It is early February and the dead of winter when a cold wind is making it most unpleasant to work at all in my garden. It seemed like a good day to get into my photo files on the computer and label some of my garden photos from the past year, a chore that I often put off until I have forgotten the names of the blooms that I was so taken with at the time I snapped them. While doing this it occurred to me that perhaps I should share with you two of my favorite roses that are not always on the frequently mentioned lists. This article is not in the Rose of the Month format that you have been used to but since now is also the time of year to order additions to our rose gardens you might like to know two of the ones that I wouldn't be without.

The first of them is 'Tradescant', a modern shrub from David Austin that bears deep wine crimson blooms that age to purple, it has many petals that are folded tightly, and the bloom is quartered. To my nose the rose has the most intense perfume, and it holds very well as a cut flower. It is not one of Austin's larger shrubs and I have it behaving nicely against a pillar that holds a bird feeder, near my back porch.

'Tradescant' does bloom repeatedly, although not extravagantly in the hotter weather, but when it does flower it is definitely one of my most favored roses.

The other rose that I am particularly fond of is called 'Pretty Lady', a pale blush pink floribunda that behaves like a flowering machine in my garden. She repeats quickly, even in the hottest weather and throws out extravagant clusters of lovely blooms that are long-lived on the bush and in a vase, either in bud stage or fully opened. The bushes are nicely formed and behave well in beds close to my back door, she has blooms on her from May through late October and I cut from her relentlessly. Her one fault is that she has no fragrance but because her blooms are beautiful as well as bountiful I forgive her that.

Many of you are aware that I do not often spray my garden and I try to use mostly organic methods for fertilization and disease control. So both of these roses are thriving under the regimen of a dormant season Lime /Sulfur spraying and then Neem oil spraying through the growing season when cooler weather allows. As well as organic fertilizers I foliar feed with Response and last season I used Messenger on my roses. Under these conditions I have to favor roses that are either disease resistant or vigorous growers in the face of a challenge and both 'Tradescant' and 'Pretty Lady' have passed the test for years.