I Was So Wrong

'Morning Blush'

Some variation of  the title of this post should probably be the title of every other that I write, amateur gardener that I am, but in this case it pertains to my 5/1/12 posting regarding the beautiful rose 'Morning Blush'.  I was unexcited about this rose during its juvenile growing phases, but it has both figuratively and literally grown on me.

Perhaps this is an unusual and stellar year for this rose, given the wet and cold conditions of this spring, but I'm convinced it was one of the stars of my garden this year.  Sandwiched between Barden roses 'Gallicandy' and 'Allegra', my 'Morning Blush' has reached its 6 foot tall promise at maturity, and the canes that I formerly regarded as "floppy" are at least leaning nicely against the neighbors.  I wouldn't call this rose overly floriferous, but it is putting on a decent display as you can see from the photo of the full bush below.

'Morning Blush', mature bush

The blooms make this rose a keeper. The petals are quick thick and seem to be resistant to the ills of the weather.  Even in the damp 10 days proceeding the photo above, the blooms of  Morning Blush are not stained brown by water or botrytis, while 2 doors down, the blossoms of 'Marianne' are a mess.  'Morning Blush', in contrast, looks as fresh as if just from the shower, which, literally, I guess it was. The blooms also stay on the bush for a long time, and the pink fades slightly but never completely disappears.  I am going to stick to my previous assessment of the fragrance as "moderate."

It goes without saying that 'Morning Blush' is fully cane hardy in my climate and she is one of the healthiest roses I've ever seen.  No blackspot, no mildew, and no cane dieback at any time of year.  I don't think I've ever touched her with a pruner.  Those long thick canes are both an asset and her only drawback;  they are stiff and ungainly like a Hybrid Tea, and they tend to sprawl if not supported by neighbors.  At least they aren't thorny.

ProfessorRoush was raised and trained to step up and admit when his is wrong, and, while I admit that I don't think I'm wrong very often, I was wrong about 'Morning Blush'.  This offspring of 'Maiden's Blush' is a beautiful rose and I'm sorry that I doubted her.

Morning Blush Bomb?

I've got a beautiful rose blooming for the first time, and these long-awaited blooms meet their promises, but I'm going to leave the jury out for deliberation on this rose: It's just too early to tell about 'Morning Blush'.

Now mind you, I've got no complaints about those blooms. The three-inch blooms, three of which are shown here, are just gorgeous. The white centers vary in diameter, but at least in my climate, there is a lot of blush pink on the ruffled petal edges, making this "New Alba" rose superior to the old bicolored Alba 'Leda' in that regard. 'Morning Blush' (or SIEmorn) was bred by Rolf Sievers in 1974.  She may, according to at least one source, have a scattered later bloom and she will grow to around six feet tall at maturity. 

 The rose is very hardy here and shows no blackspot worth noting at the present time.  I found the Internet to be a bit confusing regarding the fragrance of this rose, with one source claiming it has strong fragrance and another (the nursery where I obtained my band) saying that there was no fragrance at all.  I am straddling the fence in between those extremes, but right now I would say it has only a  moderate fragrance . A cross of 'Maiden's Blush' and 'Hamburger Phoenix' (the latter a red, climbing, remonant R. kordesii hybrid), 'Morning Blush' has very few thorns and very arching foliage. 

In fact, it is the arching foliage, and the blooming habit, that makes me question the garden worthiness of this rose.  The canes are indeed arching, and in fact are spread about in a very haphazard fashion, making it appear less like a bush than a large leafy thorny spider.  On my two season-old plant, about three feet tall presently, the blooms are only appearing on the first year's canes, so there are sporadic blooms held near the ground, but seemingly no blooms or buds on the canes that rose up higher at the end of last summer.  If that pattern holds, then I won't be keeping this bush because the low blooms are barely visible, despite their beauty.  Surely, this rose, described as a prolific bloomer, will not hold its blooms so closely to its bosom next year and will reward me for patience.