Introducing ‘Celestial’ Alba Rose
We have a new introduction to our garden: ‘Celestial’, an Alba rose dating way back to the early 18th century. Have you tried Alba roses yet? I’m just dipping my toes in this class and finding that so far I’m loving them as much as the Gallicas. Albas are an Old Garden Rose–cold hardy, grey-green foliage, white to light pink flowers and are more forgiving than other roses of shadier conditions. I chose ‘Celestial’ because of her name; she also goes by ‘Céleste’ which is my grandmother’s name. I thought it would be lovely to surprise her one day with a bouquet of these roses since she has always hated her name and maybe then she’ll see how beautiful it really is–just like her! Since our ‘Celestial’ was a band and still quite tiny (only about 12″ tall as I write this) it has only offered a few blooms but I must say the foliage has been completely clean of disease all season long even though she rubs shoulders with a ‘Mme Hardy’ which gets a little spotty at the end of the season. At this point I’m operating on a “wait and see” for all of our roses but I have high hopes for this one.
{UPDATE: See Grandma with “her” Céleste rose in summer of 2014 in photo below}
What a stunning blog! There is beauty bursting forth from each post!
It’s a delight to have found you.
Warmest wishes from France.
Thank you Stephanie and welcome! Your comment made my day 😀
Hmmm, you say “shadier conditions” are there roses that you would recommend for shady spots? I have quite a few spots that get a fair amount of shade probably half the day once the trees really put on their full leaves for the summer. I was hoping there were roses I could plant that would be happy with ½ a day of sun or dappled sun throughout the day. I don’t have a lot of trees but the ones I have are huge and have been growing for many, many years. I enjoy the shade as we don’t have central air, (boo) but when it comes to my plants I struggle with what I can get away with planting on the edge zone. By that I mean the not quite full sun all day but not full shade either.
Hi Kimmy! The conditions you’re describing sound too shady for any rose to thrive but it’s difficult to say without seeing it in person. Watch this video by Paul Zimmerman where he describes growing roses in areas with less than ideal sunlight. It should tell you everything you need to know! 🙂
Awesome!!! As always thank you for being my rose guru. lol
Haha! Not even! 😉 But I’m always happy to help!
Since I am picking your brain again as always it seems. How did Jacques Cartier measure in your post from the other day? Was his score borderline? I had just put him on my must have list when I read your post. A mental scream nooooooo much like “Stella” in a Streetcar Named Desire happened in my head when I read that. Overly dramatic? Who me? I was hoping maybe because I am a little further south than you perhaps he would do better and if he was borderline to begin with???? Do you see how I am trying to justify getting him, still.
That rose didn’t even get scored because I knew it had to go but if you had asked me 1 or 2 years ago I would have recommended without hesitation. If you don’t have a rose midge problem it might be worth growing! 😉
What a beautiful rose, and reason for its name. You know she will love it!
I hope so!
This led me to discover what species of rose I have growing in our back yard. Our home was built in the 1930s and I knew we had an old rose because she blooms only once a year. I have to say she is HARDY. Every year she gets cut back and just blows up with growth. Her space got a bit shadier since I added a privacy fence put in, but it didn’t seem to make any impact. She still gets a good bit of rising and southern sun. Very disease resistance and low maintenance. I could never water or fertilize and she’d still put out a ton of growth. This year I gave her extra love and I think it may have been why we got such a spread.
Sounds wonderful, Lacey! Thank you so much for being here. 🙂