A Walk Through The Garden, 2007

'Bleu Magenta'

Multiflora rambler, before 1925

When I was first collecting old roses, I got it in my head to start searching for anything bluish. I have this "thing" for purple, you see. I bought 'Bleu Magenta' not expecting much from it. What came was a perfect little rose.

The color in the photo is correct; that's exactly what the individual flowers look like. To me they are just perfection; everything about them is right.

'Blue Magenta' grew well in 2005, and in 2006 she produced what must have been literally thousands of buds. I had the highest of hopes from her. But... I'm not sure what happened; leaf-miners are suspected. But with exactly one exception, every single bud turned yellow and died before it bloomed.

The plant, on the other hand, did fine. She grew a three-meter cane and some two-meter canes, which were subsequently trained to a trellis. This year she is growing very well, although some of the canes had to be pruned because of a fungus infection under the bark (something that seems to happen to roses all over the county). I'm caring for her as best I can and will apply bug spray early, much as I hate to; so hopefully her thousands of buds will bloom for me this year.

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