Rosa 'Veilchenblau' and Surprise In Greenhouse

'Veilchenblau' is a hybrid floribunda Rose cultivar that was bred in Germany in 1909. Other names include 'Blue Rambler', 'Blue Rosalie' and 'Violet Blue'. It is one of the bluest of the old rambling roses. The cultivar is a near-thornless climber, growing approximately 12 feet tall by 12 feet wide and is hardy in zones 5-9. The flowers are small, semi-double mauve or a mauve blend and have a fragrance reminiscent of Lily-Of-The-Valley.


My Veilchenblau is growing - hopefully it will continue to grow and bloom well this year and the deer will leave it alone. Looks like we're going to have to lasso it to bring it back down to the lattice – at least the deer can’t reach it there. Last year just starting to bloom.
A friend of mine owned a nursery down the road for years until she retired. She had this rose climbing up over one of her greenhouses. It isn't the prettiest but it goes crazy with blooms and the color was right for me so I had to have one. When she finally did a few starts to sell I jumped at the chance to buy one. Here's a picture of her Veilchenblau. Click on this picture to really see those gorgeous blooms.
I was out puttering around in the greenhouse and watering some plants. I pulled out a tray to water the back ones and look what I found.
The day before I had seen one of the rose colored finches fly in there and then fly in again but completely forgot about it by the next day. I hated to take the nest out but I know they wouldn’t like it with me in there all the time so I put it in one of my Lilac trees for a decoration.
Speaking of which, the lilac tree is getting ready to bloom.