Rhapsody in Blue Shrub Rose

‘Rhapsody in Blue’ Shrub Rose

Rosa

Synonyms: FRAntasia

This is the second time this rose has appeared on this blog. Since it did well as a replacement rose we bought one more plant for this year. It really should be called Rhapsody in Purple but I guess there is some artistic license with the breeders. The rose does produce a copious amount of flowers in a large range of purple shades. Often there is a unique blend of colors as some of the fading blooms turn lighter colors. When the flowers are full on purple they look pretty amazing. Really dark and rich looking.

U.S. Introduction: 2007, Weeks Wholesale

Fragrance: Strong

Petal Count: 16 (semi-double)

Average flower diameter: 2.5 inches

It is Sunday again so here is today’s bonus snapshot. It is just a nice looking garden arch from Long Island. Shot at sunset in monochrome with the D700 and Nikon 80-200/2.8 telephoto lens. Too bad about that nasty lens flare but the idea was good.

 

Festival of Roses ~ Day Ten ~ Close ups

Festival of Roses ~ Day Ten ~ Close ups

2007 Digital Flower Pictures.com Festival of Roses Continues

If you are here for Wordless Wednesday's Tuesday edition scroll down to the next post.

I thought I would have a day where I posted some of the close up I have (tried) to take recently. I don’t have as much time as I would like to explain about the roses today. I have been practicing a lot since I have to play at a benefit next week. I scrapped together a band from three other ones that I used to play in. It has been nice to see old friends and since I haven’t playing much lately it is nice to get back into it a bit.

This first rose is one of the 25 or so roses that I can’t identify in the rose garden at the farm. I am calling Austin rose but I don’t think I have seen this particular one before. I thought it might be ‘Heritage’ but it does have a lot of yellow in it. This is one of the few pictures you will ever see on this blog that I used a flash on. I seemed to work out okay.

Honey Bee and the Shrub Rose ‘Rhapsody in Blue'

Hybrid Musk Rose 'Eva'

Here is a list of roses I have been tending to at the farm:

Abraham Darby *
Aromatherapy *
Baronne Prévost*
Bishop’s Castle
Bonica
Change of Heart *
Chrysler Imperial
Cinnamon Twist *
Double Delight
Elle
Eglantyne
Evelyn
Fairy
Falstaff *
Fountain Square
Fragrant Keepsake
Gertrude Jekyll
Gene Boerner
Graham Thomas
Grand Finale
Heaven and Earth
Heirloom *
Heritage *
Honey Perfume *
Hot Cocoa *
Iceberg
John F. Kennedy
Love and Peace
Madame Plantier *
Melody Perfume *
Memorial Day *
Moondance *
Opening Night
Outrageous *
Peace *
Perfume Delight *
Perfume Perfection *
Princess Diana
Queen Elizabeth *
Scentimental *
Sheer Bliss *
Show Biz *
Shymus Serpylum
Spellbound
Spice Time
Strike it rich *
Sunset Celebration *
Touch of Class
Tournament of Roses
Tradescant
Tropicana *
Ultimate Pink *
Voodoo
White Lightnin'

The * denotes multiples of that variety, for instance there are seven ‘Tropicana’ bushes but most varieties have 2 or 3. Additionally there roughly 25 that I can’t identify yet (haven’t given up hope) and ‘holes’ for 25-30 more plants. I am going to get them in the spring. Previously they have lost about anywhere from 25 to 50 plants over the winter. The garden is in a very cold pocket of Zone 6 and most of these roses are rated for Zone 7.



This last picture is ‘Snowbird’, a hybrid tea rose. I had to chuckle about the name because I am often seeking refuge in Florida as a snowbird during the winter. Not sure how I got the blue metallic look as this rose is usually a little off-white. Probably the white balance was off but I went with anyway.