if it wants to be a climber or a shrub.  It is in the hybrid musk family of roses and has the distinct and lovely fragrance of that clan.  Mine stays beautiful without spray and blooms 9 months out of the year for me.  I've seen this rose especially recommended for a wedding rose because of its beauty and fragrance.  The blooms are smaller and get easily crisped around the edges in the hot part of summer, so it looks its best in spring and fall.  One of the things I like best about this rose is that it has ready-made bouquets.  You can cut off one of the clusters of bloom, put them straight into a vase, and set them anywhere in the house for a beautiful look and a natural air-freshener.

These are three of the very best white roses for Louisiana.  To this list I might only add the popular polyantha, Marie Pavie.  Marie Pavie is a smaller shrub with fragrant blooms on a plant with few thorns.  I don't currently have one of these, but it's on my wish list!

May State of the Roses Post

Before anyone should think that all my roses look fabulous, be it known that I'm only showing pictures in this post of my better looking plants or those that I have good pictures of.  My Double Delight looks so bad that I haven't shown any pictures of it this year.  Some of my other roses, such as Mrs. B.R. Cant, Westerland, Madame Alfred Carriere, Gertrude Jekyll, Compassion, Prosperity, Buff Beauty, and Crepuscule, are all in-between flushes.  With that disclaimer in place, on to the show!  The following pictures were all taken within the last day or two.

This is Abraham Darby looking better at this time of year than ever in his life.  Usually, by late May blackspot has this bush looking very poor.  I think it's because we've had an exceptionally dry May that this hasn't happened this year.  Plus, I'm trying to keep this plant pruned back very far so it is continually putting on new, spotless leaves and growth.

Belinda's Dream is performing up to her usually stellar standard.  The blooms are as huge as normal and they have been continual this year.

Dublin Bay is putting out a second flush of bloom right now that will be amazing in about a week or so.  It's really doing well for me this year too.  I've trained the branches quite horizontally along the chain-link fence and he's putting out far more blooms than last year at this same time.

Ducher is also blooming like crazy right now.  Of course, this bush always blooms well for me through the heat.  Because it hasn't been as hot as usual, the blooms haven't started crisping yet and are larger than normal for this time of year.  As usual, no disease to speak of.

Yet another stellar performance month out of Earthsong.  The blooms have kept a deeper color because of the cooler weather.  Such a perfect plant!  I don't think there is a spot on any leaf on this entire bush right now.

Golden Celebration is performing about like Abraham Darby this year and I think for the same reasons.

Julia Child is putting out her best flush of blooms of the whole year right now.  She is such a sweet plant.  The other plants around her tend to shade her out some in the late summer, but at this time she is getting the perfect amount of sun.

Ducher Wins the Silver Again

For the second year in a row, Ducher is the second to bloom.  It bloomed only a couple days after Archduke Charles.  I'm looking forward to this bush being covered in bloom in a couple of weeks.  Like the other china roses, this one loves Louisiana and thrives with virtually no care at all.  The form of the plant is rounded, full, and pleasing.  It is seldom bothered by blackspot in my yard, even without spraying.  Anyone wanting a white rose could not hope for a better plant than this one.  It also has a lemony scent that is very fresh, though light. 

Ducher Still Going Strong

Ducher is a china rose that thrives in the heat of the South.  The blooms start off this lemony-white color and then gradually turn pure white.  They also have a light citrus smell that is very pleasant.  When the weather is very hot, the blooms typically are smaller and crisp quickly in the sun.  Now that the weather is starting to get cooler, they blooms aren't crisping as badly. 

This is a picture of the bush a few weeks ago at the peak of summer.  As you can see, it's quite healthy and bushy.  There is no blackspot at all and the form is lush.  This is a plant that truly loves my Louisiana climate. I don't spray at all and it still keeps on thriving.  I think this would make a perfect landscape rose here. 

Here is a picture of the plant at its peak in the spring.  It looks similar in the Fall once the temperatures cool down.  I consider this to be a white "Knockout."  The pleasing shape and growth would make this a nice shrub even if it didn't bloom.  The fragrant, white buds are just "lagniappe."

Ducher at Her Peak

I never did post whole bush pictures of my Ducher rose - at least on my blog.  Time to remedy that situation since this was really a sight to behold when at full bloom.  Ducher is about finished now with her first flush, but I expect a new one in a few weeks since this rose is seldom without bloom for long.
First a few blooms clusters, which I may have posted before.

Another bloom cluster

And finally, the whole glorious bush.  Such lemony-white flowers and a nice, citrus scent as well.  Just an all around great rose for the South.