Ushering in the new rose year

It's been almost 5 months since my last posting, and I can hardly contain my excitement that the new ROSE YEAR has begun.  The first open bloom this year (and the earliest in my 8 years in Salem) was on April 21, and you'll see it in the 3rd photo below.  But first let me show you one of my 'Queen Elizabeth' seedlings; the photos are of the same rose bloom taken 2 days apart.  With just 20 petals, this rose will always find it easier to open, so in a way it is suited to the cooler climate here in Oregon.  The bloom in the photo on the left is a generous 5 inches across.  By the way, a 4 bloom cluster of this rose can be seen in my posting of July 5th, 2014 ("Royal roses").

Photo taken:  April 30,  2015

Photo taken:  April 28,  2015

The photo below on the left is another of my 'Queen Elizabeth' seedlings, and it bears the distinction of being the earliest bloom this year.  As expected, the petal count is low, but the bloom is really colorful.  The rose to the right is one of my 'Red Galaxy' clones that I grew from a cutting last year.  The bloom fully opened today and the plant is the 2nd rose from the "chicken" that can be seen in my posting of September 22nd, 2014 ("The chicken inspector").  My experiment of growing nine 'Red Galaxy' clones along the north side of the house appears to be successful, as all nine plants are already showing multiple flower buds.

Photo taken:  April 21,  2015

Photo taken:   April 30,  2015