One week later...
The insect spray worked wonders, and rid most of the pesky aphids. I noticed only a slight discoloration or browning on these first blooms, which I am sure is due to the spray since the temperature didn't climb high enough to cause problems. The roses border my front porch, facing east, and get a healthy serving of "Sunny-D" most of the day. Morning or evening are my favorite time for them as the light effects are most dramatic, and their colors most vivid.
There are three roses bushes, but so far only two have bloomed. I am still waiting for the white roses to emerge from their leafy cocoons. They are quite pretty, with broad flat leaves, and they unfold to a loose, white flower. Unfortunately they are delicate, and succumb to burning after only a few weeks of summer sun. Fortunately they bloom often, so if I trim every few weeks, the rose bush remains spring new.
Over the years, there has been some cross-pollination by our friendly neighborhood bees, and the white and pink rose bushes will sometimes carry some of each other's coloring. Also, they have different petal shapes, and the pink rose bush originally had a thicker cupped petal. But as the picture shows, the pink bloom flowered more like my white rose bush. (Go Darwin). But this is the first year I have taken consecutive pictures, so I could be remembering wrong. (Go Dementia).
I will continue to take pictures through out this summer; it will be interesting to see how things develop. Plus, roses are the perfect posers! Even a photo-novice like me can capture a nice picture!
