More orchids in bloom.

The cooler, drier weather and the shortening diurnal cycle triggered many of my orchids to bloom.

Left, Cycnodes 'Wine Delight'; and below a
Brsdm. Longlen, 'Orchid Man', just covered in dancing flowers.

Note the beautiful gynostemium in the center of the flowers. Anatomically, it's the combined male-female sexual organs, the stamen and pistil. You can see, perhaps, why Orchidaceae have always been perceived as sexually ambiguous, provocative flowers. (Orchis in Greek is testicle, apparently a similarity to the pseudo-bulb of some species.)

The flower of the Brassidium below, though the hybrid is called 'Orchid Man', looks very feminine to me -- striking a "come-hither" pose... Like other Oncidium-tribe I grow, this one is truly a no-maintenance plant, save for its weekly weak fertilizing.

Brassidium Longlen 'Orchid Man'

A new orchid blooms today. Like some lithe dancing insect. Brassidium Lonlglen 'Orchid Man.'

A few words about Cherokee and Fortuniana

With Central Florida's sandy, hot and nematode ridden soil, most roses are doomed to a few years' lifespan before losing vigor and eventually failing. You can buy a nice rose at the local Home Depot for $10, and that rose will return dozens of blossoms for a modest investment in that short span. Not a bad bloom for your buck.

However, it really takes several years before roses come into their prime: Their canes thicken at the base, they grow and flower more expansively, they require less water. I've only lived in this old Spanish Revival house for a few years, but the roses that have been growing in my garden for two years are remarkable for their vigor and floriferousness. Some roses, like my hybrid teas 'Elegant Beauty' and 'St. Patricks' bloomed only fitfully during their first year. Now that they've adapted and grown a bit, they bloom freely and stand up to the heat and humidity better than initially.

While there are dozens of Old Garden Roses that can survive growing on their own stocks, your money is well spent investing in plants that are grafted onto 'Fortuniana,' an OGR (Old Garden Rose), believed to be a natural cross between two Rosa species, R. banksiae -- the 'Lady
Banks' rose -- and R. laevigata, the 'Cherokee Rose.' (One of the other common names for 'Fortuniana' is 'Double Cherokee.' Notice the resemblance between 'Fortuniana' above and 'Cherokee' below. )

A few quick words about the latter patriarch in 'Fortuniana's' lineage. The Cherokee Rose is the state flower of Georgia (though it is not native there), and grows here in Central Florida on old brick fences around my neighborhood. The beautiful old Mediterranean Revival house to the east has 'Cherokee' growing as a twenty-foot hedge, the tips in the morning wind wave madly at me against the bleached blue sky while I putter about my business. Early in the spring, mid-March, those long and thorny canes are covered with simple but charming white flowers with yellow stamens and anthers (right). It's a likeable rose in its own right -- zero maintenance, and amazingly vital. I started several cuttings of it last year by just sticking them in sand in the spring, and they've quickly mounted my gazebo's roof, where I imagine the temperatures reach well over 130 degrees in the heat of summer. The canes are already 15 feet long -- in one year.

Anyway, back to 'Fortuniana.' Robert Fortune introduced the rose in 1850 (hence 'Fortuniana'), and wrote of the rose:

The white climbing rose referred to is cultivated in gardens about Ningpo and Shanghai, and is held in high esteem by the Chinese; indeed it is one of the best white kinds which I have met with in China. It is frequently seen of a large size covering trellis-work formed into alcoves or built over garden walks. For this purpose it is well suited, as it is a luxuriant grower, and it blooms profusely and early. This Rose was amongst my first importations to the Horticultural Society and is no doubt well worth cultivation in English gardens. It may not please in every respect Rose-fanciers, but it is very beautiful nevertheless, and it has some advantages peculiar to itself. (quoting from the Rosarian Malcolm Manners, who is quoting from Willmott's monograph "The Genus Rosa.")

The lineage of 'Fortuniana' is not uncontested. Quoting from Climbing Roses of the World by Charles Quest-Ritson:

'Fortuneana' syn. 'Fortuniana' [=Rosa x fortuniana]. Crepin considered 'Fortuneana' a hybrid between R. Laevigata and R. banksiae, but this parentage is questionable because no one has ever succeeded in crossing R. laevigata with R. banksiae. Its flowers are larger than other Banksian roses, about 6 cm across, although 'Fortuneana' flowers at the same time as they do, very early in the season. It was named in honor of Robert Fortune (1812-1880) by John Lindley in 1850. 'Fortuneana' is an important rootstock in Western Australia where heat, drought, and poor soil are a challenge to cultivation.

Fortune's rose never caught on in England, as he had hoped. It turns out the rose has poor cold tolerance, and never grew well in a damp, cool continental climate. It was, however, popular around the Mediterranean basin at the end of the nineteenth century.

However, 'Fortuniana' is perfect for Florida: It is very heat and drought tolerant, and develops remarkable root growth. I've dug out 'Fortuniana' with six-foot roots after only a year's growth. (That's prodigious growth by rose standards.) The roots also trend out and near the surface, rather than down, which allows greater absorption of water and soluble minerals in Florida's sandy soil. Finally, the rose is apparently immune to the nematodes that infect much of the soil here. (Though, frankly, I've looked for the telltale signs of nematodes on plants, and never found any where I live, though I'm not botanist.)

All these adaptations mean that roses grafted onto 'Fortuniana' will grow more quickly and larger, be less susceptible to drought and disease, and live for much longer, than they would were they own-root roses. Even OGRs that grow well here in Florida grow better on 'Fortuniana' stock. (That said, I grow a half-dozen, own-root roses.) The only drawback I've found is that 'Fortuniana' is such a vigorous rose that you end up with a lot of suckers (offgrowth from the stock). They're easy to identify (three leaves, different color) and pinch off, though.

Two other facts about 'Fortuniana': Many people wonder why they graft roses onto such long 'Fortuniana' stocks. Usually the rootstock is about a foot high, much much higher than 'Dr. Huey' up North. (You can always indentify 'Fortuniana'-grafted roses by their rootstock length.) I've heard various explanations, including "just to make them look unique," but I'm pretty certain the reason for this practice is to allow for heavy mulching, which is absolutely necessary in rose culture here. (I try to keep a minimum of four inches of pine bark mulch around my roses, and several inches deeper of old, well-composted mulch and biological debris like leaves.) As I've pointed out, 'Fortuniana' is a tough and disease-resistant plant, so it stands up to the rot problems (which are ultimately fungal) that would plague a more delicate rose. The 'Fortuniana's' stock length keeps the grafted rose out of the mulch. The other fact about 'Fortuniana': Because its roots tend to grow outward, rather than downward, I've heard a lot about the importance of staking roses. I think that's a load of bunk. Some of my roses are well-staked, others not at all. We had three hurricanes pass through here last year, and I had absolutely no damage to my roses, including a 'Prosperity' that was ten feet high and was blow n and buffeted for ten hours straight during Frances. Based on that experience, I can say without equivocationg that 'Fortuniana' does a fine job hunkering down, and needs to be staked no more nor less than another rose.

Unlike those $10 roses from Home Depot, a rose grafted onto 'Fortuniana' will set you back at least $20. One reason for this premium is that 'Fortuniana' is relatively difficult to propagate, so it costs more than own-root or roses grafted on other stocks. (You'll often find roses in Florida rooted on 'Dr. Huey' for much less than those rooted on 'Fortuniana.' Don't bother with Huey here, though -- it might buy you a year over own-root, but it's not worth the cost.)

I know of two growers that use 'Fortuniana' in the area: Merrygro farms in Eustis and Nelsons' Florida Rose. At Merrygro, the prices are low but you have to mail order them or find them at Home Depot or a local nursery. I've bought nearly all my roses from Nelsons', at plant fairs or through their distributors. They've recently opened their doors to the public, though I haven't visited. Merrygro's prices are a little lower and their selection a bit wider, but Nelsons' is a family-run business that has led the industry in introducing Florida roses. In the end, it comes down to who has the rose I want to add to my garden.

Speaking of buying from nurseries: I can't recommend highly enough developing a good relationship with your local nursery. I shop at A Garden Fair or at the DeBary Nursery. Both of them excellent, full-service nurseries with a wide and appropriate selection of plants, roses included. I've learned much of what I know about Florida gradening from chatting with the owners of these businesses, and other nurserymen at plant shows.

Central Florida Orchid Culture

If you've read my previous postings on rose culture, you'll see that I'm a wonk of all things Rosa. I grow a few dozen orchids, too, but I don't fetishize them to the same degree: I try to practice benign neglect with them, and, by and large here in Central Florida, that approach to orchids works.

I have a pretty good collection of Dendrobiums, a few Oncidiums, reed-stem orchids that are getting huge but haven't bloomed, a handful of terrestrial orchids, some members of the Phalenopsis genus, a beautiful Vandaceous, and a few weird ones I've picked up from sales. I keep them in hanging from tree limbs or in a bright, shady spot under the canopy of a young Water Oak, in an out-of-the-way corner, on the concrete bed where the garage used to stand decades ago. My children give them wide berth, and they live there mostly undisturbed perched on old bricks I've dug out of the yard. The tree trimmer managed to mangle many of them last month when he came to cut damaged limbs from our oak tree, but orchids are very tough plants, and they've bounced back. In fact, the limbs sliced off several nearly-blooming spikes, and, to my surprise, the orchids have put out new spikes to replace them.

Aside from a once-weekly spray with a diluted foliar fertilizer (I use half-strength Miracle-Gro, balanced formula) mixed with orchid vitamins, I pay them little heed save to move them inside or to a good spot on the patio when they bloom. Most of them are planted in coir chips (coconut) -- an excellent potting medium that is slow to break down. Lately, though, I've switched to inorganic media, mostly amix of charcoal and lava rock. The inorganic mix obviously doesn't break down, as organic mixes quickly do here. The inorganic media allow the orchids to dry out rapidly from our frequent rains, and they offer better support than the organic media during heavy downpours.

As a test, last year I bought a couple of identical (cloned) terrestrial orchids, and planted one in coir and one in inorganic medium. The latter seems to be doing marginally better, and is about to bloom while the plant in the coir, while healthy, has no spikes.

Dendrobiums are, by and large, adapted to a cooler climate than here. I love their heterogeneity, though, and have about a two dozen. They bloom freely, at least twice a year, but the foliage suffers. I have to say that I'm not a big fan of Oncidiinae, but they bear up under the heat and humidity and their blooms last for weeks and sometimes months. I have one Paphio-
pedilum, which has only bloomed twice in the two years I've owned it. The prize of my collection is a red-violet Vandaceous named Henry. He blooms, reliably, twice a month with a break in September. He cost a bundle for me ($70), but no other plant that I've ever owned has so much bang for the buck. I'll post a photo in a couple of weeks when he comes back into bloom. His two keikis are almost four inches high now -- I'm hoping they'll bloom next year.

(From top to bottom: A Candy Stripe Dendrobium; an Oncidium, probably Wildcat, though I don't know for certain; The very pretty and reliable White Shavin Dendrobium, which blooms very regularly once every few months.)

Hybrid Musk Climbing Rose 'Prosperity'

left: Prosperity and Don Juan
below: A closeup of Prosperity. The pinkish center fades quickly in the heat of summer, but remains when it cools down.


'Prosperity' is a hybrid musk rose. Very vigorous, free-flowering rose that pulls out all the stops in early March. It continues to bloom, albeit spottily, all year. It makes a fair cutting flower, but there are so many blooms on each stem that it's difficult to work into an arrangement or to use on its own without resorting to wire. Lightly scented. It grows on Fortuniana rootstock here in Central Florida, and is, in my experience, very disease and drought resistant.

I have 'Prosperity' growing in full sun, along with 'Don Juan,' 'Abraham Darby,' and 'Elegant Beauty' at the base of a school bell that I rescued from my grandmother's farm in Bardstown, Kentucky.

Central Florida rose culture

The challenges for rose culture here in Central Florida are many: sandy, infertile soils that heat quickly in the summer sun; high humidity for at least seven months of the year; temperatures in the nineties from mid-May until the beginning of October; and, in many areas, rampant nematodes. There are also some things working to our advantage: Plenty of rain when it's hot, fast draining soils (sometimes too fast), and climate that permits nearly year-round rose culture. The soil is slightly acidic, and there's ample phosphorous. (Some of that phosphorous is naturally-occuring (Central Florida sands have been mined for phosphorous, especially in the 1950s), some of it is residual from the former citrus groves that used to cover the area.) I've never had much of a problem with pests in my roses.

To anyone interested in learning the lore and art of rose culture here in Florida, I highly recommend For the Love of Roses in Florida and Elsewhere by Barbara Oehlbeck. It's a quirky book with disappointing production values, but it's also charming and informative in a folksy way. Imagine your crazy aunt writing a book about her gardening...

There are dozens of roses that grow, even thrive, here in Florida on their own roots, and many more cultivars that grow on "Fortuniana" rootstock. ("Fortuniana," an Old Garden Rose related, it is believed, to the "Cherokee Rose," has produced in the past two decades a real revolution in rose growing in the Deep South, especially here in Central Florida. It's a remarkable rose, so I'll make it a topic for a later post.)

The rose to the left is "Vincent Godsif," а Bermuda "mystery rose" with a, well, sort of shocking, lipstick pink bloom. It's a bit twiggy, and prickly, but it flowers in even the hottest, wettest weather and never needs spraying.

The rose to the right, growing among the "Powis Castle" Artemesia (great as an understory for roses), is a China Rose "Ducher," named, presumably, after the very well-known French rose developer Joseph Pernet-Ducher. It's one of the very few white Chinas commercially available. Like I suppose all Chinas, this one has a somewhat sparse, very upright growth habit. The white, angular blooms have soft pink center initially, which fades pretty quickly. It would make a lovely cut flower, but is very prone to shattering. True to its lineage, it blooms in the heat and rain of August and the foliage remains virtually disease free.

I've owned the own-root roses for about a year, purchased at Seminole Springs Herb Farm, a place highly recommended for its offbeat selection of flowers and roses. I have about a dozen own-root roses in my garden ("Blush Noisette," "Puerto Rico," and several others) as well as a dozen or so roses grafted onto "Fortuniana" rootstock.

The rose to the left here, growing through a metal pyramid, is "Red Cascade." Miniature, perfect dark-red roses with matching tiny foliage and a vigorous growth habit and high resistance to disease. It grows vigorously on its own stock.

I never spray this rose, and even have one off of any irrigation (though that one has done poorly in the periods of dry weather we've had recently). Though it's usually regarded as a rambler or ground cover rose, I think it's best grown up through a pyramid where the hands of pretty flowers are held forth for inspection and enjoyment.

On October 8, my Vincent Godsif (right) is in full, tawdry bloom. We had a cool spell for a few days, followed by heavy rains from October 4-7 (a tropical wave). The hot and humid weather that has followed is an unwelcome surprise to everyone here.

The flowers are quite tight and pretty when they first open, but small right now. The hotter the weather, the smaller the bloom.

If you're interested in learning more about rose growing in Central Florida, visit the excellent rose garden at Harry Leu gardens in Orlando. It's particularly nice mid-November and through the months of February to May. The Central Florida Rose Society meets there monthly, save for during hottest months of summer when they, like roses, take a break. I've been meaning to join the Society for years, but with a busy career and family, I need to make the time.