Many New Things

New sofa! (and ottoman)

Well. Today certainly has been full of excitement.

The long-anticipated sofa (with ottoman) finally arrived. It's very big and very comfy (if you like your sofas firm, which we do). I'm having some slight regrets about the lovely cotton velveteen espresso-colored upholstery we chose. At the time, it seemed charmingly decadent, but it would also appear to be a fuzz magnet. And Po's striped hairs show up beautifully on that dark brown. I guess we'll have to keep some lint rollers handy and wield them often.

We'll test the sleeper this weekend. The old one had a pretty decent mattress, for a sofa bed. We'll see what this one's like after several hours.

Next on the list of new things, Matt's work had this spare gas grill that they wanted, somewhat inexplicably, to get rid of. Well, we give used appliances a happy home here at Chez M, so he loaded that sucker up and carted it off. It's much larger and less rickety than our other second-hand gas grill, so that's nice. If anyone wants the older old one, let me know--otherwise it'll be hitting the freecycle.

And finally, most dramatically, we acquired a new cat.

This was rather a big step for us, as I only became a somewhat reluctant cat owner last year, and, since, moreover, our catspace is not big and is currently full of Po, who is large, and contains multitudes.

However.

She'd been hanging around the yard begging handouts for some weeks, and she's such a sweet little kitty with a Little Tramp moustache and the most plaintive meow ever. And, furthermore, there's some sort of cat disease going around Manchaca (deep south Austin, for you out-of-towners. Pronounced "man-chaack"--the last "a" is silent, for some reason.) We couldn't continue feeding her and petting her if there was a risk of passing something on to Po. But at the same time, we didn't want to abandon her to whatever-the-germ-is. She's very affectionate--if skittish--and so very skinny. We named her Isadora, which seemed like a good name for a wee skinny little cat with dainty paws. But she almost immediately became "Izzy."

We snagged her Sunday night and put her in the garage till we could take her to the vet, but our garage (French for "decrepit old shack") turned out to be anything but hermetic, and Izzy--who loathes confinement, we have discovered--escaped. To our surprise, she came around again last night (we grilled--Izzy positively cannot resist the smell of a cookout) and was gullible enough to come within snatching distance. We nabbed her again, this time putting her in a great big crate (the kind you put Rottweilers in). She mewed piteously, and we had to keep reminding ourselves that it was for her own good in the long run.

Today we took her in to the vet. They confirmed that she wasn't microchipped and hadn't been fixed, so between those facts and the absence of a collar and her general skinniness, we assume she's a bona fide stray. The vet gave her a clean bill of health (apparently, her ears are "gorgeous" from a veterinary perspective) except that the feline leukemia virus test came back indeterminate. We're to come back in months for further testing. Fortunately, Po's had his shots and boosters, so he should be okay. The vet also recommended feeding them separately and keeping them physically separated until they've had time to get used to each other.

Izzy: the new kitty on the new sofa

She's now curled up (shedding white hairs) on the new sofa, apparently happy as a clam. She's been assigned temporary sleeping quarters in the master bath while she and Po acclimate to one another. Tonight we'll discover whether or not she has an intuitive understanding of the litter box. She does seem to have grokked on to the come command, though she's not always terribly motivated to actually respond to it. (We've been training Po over the months--he's a wayward kitty, and it relieves my feelings to see him obey me in at least some things. He does come and sit beautifully. He does stay and go when he's not feeling naughty. And he does jump, down, and stand, but these are newer acquisitions to his vocabulary, and he's a little hesitant about them.)

Le sofa est mort... Vive le sofa!

We evicted the old sofa today (and added some scratches to our bamboo floor, sadly. It opted not to go gently into that good night).

It was an 8-foot-long sleeper, and it weighed a ton. Two moves ago, as our moving guys struggled to maneuver the thing up a set of apartment stairs, my well-used old sofa--the cradle of my infancy (and my childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, come to think of it) was disrespectfully referred to as a "motherfucker." We managed to heave the old thing out the front door without a single curse, but that's probably because all our breath was being used to grunt.

The Final Egress of the Sofa

We somehow wrangled the beast into Matt's trailer. He'll be taking it to his folks' property at Dale. Two's going down, but ain't but one's coming back.

I believe it will be a gory scene of dismemberment and immolation.

We're gonna take a little ride...

The new hotness is supposed to arrive this Tuesday. Farewell old sofa.

Operation Guttersnipe

Rotten old gutters

We've started on the gutter project (we thought the swing project and the trellis project needed company). We had initially planned to hire someone else for the gutters. I thought, being all mature but willing to make sacrifices to do the responsible thing, "It's probably going to be expensive. It could cost as much as $750. But we're just going to have to save our pennies and do it." So when the first estimate came in at $1,200, it was something of a blow. When the second guy told us he could do it for a mere $3,000 (just a reminder: we do not live in the Taj Mahal. We live in a 1300-square-foot farmhouse. And it's a 2-story house, so it's not even a full 1300 square feet worth of roof) we realized a different approach--a more personal approach--was needed.

Rusty old gutters

The first step was to pull the old gutters off. As we have only the one ladder, and as Matt, to speak frankly, doesn't really trust me in matters where balance and dexterity are required, he climbed up and pulled the gutters off while I picked up the pins and spacers when the fell on the ground.

Matt testing the fascia. This'll have to go.

The next step is to rip off the rotten fascia and replace them. This <sigh> will entail more painting, of course. I wish I could feel that the massive amount of painting I've done has developed my painterly skills set, but every time I get in the shower and see the squidgy, blobby line where the red wall paint meets the white ceiling paint, I taste futility.

Anyway, once the fascia's done, we'll buy & hang the new gutters.

Interesting aside: our house wasn't originally stone--it was an old wooden farmhouse. When Matt was up on the roof, he got to see the original house where the fascade ends.

Stone facade & original wood exterior

Meanwhile, just after I discussed lycoris in the context of oxblood lilies last week, our garden produced a lycoris. I have no idea where it came from--I don't remember it from last year, but I can't imagine I would have bought and planted a solitary bulb like this. In any event, here it is, gamely if inexplicably blooming in the front bed. Wonderfully explosive, isn't it?

Volunteer Lycoris radiata in the front bed

Lycoris radiata closeup

And finally, here are a couple of Crinum macowanii seedlings from the seeds I bought on ebay earlier this summer. They've been rather slow to germinate and then to grow, but they're starting to put on a little size. We'll be putting some in our shade garden--not sure what I'll do with the rest.

Crinum macowanii seedlings

Ode to the Oxblood

A clump of oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) growing on the shady side of the house

It's in the upper seventies, there's a very nice breeze, and the sky is blue--it's glorious weather. So I'm blogging from the front porch again. Still more oxblood lilies have popped up since yesterday, looking ever so lovely.

So let's ponder the oxblood.

The Oxblood in Context
Oxblood lilies look rather like slimmed down "Dutch" (South American) amaryllis because they are all members of the same family, the amaryllidaceae. So, like many other amaryllids, they are bulbs and they have six-petaled trumpet-shaped flowers and long, strap-like leaves. They also closely resemble the true (South African) amaryllis, Amaryllis belladonna, which, like the oxblood, blooms before its leaves emerge. Belladonna lilies, however, are pink, and have thicker stems and slightly larger flowers.

They're also a bit like some Cyrtanthus, an extremely varied South African genus that's not terribly common here in the US.

And they're probably most frequently confused with red spider lilies, Lycoris radiata. From a distance, they're both leafless, red, slim-petaled, and about the same height. However, spider lilies have thinner petals with wavy margins and, most importantly, long, spidery (hence the name) stamens that extend well beyond the flower and curl upwards.

The Oxblood in the Landscape
Oxblood lilies are members of the American genus Rhodophiala. Here in the US, we grow Rhodophiala bifida, but in Mexico and South America they have a treasure trove of different species. My favorite pictures of exotic Rhodophiala are by a guy named Hüdepohl. For example, see the golden Rhodophiala bagnoldii in a rather breathtaking desert landscape. Check out his unnamed pink amaryllid in a field of what appear to be bright indigo morning glory flowers. And I particularly love the Rhodophiala phycelloides, bright red on a vivid blue background. The dude knows how to take pictures.

Our little O. bifida looks comparatively modest, but it has its own virtues. In the old days (which old days? I don't know--those old ones) people planted oxblood lilies along their foundations, along sidewalks, and along fences and property lines. So rugged are they, that they will survive indefinitely on old abandoned homesteads, outlining buildings that have long since disappeared. (While I'm not sure that it's the best use of these plants, in Texas, oxblood lilies have a very linear identity. Our ninety-year-old neighbor, for example, has a big, fat double row of oxbloods along his fence line.)

I think clumping them near the front of a bed for little exclamation points of seasonal color is probably a better way to incorporate them into your landscape. We're puddling ours around a wee little bur oak, so hopefully we'll have a big pool of crimson some day. Admittedly, we're not there yet.

The beginnings of our colony of oxblood lilies

Oxbloods can take full sun, they (obviously) withstand drought, and they can handle at least some shade. Their bloom is brief, like most flower bulbs, but they're very dependable. And that deep crimson is so punchy.

Oxblood buds by the shade patio

Distinctive Features
Oxblood bulbs easy to recognize because they are sheathed in distinctive shiny, black, papery coverings ("tunics").

If I'm not mistaken, they've got something called "retractile roots," which are roots that first grow deep into the soil, then telescope in on themselves, pulling the bulb in after them. This is why you must be prepared to dig very, very deep if you plan to transplant a clump.

If you want oxbloods, though (and of course you do; who wouldn't?), transplanting is the way to go. They are only intermittently and unpredictably available in the nursery industry, and you often pay through the nose for the priviledge--rather like that other garden exellency, the crinum lily. The Antique Rose Emporium sometimes has them, and so, I believe, does the Southern Bulb Company, which uses a picture of oxblood bulbs for the rather stylish banner of their blog. We got lucky--our old farmhouse came well-stocked with venerable old plantings of the lovely things.

Closeup of an oxblood lily

No Canned Salmon for Us

Well, we did have the fondue yesterday as planned, but nothing else went according to forecast. It was overcast all day, and we got a warm but vigorous wind, but as for rain, 50-mile-per-hour gusts, flooding, and other signs of the apocalypse--we got bupkes. I spent the entire day sitting on my front porch with my laptop, watching radar images of Ike slowly moving up, up, then over, over and away. Once--while I was turning on the irrigation system to water our drought-stricken plants--I felt a few tiny prickles that might have been rain drops. And that was it.

Filling up the upstairs tub with water was definitely overkill.

And the canned turkey? Matt suggested that if we'd been starving for 4 days, it probably would have tasted great. I'm not so sure. It's canned in water, so it has a bloated, gelatinous quality, rather like a drowned corpse. And it smells like cat food. We dipped a couple of pieces in the fondue, chewed reluctantly, and then Matt said, "Isn't there some leftover sausage in the fridge?"

Hurricane survival kit, now downgraded to all-purpose apocalypse survival kit. We'll be feeding the canned turkey to Po.

Fortunately, my Houston relatives fared nearly as well as we did. Mom & Dad's house sprang a leak, and there was some other less significant damage, but no flooding or tornadoes or downed trees or anything. And Mattchew & Bianca's brand-new house was fine. It has tons of windows that they had no time to board up, having closed on the house on Friday. Happily, these were unscathed.

Today was actually rather lovely up here in Elgin. A bit warm, but a nice breeze all day, deep blue September skies, and I finally did some stuff that needed to be done, which is rather satisfying. In defense of procrastination, I have to point out that finally doing these things wouldn't have been nearly as gratifying if I hadn't initially put them off until they weighed guiltily on my mind.

I planted a very lovely dark purple passionflower vine that we got from Grumpy Dave (the guy who runs Garden of the Ancients, this hippie commune-cum-nursery in northeast Austin, has a unique approach to customer service. He doesn't seem to get the rhythms of ordinary conversation, but, boy, get him started on the IRS--which he considers "treasonous"--or the outrages committed by cops, or the conspiray to silence Ron Paul, and he sure becomes voluble! And very, very indignant.)

This looks rather like the vine I bought from GD--I think it's Passiflora incarnata.

Anyway, I bought a particularly pretty, very dark purple passionflower from them. And now it's in the rose garden.

Here's why:

Distressingly huge empty blank space on our western wall

Our western wall looks all barren and mis-proportioned. It needs some sort of tall thing to join it to the ground. Hopefully, the 'Little Gem' magnolia at the front corner will grow in and take the edge off the edge, and the passionflower in the middle will make it all nicely tied together. Hopefully.

I also planted some dianthus by the front door in the two tiny little spots that I reserve for annuals. Not a big fan of annuals, generally, but I do make an exception for dianthus, especially dark red ones.

And I bought a couple more bags of decomposed granite to finish off the very end of the sidewalk. Happily, most of the stones do seem to have settled over time. The whole thing actually feels fairly solid. So apparently no special rock-settling skills are required after all.

I weeded the bur oak bed and gave it some more mulch. We didn't put any weed barrier down under that bed, and the bermudagrass has been popping up through the existing mulch like a fondue fork cuts through cheese (mmm... fondue...). However, it also has a bunch of oxblood lilies coming up. The yard had random OLs plopped in the middle of the lawn, in the shade bed, under the bananas--not good places for them. So last year we dug some up (and boy, was that ever a chore) and transplanted them. Huzzah for oxblood lilies!

The pioneers of our colony of oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida)

I also gave a little mulchly love to our two most abused saplings: our Eve's necklace (Sophora affinis) and our pistache (Pistacia texensis--I think). While we were cherishing and mollycoddling the new baldcypress and magnolia and the invalid pear, these two scrawny orphans managed to cling to life with very little help from us whatsoever. As a reward, they each got an entire bag of fresh mulch to help fight back the ravenous bermudagrass.

And I sprayed Immunox. Credit to the toxic stuff: it seems to have staved off death (once again) for 'Wild Blue Yonder', which is not only alive, but even blooming the right color--a deep, jewel-tone magenta with a white eye. While it was out, I also spritzed 'New Dawn,' 'Autumn Damask,' 'The Fairy,' 'Lichterloh,' 'Belinda's Dream,' 'Mystery Pink Globes,' 'Mystery Red Pillar,' and 'Buff Beauty.' I don't think any of them really needed it (except the Red Pillar, which has a lesion I don't like the looks of), but it's been a rough year. They don't need black spot--let alone Horrid Fungus--on top of the general droughtly misery.

I also sprayed our 'Moonglow' Asian pear. There are some signs of infection right at my most recent cuts (I don't think I have to tell you that I dipped my pruners in alcohol between each cut, so I know the infection didn't spread that way). I'm hoping to control the problem with chemicals, since pruning is obviously not working for me. I'll continue spraying 'Moonglow' and WBY for the rest of the growing season. There is a point, however, at which they are both going to have to grow a pair and starting fighting off pathogens themselves. I'm hoping that by spring they'll both have stronger root systems, and that this will do the trick. As you know, I put great faith in root health.

In fact, I should probably look for some good root fertilizer for the entire garden this fall. Something nice and organic and yummy for the soil, ideally.

BRING IT, IKE.

**Ike, courtesy of wunderground.com

So we're prepping for the latest hurricane badness here. We live about 200 miles from the Gulf, so there's not really that much prepping to do. (I was thinking of finally posting my "Creatures of Elgin" entry--I've been collecting pictures of the at-least-moderately interesting fauna here in Elgin--but coming right on the heels of my "Roses of Avenue F" entry it just seemed like too many lists.)

Wunderground gives us an 80% chance of rain Saturday (down from 100% as of yesterday, darn it). They're predicting 23-mph-ish winds. Ehn. Elgin's a windy place--if it's not over 35 mph, I'm not impressed. We'll drag the half-completed porch glider into the garage, I suppose, and Matt will batten down the greenhouses, but I think we'll both feel like mugs doing it.

I also went to Costco today, where I sheepishly filled my mongo-sized Costco cart with orangina, almond butter, Luna bars, extra-sharp cheddar, and other traditional hurricane necessaries. Despite growing up in New Orleans, I have no idea what to do in the way of hurricane provisions (nothing, you gullible nitwit! You live two hundred miles from the coast! You don't need any hurricane supplies at all.). One case of bottled water, or two? Which atrocious form of potted meat is least repellant when served room temperature on stale water crackers?--salmon, turkey, tuna, or "roast beef"? If I buy canned soup, can I heat it to palatability over a candle? Do I need to buy ice? (why ice? I don't know--it's like boiling water for women having a baby. I have no idea what it's for, but I have a strong impression it's essential. To keep the orangina cool if the power goes out?).

All I know for sure is that I'll be serving a cheese fondue at the height of the storm, since you cook fondue over a little gel-based burner that provides heat and light. We can lose all our utilities, but the fondue will carry on, unhindered.

I remember wanting to pick up a case or two of bottled water for Rita, but when I went to Target and Albertson's, the places were demolished. Nothing but a few forlorn packages of whole-wheat pitas in the bread aisle, and as for water, I had to content myself with a case of Gatorade. Which would have been very unsatisfactory for brushing one's teeth. This was, of course, right after Katrina, and everyone was feeling very vigilant. The intervening years seem to have taken the edge off (or else it's just that Costco stocks an absolute assload of stuff) because they still had bottled water up to the rafters. There were a few other paranoics and survivalists stocking up, though, so at least I was a doofus with company.

In other news, by 5:30 traffic had stacked up east of Manor on 290, and the unfortunate evacuees were just crawling along. I'm going to take back roads in to work tomorrow morning (Littig Rd to 969), although since Galvestonians are every bit as able to read maps as I am, they may fill up the side roads, too. None of my family are evacuating (which, given the state of the caulking in our shower, is probably just as well.) Mattchew & Bianca are closing on their new house in west Houston on Friday, so they naturally want to savor the joys of home ownership, hurricane or no hurricane. And Mom, Dad, and Grandpa are planning to ride it out, too (perhaps they peeped behind the shower curtain last time they visited and decided that no force of nature could compel them to face down that caulking?) They've never had any flood issues out in their neck of the prairie, so the greatest concern is presumably high winds and tornadoes.


**Holy Coriolis effect, that thing's big! I added the picture after writing the blog, just to have some eye candy. I don't think I'd looked at any radar pix in a couple of days, and it came as a bit of a shock. It's practically filling the entire Gulf! Er, Mr. Ike, sir, just kidding with the taunting and all. I think you're a very manly hurricane. Please don't throw a tornado at me. Although a little rain would be appreciated.

Catalog of Roses

A Tally of the Rose Cultivars in Our Garden

Name:	Archduke Charles	Qty:	1

Synonyms
Class:
Parentage:
Introduced:
Habit:
Bloom time:
Flower	Cluster, semi-double, pink
Other notable features:	Fabulous fragrance, source of attar of roses; used in breeding of portlands and bourbons. Grown since 1000 BC, according to NCSU hort dept.

Name:	Autumn Damask	Qty:	1
Synonyms	'Rosa damascena semperflorens', 'Four Seasons Rose', 'Rose des Quatre Saisons,' and 'Rose of Paestum.' Alexandrian Rose, Bifera, Old Castilian, Rosa damascena var. bifera, Rosa damascena var. semperflorens, Rosa × damascena
Class:	Damask
Parentage:	R. gallica × R. abyssinica (theorized)
Introduced:	1254 – 1276: The crusading knights brought the first Damask Rose to France from Persia (Source).
Habit:	Rangy shrub: h4-5 × w3-4
Bloom time:	Long Spring & early summer bloom; shorter fall bloom
Flower	Cluster, semi-double, pink
Other notable features:	Fabulous fragrance, source of attar of roses; used in breeding of portlands and bourbons. Grown since 1000 BC, according to NCSU hort dept.

Name:	Belinda’s Dream	Qty:	1
Class:	Shrub rose
Parentage:	Tiffany × Jersey Beauty
Introduced:	1992: Robert Bayse
Namesake:	A daughter of a friend of the breeder’s
Habit:	Upright shrub: h4 × w3
Bloom time:	All year, even July
Flower:	Very double, Bubblegum pink
Other notable features:	Very hardy and free-blooming

Name:	Buff Beauty	Qty:	1
Class:	Hybrid Musk
Parentage:	Seedling of 'William Allen Richardson'
Introduced:	1939: Anne Bentall
Habit:	Sprawling mound (7’ dia.) or climber (10-12’ tall)
Bloom time:	Spring – fall
Flower:	Cluster, Double, 3-4”, Buff/apricot/yellow
Other notable features:	Fragrant

Name:	Burgundy Iceberg	Qty:	1
Class:	Floribunda
Parentage:	Sport of 'Brilliant Pink Iceberg'
Introduced:	2007: Swane
Habit:	Mounding shrub: h4-5 × w4-5
Bloom time:	Spring, early summer, plus some repeat
Flower:	Cluster, double, Deep purply-wine inside; whitey-purple outside
Other notable features:	Susceptible to leaf cutters. Otherwise, seems quite healthy

Name:	Cécile Brunner, Climbing	Qty:	1
Class:	Climbing polyantha
Parentage:	Sport of 'Cécile Brunner'
Introduced:	1894: Franz Hosp
Habit:	Very vigorous climber: h20-30
Bloom time:	Spring, early summer, plus some repeat
Flower:	sprays of tiny pink rosebuds
Other notable features:	Very healthy. Known as the "sweetheart rose"

Name:	Comtesse du Cayla	Qty:	1
Class:	China
Parentage:	?
Introduced:	1902: Pierre Guillot—member of a 6-generation family of rose breeders. The same family, apparently, that created ‘La France,’ among other famous cultivars.
Namesake:	Sources vary. Élisabeth-Suzanne de Jaucourt (1755–1816) OR Zoé Victoire Talon (1785-?)
Habit:	Airy rounded shrub h4-5 × w4-5
Bloom time:	Spring and fall with a sprinkling of summer blooms
Flower:	Single/semi-double, 3-4”, Orange-apricot-pink
Other notable features:	Striking color, extremely healthy

Name:	Cramoisi Superieur	Qty:	2
Synonyms	Agrippina, Lady Brisbane, Bermuda Rose, Queen of Scarlet, Old Bermuda Red Rose, L'Eblouissante
Class:	China
Introduced:	1832: Coquereau?, Slater's Crimson China seedling
Habit:	Nicely rounded shrub ~ 4 × ~4
Bloom time:	All year
Flower:	Cluster, Double, ~3”, Red with cerise pink and white
Other notable features:	Exceedingly tough; nice hedge, very free-blooming

Name:	Ducher	Qty:	1
Class:	China
Introduced:	1869; Jean-Claude Ducher, unknown parentage
Namesake:	Self/his nursery?
Habit:	Rounded shrub: h3-5 × w3-5
Bloom time:	All year
Flower:	Cluster? Double, Ivory-white
Other notable features:	Said to be the only white china

Name:	Duchesse de Brabant	Qty:	1
Synonyms	Comtesse de Labarathe, Comtesse Ouwaroff, Shell Rose
Class:	Tea
Introduced:	1857: HP Bernède, parentage unknown
Namesake:	The Duke of Brabant was a prince of Belgium (Chamblee’s).
Habit:	Large shrub: h7-8 × w5-6
Bloom time:	All year
Flower:	Double, 3”, pink
Other notable features:	The Antique Rose Emporium says that this was Teddy Roosevelt’s favorite rose, and that he used to wear it as a boutonniere.

Name:	The Fairy	Qty:	1
Class:	Polyantha
Introduced:	1932: J.A. Bentall, Paul Crampel × Lady Gay
Habit:	Low-growing shrub: h2-3 × w3
Bloom time:	All year, even July
Flower:	Cluster, Semi-double, Bubblegum pink to nearly white
Other notable features:	'The Fairy' is said to be the first groundcover rose (Source). It’s very sturdy—one of my least whiny roses. Purportedly shade tolerant. Definitely heat tolerant.

Name:	Fourth of July	Qty:	2
Class:	Climber
Parentage:	'Roller coaster' x 'Altissimo'
Introduced:	1999: Carruth
Namesake:	NA
Habit:	Big climber, 12-14'
Bloom time:	Re-blooms
Flower:	Semi-double intense red with white/pink stripes and splotches
Other notable features:	AARS winner 1999

Name:	Ferdinand Pichard? (Legacy)	Qty:	1
Class:	Hybrid Perpetual/Bourbon (sources vary)
Introduced:	1921: Remi Tanne, unknown parentage
Namesake:	?
Habit:	Upright, gangly shrub: h4 × w3
Bloom time:	Spring/early summer (so far)
Flower:	Double Red/white/pink stripes
Other notable features:	“Nigel Pratt of Tasman Bay Roses says this rose is one of the best striped varieties... In September 1998, the Montreal Botanical Garden (Le Jardin Botanique de Montreal) carried out a survey of its roses' resistance to black spot, powdery mildew and rust. This is one of the outstanding varieties that showed a 0% to 5% infection rate. The data was taken on well-established roses.” Source.

Name:	Georgetown Tea	Qty:	1

Class:	Tea
Introduced:	1983: Bill Welch
Habit:	Mounding shrub: h5 × w5
Bloom time:	Spring/summer/fall
Flower:	light pink interior with dark pink exterior; fully double; variable in form from cabbagey to hybrid-tea-like.
Other notable features:

Name:	Graham Thomas	Qty:	1
Class:	Shrub (“English rose”)
Introduced:	1983: David Austin, Charles Austin × Iceberg seedling
Namesake:	the famous rosarian, Graham Thomas.
Habit:	Tall, gangly: h9+ ×w3
Bloom time:	Summer
Flower:	Cluster, Double, Deep butter yellow
Other notable features:	Can be trained as a climber.

Name:	Green Ice	Qty:	3
Class:	Miniature
Introduced:	1971: Moore, Seed = (R. wichuraiana × Floradora), Pollen = Jet Trail
Habit:	Spreading miniature: 2 × 2
Bloom time:	All year, even August
Flower:	Cluster, Double, Ivory-white w green eye
Other notable features:	Very hardy, dainty flowers, very free-blooming, even in July.

Name:	Isabella Sprunt	Qty:	1

Class:
Introduced:
Habit:
Bloom time:
Flower:
Other notable features:

Name:	Kaiserin Freidrich	Qty:	3

Class:
Introduced:
Habit:
Bloom time:
Flower:
Other notable features:	Very hardy, dainty flowers, very free-blooming, even in July.

Name:	La Marne	Qty:	1
Class:	Polyantha
Parentage:
Introduced:	1915: Barbier frères & Cie. (nursery/breeding co.), Seed = Mme. Norbert Levavasseur, Pollen = Comtesse du Cayla
Habit:	Rounded shrub h3-5 × w3-5
Bloom time:	All year
Flower:	Cluster, Semi-double, Pink & cream
Other notable features:	Good hedge. Matt says, “Hardy as hell.”

Name:	Lichterloh	Qty:	1
Class:	Floribunda
Introduced:	1955: M. Tantau, parentage unknown
Namesake:	?
Habit:	Low spreading shrub: h3-4 × w3-4
Bloom time:	Spring and fall with lighter summer bloom
Flower:	Cluster, Semi-double, Fire engine red
Other notable features:	Particularly good hips. Mine is probably the sulkiest of the roses I have been nurturing along since my senior year at A&M. It hasn’t really grown since it was first planted in the ground last April. Brat.

Name:	Madame Alfred Carriere	Qty:	1
Class:	Noisette
Parentage:	unknown
Introduced:	1879: Joseph Schwartz
Habit:	large climber h8-25'
Bloom time:	repeat
Flower:	Ivory with a flush of butter-yellow/pink
Other notable features:	Nearly thornless

Name:	Mademoiselle Franziska Krueger	Qty:	1
Class:	Tea
Introduced:	1879: Gilbert Nabonnant ('Catherine Mermet x ['Général Schablikine'?])
Namesake:	?
Habit:	arching shrub: h3-5 × w3-5
Bloom time:	Spring and fall with lighter summer bloom
Flower:	Fully double, pale apricot with flushes of pink
Other notable features:	Mutable flower colors in a similar vein as 'Marie van Houtte' or 'Monsieur Tillier' or 'Beauté Inconstante'. Unfortunately, the only bloom on our plant at the time of writing was nipped by last week's frost and looks a bit like a crumpled up old kleenex.

Name:	Maggie (tentative ID)	Qty:	2
Synonyms	Possibly Mme Eugène Marlitt, Eugene E. Marlitt
Class:	Bourbon
Introduced:	Originally: 1900?; Found: ? collected by Dr. William C. Welch of Texas A&M University; Hybridized by Geschwindt? Parentage unknown
Namesake:	Bill Welch’s wife’s grandmother
Habit:	Upright bush: h4-5 × w3-4
Bloom time:	Summer
Flower:	Cluster, Very double, cerise
Other notable features:	It was found in Louisiana; some believe it to be Eugene E. Marlitt, though ARE doesn’t seem 100% persuaded. Very good fragrance. Can handle neglect. Ours are cuttings of the very nice mystery cabbage that died of Horrid Fungus. Matt later ID's them as 'Maggie.' Two cuttings miraculously made it, and we put 1 in the pole bed and one in the rose bed (by the Croquet Lawn).

Name:	Martha Gonzalez	Qty:	1
Class:	China
Introduced:	1984; Pam Puryear, Unknown parentage
Namesake:	Martha Gonzales, Navasota gardener
Habit:	Small rounded shrub, 3 × 3
Bloom time:	All year
Flower:	Cluster, Semi-double, Lipstick red
Other notable features:	Very free-blooming

Name:	Mrs. R. M. Finch	Qty:	1
Class:	Polyantha
Introduced:	1923: R. M. Finch, Orleans Rose seedling
Namesake:	His wife
Habit:	Rounded shrub: 3 × 3
Bloom time:	Spring and fall, scattered summer
Flower:	Cluster, Double, Soft pink

Name:	Mutabilis	Qty:	5
Synonyms	Tipo Ideale, the Butterfly Rose, Rosa chinensis, Rosa chinensis var. mutabilis, Rosa mutabilis, Rosa turkestanica, Rosa x odorata
Class:	China
Introduced:	Internet sources are inconsistent about the origins of Mutabilis, but all accounts agree that it was introduced to the public by Henri Correvon of Geneva, who first encountered it in the gardens of Ghilberto Borromeo, an Italian prince who grew the rose at his Isola Bella estate on Lago Maggiore in N. Italy. Some accounts say that the rose was originally bred there; others that it was collected on the island of Reunion.
Habit:	Large shrub: 6+ × 6+
Bloom time:	All year, even August
Flower:	Cluster, Single, ~2”,Yellow/orange/pink
Other notable features:	Takes heat and indifferent soil. Reputed to withstand some shade. Good as a hedge or large specimen. Some sources claim they have trained Mutabilis as a climber, though the plant is so naturally bushy that I would think trying to restrain its horizontality would be more trouble than it’s worth. Mutabilis won’t so much grow up a trellis as it will consume the trellis in all dimensions. Peaceful Habitations Rose Gardens says that it has “a well developed sense of humor” La Landriana gardens in Italy feature over 300 Mutabilis in 2 acres

Name:	Mystery Bourbon	Qty:	1
Class:	Bourbon?
Introduced:	?
Habit:	gangly shrub or pillar: h5-6+ × w3
Bloom time:	Spring only (so far)
Flower:	Very double, big, crushed raspberry, often quartered
Other notable features:	We don't know what the hello this is. First I called it a "mystery hybrid perpetual." Then Matt said no, it's a Bourbon. Then I thought it was Maggie. But Matt said no to that. So now it's back to being a Mystery Bourbon. It's awfully pretty, whatever it is.

Name:	Mystery Pink Globes	Qty:	1
Class:	?
Introduced:	?
Habit:	Small shrub: h2-3 × w2
Bloom time:	Spring & summer (so far)
Flower:	Cluster, Semi-double, Deep pink
Other notable features:	Full bloom is a small, loose, closed globe of petals, not a typical open rose shape.

Name:	Mystery Red Pillar (Legacy)	Qty:	1
Class:	?
Introduced:	?
Habit:	5’ Pillar or sprawling shrub
Bloom time:	Spring/early summer, so far
Flower:	Cluster, Semi-double, 3-4”, Lipstick red
Other notable features:	Hybrid tea-ish shape

Name:

	New Dawn	Qty:	1
Synonyms	Everblooming Dr. W. Van Fleet,
Class:	Wichurana Rambler?
Introduced:	1930: Somerset Rose Nursery, Sport of Dr. W. Van Fleet: (r.wichuriana x Safrano) x Souv. Du Pres. Carnot
Namesake:	“Dr Van Fleet alone is intelligently, persistently, and scientifically adventuring in the development of the different and important Chinese native species from which may arise in earlier or later succession the improved hardy garden roses so much needed. It is no derogation of the efforts of the commercial workers in roses primarily bred for greenhouse growing … to say that Dr Van Fleet is the present and potential originator of the varieties which may truly be called American roses.” from the American Rose Annual of 1919
Habit:	Climber: 10-20’
Bloom time:	Spring &, presumably, fall
Flower:	Cluster, Double, Palest pink
Other notable features:	Plantfiles.com says it’s both shade tolerant and disease resistant. Zanthan Gardens says it’s the first rose patented in North America and that in 1997 ‘New Dawn’ was voted the most popular rose in the world at the 11th World Convention of Rose Societies.

Name:	Old Blush, Climbing	Qty:	1

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Name:	Paul Neyron	Qty:	1

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Name:	Red Cascade	Qty:	1
Class:	Climbing Miniature
Introduced:	1976, Ralph S. Moore, (R. Wichurana X 'Floradora') × 'Magic Dragon'
Habit:	Climber or groundcover, 12+
Bloom time:	All year
Flower:	Cluster, Double, Vermillion
Other notable features:	Very heavy bloomer, fast grower. Red flowers are particularly lovely against RC’s shiny, dark green, fine-textured foliage. Said to tolerate some shade, as, indeed, ours does.

Name:	Reine des Violettes	Qty:	1
Class:	Hybrid Perpetual
Introduced:	1860: Mille-Mallet, Pope Pius IX (hybrid perpetual, Vibert, 1849) seedling (Source).
Habit:	Leggy shrub: h4-5 × w3
Bloom time:	Spring and fall
Flower:	Cluster, Very double, 3-4”Deep lilac
Other notable features:	Very unusual color; is responding with singular generosity of spirit to being re-transplanted after just 1 year. Purported to be shade tolerant. Very nice fragrance.

Name:	Souvenir de la Malmaison
Class:	Bourbon
Introduced:	1843, Jean Béluze ('Madame Desprez × a tea rose)
Habit:	4-6' shrub
Bloom time:	repeat
Flower:	Cluster(?) Extra double, often with quartered blooms of a delicate flesh-pink
Other notable features:	helpmefind.com says it doesn't like heavy pruning. A member of the World Federation of Rose Societies Old Rose Hall of Fame. A deeply cherished rose for the unusual beauty of its flowers. Largely problem-free in central Texas, though it apparently balls in cooler, wetter climates, such as the Pacific NW.

Name:	Wild Blue Yonder	Qty:	1
Class:	Grandiflora
Introduced:	2006; Carruth, (International Herald Tribune x R. soulieana derivative) x (Sweet Chariot x Blue Nile)] x (Blueberry Hill x Stephen's Big Purple)
Habit:	Upright bush: h4-6 × w3
Bloom time:	So far, mostly spring & fall—possibly more when better established.
Flower:	Cluster, double, Dark mauve/wine with white eye
Other notable features:	Weeks Roses site (owner of this rose) claims it gets better with establishment. First saw an unnamed beta version of this rose at It’s a Jungle here in Austin. Big old beast in a ~10 gallon pot covered in deep purple-red flowers with white eyes. When I had scraped together my pennies and went back to buy it, they said they now had the named cultivar in stock, which I bought. Mine has never been as deep or gem-like in its coloring as that trial plant I saw—but it’s had a pretty stressful life, so I’m hoping that when it settles in it will gain some intensity. Somewhat susceptible to the Horrid Fungus that killed off 2 of my Maggies last year.