hello, my name is Bini, I´m from germany. ours is a 6b climat. I´d like to share with you why "Westerland"is my favorit rose and why, if I would be allowed to have only one rose in my garden, it sure would be "Westerland".
"Westerland" was among the first roses I ever got, 15 years back, when I was looking for tall, blooming plants to set along a fence towards the street. I don´t even remember why I got it, because then I was in my " pink phase" .
I put it in our heavy clay ground with lots of composted horse manure and just watched it grow. within 2 years it had metamorphosed into a 2.50m high, almost 2 m wide bloom-monster. if you dead-head it, it blooms. if you don´t, it sets hips and blooms, if you feed it, it blooms, if you forget, it blooms.if it gets blackspots in moist years, it shakes off those spotted leaves and blooms. and along with the many blooms comes a fragrant.... so strong and wonderful...
I´ve seen pedestrians stop dead in their tracks, or come over from the other side of the street, just do burry ther noses in my "Westerland".
I´ve been ask so many times about her name and whereabouts, that I actually thought about putting a name tack outside of the fence, but then I would have missed all those little talks. Many could just not resist and nicked a bloom from her, but neither my "Westerland" nor I did mind, we understood eachother as ambassadors of roses.
Her color was a truly strong orange, more yellow in the middle, in hot weather or as the days went by the blooms brightend into lighter colors, some even into soft baby-rosè with a yellow center. the blooms stayed on the shrub long, and if you where lazy turning into big green hips. she started doing her blooming-thing in mid-june until father frost send her to sleep.
Last winter we had an freakish warm january, followed by 6 weeks of dry, bitter frost.It took about half of all my roses. old or young, protected or not,monsters and petits all the same.And it took my "Westerland".
maybe you already know how it feels to take a saw to the corps of a plant you really liked....
I left the roots in, because I did not want to do damage to the neighboring plants in springtime bringing out the roots big as the ones of trees.
I went an got a new "Westerland", putting it near the old, familiar spot.
Next thing I know was fat, big fingers with rubired foilage on top reaching out of the ground on my first "Westerland" grave. I was so proud of my old girl !
now they are blooming side by side along my fence, making me happy just by looking at them. I can´t wait for them to reach maturity and call out for worshippers up and down the street.
I firmly belive, if every gardeners first rose would be a "Westerland" there would be more rose-lovers.
Bini.