Roses that Bloom on Christmas morning
There is a peculiar form of one-upmanship in being able to pick a nice bunch of flowers in December, and presenting a fresh rose on Christmas morn – and could there be anything nicer? Of course, it will hardly be likely to compare with a bloom from early summer, December weather is all wrong for a start, and most roses have long decided to call it a day, but some varieties just don’t know when to stop.
They have somewhat smaller blooms but the group offers a range of colours, and one of them, ‘Old Blush China’, is also known as the ‘Monthly Rose’ because of the regularity with which it repeatedly blooms.
As you probably realize, not all fruits can be frozen – strawberries and raspberries, for example, usually collapse into a soggy mess as they are thawed, and rose petals usually behave the same way. The expansion of freezing liquid in the tissue cells of many fruits and flowers bursts the walls, and like a frozen water pipe that bursts, you see no problem until the ice thaws and runs out.
If you can have an interesting story to tell your friends about the plants in your garden, so much the better. Add a little romance to the tea and biscuits.
Renew the ice night and morning to keep the water and the rose stem as cool as possible. This is an old showman’s trick to hold back blooms that are reaching their peak too early for show. Conversely, moving it into tepid water and a warm room will open a bloom very quickly.
A very good variety for our purpose is the modern pure white `Iceberg’. Buds in December sometimes show a slight touch of pink, but the above treatment either clears it or hides it under the opening petals to give a nice white bloom.