"Cant" Get Enough

I can never get enough of Mrs. B. R. Cant.  This old tea rose is such a stellar performer in our hot, humid climate that it newly astounds me each year.  This plant only gets better each year.  The full blooms are lush and many-petaled.

The buds are a perfect silvery pink that would look nice pinned to a tux.

The profusion of blooms is the most noticeable trait, especially in the first flush.  I can't think of a rose that is more covered in bloom during the spring flush.  

The leaves are a lovely deep green that set off the blooms to perfection.  You see little disease.  The yellow leaves on this plant are just the yearly shedding of old leaves to be replaced by new ones.  Because of our mild winter this year, my specimen stayed green all winter long.

It makes huge flushes of bloom followed by a slight rest, but nearly always has at least a few blooms on it.  

This is a picture to show the size of my plant.  It's nearly 8' tall and about as wide.  I have it against the front chain-link fence.  I can barely smell the tea-like fragrance, but it's still detectable.  Some people can smell this fragrance much better than others.  This rose is just as care-free as the Knockout roses for me, but it gets far bigger.  It makes a huge statement in any yard and would look lovely as a solo specimen in the middle of a large area.  

Rose Bloom Clusters

I love the perfect, large, single blooms put out by many hybrid tea types of roses.  They stand out so well alone in a vase.  However, nothing in the plant world moves me more than a cluster of fragrant blooms on a rose bush.  They are natural bouquets to delight the heart of any passerby.

Many of my roses bloom in clusters.  Above is just one of many.  This is Compassion who is out-doing herself this year.  This cluster is so fragrant that it begs to have a nose buried in it.

Belinda's Dream is yet another rose that blooms in cluster profusion.  The blooms are also huge and fragrant.

Earthsong also often has nice clusters of bloom that are a much deeper pink than this photo looks on the computer.

Mrs. B. R. Cant makes clusters of these cabbage-like globes of color.  My newer camera just doesn't capture the color of these very well.  These flowers are such a deep rose color tinged with silvery pink that they really stand out.

Super Dorothy makes tight, grape-like clusters of small and frilly flowers.  You almost feel like you can cut a cluster off and eat it.

Dublin Bay also makes velvety-red bunches of blooms that are extremely long-lasting on the plant.  This plant is putting on a stellar show this late spring.

Cramoisi Superieur also puts out sweet little groups of bloom with a hint of cloves in the fragrance.  I love this little rose because Paw-paw had them planted all around his yard.  As a kid, I remember picking blooms off and smelling them and then giving them to Maw-maw.  Fragrances are such nostalgic things for me and bring back many wonderful memories.

"Cant" Get Enough of This Rose

Pink with a silvery sheen is how I would describe the color of the blooms on my Mrs. B. R. Cant rose.  The form of the blooms is flat and full, and the fragrance is pure tea and not strong to my nose.  The blooms are usually about 3" in diameter - not large, but not tiny like many roses can be in the heat of summer.  They are a little smaller at this time of year than in the spring, but not too much. 

By and large, the leaves are perfect green with almost no disease spots.  There is some yellow coloration to some of the leaves, but it's hardly noticeable.  The plant form is pretty full and getting more so as it gets older.  I get the impression this is a rose bush that fills out with age.  I'm looking forward to a huge 8' x 8' monster of a plant. 

Here is a shot of the whole bush.  Not bad at this worst time of year for the plants.  Very little yellowing and lots of blooms.  If this is how all tea roses perform in my climate, then I need to get more of them.  Does anybody out there have more tea rose recommendations for me?

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - June

Every month on the 15th, May Dreams Gardens hosts the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  You are supposed to put pictures of what all is blooming in your yard on your blog and then link it to the MDG site.  So here is my contribution of the month. 

Joan Senior Daylily

Mrs. B. R. Cant rose

Prosperity rose

Becky Shasta daisies

Plumbago blooms

Cashmere Bouquet (clerondendrum bungei)

Magnus Purple Coneflower

Some of the other flowers in bloom in my yard at this time are gladiolas, gardenias, sunflowers, zinnias, honeysuckles, Victoria Blue salvias, Chaste vitex, achillea, lantanas, altheas, crape myrtles, coreopsis, gaillardia, hardy hibiscus, and cardinal flowers.  I just can't put pictures of them all in one blog entry!

Mrs. B. R. Indeed Can!

Mrs. B. R. Cant, my wonderful old-fashioned tea rose is at her peak right now.  It has a nice tea-like fragrance to go along with a disease-free bush that gets HUGE.  This sucker can get 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide if you let it!  The blooms are full, silvery pink, and big.  To make matters even better, this rose is very easy to grow from cuttings.  What a lovely pass-along plant.  Get you one!  Above is a whole bush shot of my plant.

This is a picture up closer where you can see how many buds and blooms there are.  This bush blooms in many flushes through the year. 

Here's a close-up of a bloom cluster.  Notice all the petals.