A Single Rose Brightens a Winter’s Day
Photo: Mister Lincoln hybrid tea rose
I love roses. So much so, that at one time I had over forty different varieties growing in the garden of my home in Phoenix.
Fast forward 25 years later, and I live in a different house with a different garden. While I don’t have quite as many roses as before, I still do have a special place for several of my favorites.
After growing over fifty varieties of roses, I do have a favorite one, which is ‘Mister Lincoln.’ There are so many reasons to grow this rose including dark red, velvety petals along with incredible fragrance.
I planted this bush in my newest garden last year, and I was delighted to see a single, large red bloom decorating my winter garden. What is so special about this single rose is that there are no other flowers currently blooming in this area of the garden, which makes it even that more special.
The leaves of my apple trees are falling in the background, and much of my garden is sleeping. However, this single Mister Lincoln rose brightens my winter garden bringing welcome beauty on a cold winter’s day.
A Hidden Rose Garden in the Desert
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Beautiful rose “Mister Lincoln”. We have a Doris Day and a Henry Fonda (flower, not when he played Lincoln), which put out great flowers. Since we’ve pruned them back for the winter, is anything we should do to the soil for spring bloom? We live in Southern California. Had some yellowing of the leaves this last year. Didn’t seem like a water issue, but it could have been the soil or food.
Drew
I live in las vegas and pretty much have given up growing any thing. I have one rose in a pot, right now looks sad. Is your Mr Lincoln in the ground and what did you do to prep the soil, we have clay soil here. I ran a very successful landscape biz for 20 yrs in Calif this gardening here makes me feel like I have no clue.
Mr. Lincoln is a beauty and has been a favorite of mine also, the velvety leaves, the wonderful deep rose scent.
FlowerLady
Mr Lincoln never looked so good!
Hi Karen,
This is the best rose that my new Mr. Lincoln has produced in the first year of being in my garden. I am hoping for more. 🙂
🙂
Hi Dee,
All roses do best when planted in the ground in desert climates as their roots get too hot in containers. We have clay soil as well, which does best when amended soil. I understand the difficulty moving to a new climate as I was in your shoes 30 years ago. Here is a blog post I wrote on how to grow roses in the desert. I hope it helps! http://www.azplantlady.com/growing-roses-in-deser
Hi Drew,
what lovely roses you have! I would add compost around each rose at a depth of 2-3 inches. Keep the mulch at least 6 inches away from the base of the rose. In March, fertilize them with an all-purpose rose fertilizer and water in well. Reapply the mulch in September as well as the fertilizer. I hope this helps.
I also planted a Mr. Lincoln rose this past year, and I recognized it right away from your photo. I could nearly smell yours! Just beautiful.