Mid July

Anne Marie de Montravel. Polyantha. Introduced in 1862.

This morning, bright and early around 7:00 am, I was outside as usual to water the potted plants and to repot a new rose. This time of year, I'm usually out very early, if I'm out at all because of the intense humidity. The time now is 8:30 am. The temperature is 80 degrees with 80% humidity. There is a possible thunderstorm predicted for these parts today, but that won't happen until late afternoon when the temperatures start to drop. It's going to be a hot one.

My water barrels are full which is a good thing. My potted plants will die in a day without water and I have enough to sustain them for about two weeks if I don't try to water any of the garden plants. The garden plants shouldn't need it though. The subsoil here is clay and holds the moisture nicely. Since we've been living here I haven't had to water established plants.

In the past four years, folks have asked me to root them speciality roses. Oh, some of them are easy enough to get, but the ones I've been asked for have special meaning....New Dawn, a lovely rambler requested by a family member in memory of our Grandmother who kept it growing over her front porch. Gruss an Aachen, a floribunda requested by a friend who wants one started own root rather the the grafted ones that die in a few years. Anne Marie de Montravel, a polyantha asked for by a club member who loves the exotic and hard to find roses. I've been trying all these years to get some cuttings of these roses with no luck. Actually, New Dawn did root once for me. It is growing nicely in a starter pot waiting for me to turn it over to it's new owner and new home. I will do this the beginning of August with instructions on how to get it started before winter.

All three roses are considered antique roses by their age and history. Usually these roses are good starters but I simply haven't had any luck with them. The cuttings would go almost 8 weeks and finally die instead so setting new roots. On a whim, and seeing something a little different in an unusual catalog, I ordered some rooting cups to try rooting these roses this way...

It's been six weeks for New Dawn. I'm watching this rose closely. It has shown a change in the strength of it's leaves, not loosing any and the little bud unions seem to be fattening like it wants to send new growth. This is a good sign that the plant is making new roots.

It's been four weeks for Gruss an Aachen. Again I'm watching this one even closer. It too has shown me a change of strength in it's leaves, not loosing any and the little bud unions have new green canes starting. This tells me that there must be roots in the cup somewhere but as of yet, I've not seen them. So, I leave the new plant where it is for the time being. I'm hoping to see new roots against the cup's sides very soon and will repot it into a starter pot and prepare it for it's new home.

It's been five weeks for Anne Marie de Montravel. This morning it was repotted into a starter pot and placed in a shady spot out of the heat and direct sun. The roots it was growing were large, white and healthy. I saw six of these roots climbing into the water wells of the cups and knew if I didn't get it out of there, I could end up damaging the roots severely. When I took it out of the cup, I was pleasantly surprised to see the cup fairly full of these white healthy roots. The canes have new growth starting at the bud unions but so far haven't developed into new canes. Needless to say, this one will be watched the closest especially since it's progressed to the next phase of it's development.

Seeing this makes me wonder if Gruss an Aachen may be in the same state of growth. But, without seeing the young roots, I'm not sure I want to take that chance. I will give it a little more time. If it starts pushing new life, then I will be fairly certain that there are new roots growing. And this one does seem to want to do this.

I am disappointed in New Dawn. This one has always been extremely easy for me to start. I did get one plant from the parent, but not with the rooting cups. I'm hoping it's just slower to start but it can't wait to much longer or it will not survive the winter.

In the meantime, I will be staying indoors mostly, out of the sun, heat and humidity. I have new clothes I want to make for my new position at work and will keep myself busy with that. I have cloth for three skirts, two tops and have discovered that I have enough cloth left to make matching scarves and sashes for the skirts. I still don't know when I'll be moving into my new position but am getting anxious about it. The time is coming closer and I can feel it. I'm ready.