Fourth of July: An Early Celebration in Malaysia

Though it would be nice to introduce this rose in July, I can't seem to wait that long. Fourth of July (FOJ) is finally in my collection and I must share this jubilation with the world.

FOJ is a well-known rose, a climber (mawar memanjat) with blooms stripy white and red. 

Classed as large-flowered rose, it is named after America's Independence Day. The bloom is 3 to 3.5 inches in diameter. Like many striped roses, no two blooms are the same. 

5 March 2011
First bloom. Diameter 2 inches.
Still a baby plant but bloomed readily.

I had this rose since February this year.  

What's so exciting, it bloomed again this week on its 4th cycle. For the first time it showcased its true beauty and habit I longed to see. Whatever good reviews I've read about this rose, I finally have proofs to say that most claims are true.

6 April 2011
Bloomed on 2nd cycle.
Though slightly chlorotic I am quite happy with the progress in leaf size.
At this point this rose has 3 arching 1.5 feet long canes.

In temperate climate, FOJ is said to take rather long to establish that is around 3 - 5 years. I am witnessing it's first year and my take on this it would grow faster here than in temperate countries, so I would expect a fair growth from this rose.

One minus point - it does take a while to repeat flowering. On average a cycle per month is slower than a snail in a race. I hope the period will get shorter as the plant matures. 

On the plus side, it seems to start flowering quite early and throw up new stems with even more flowers topping them. A trait of a true climber. The flowering energy must had been used for greater good building the needed stems, after all. Hence, the sluggish bloom cycle (kitar pembungaan) for the last few months.

Here's to show you...

27 April 2011
In no time, one of the long arching branches produced the much awaited laterals.
This is already considered as fast growing compared to some of the rose varieties available here.
Being me, I am always forgiving when it comes to rose's first year.

FOJ blooms semi-double, opens fully showing its disk of golden stamens and a center of bright cheerful yellow. Any bees would surely not to miss such an inviting stop. 

 Single bloom. Stripes were completely omitted from this bloom.
Solid red with only 5 petals was visited by a 'Kelulut' (Trigona Bee)

Bee's work. Hip formed fast. Probably just in a week's time.
A note to always deadhead this rose right after it finishes flowering.

FOJ is a climber that performs well in warm climate - hence why I wanted this rose badly and finally was able to obtain it; as all my faith goes into it performing well in my hot and humid tropical garden.  

10 May 2011
Almost perfect bloom was finally here.
The petals were not as ruffled as I would expect,
but reflexed petals are common to roses adapted to here.

Stripes were back though the bloom was still heavy on the red.
Petals were of layers this time. 

FOJ is said to have a stunning fragrant, the kind of fragrance uncommon to roses. I missed taking note on this trait so it will be one of the few things I am looking forward to next time around.

19 May 2011
It was late afternoon when I captured this image.
It was one of those days when the sun is like an orange pinned on grey sky,
and red ray seemed generously splashed everywhere.
This was not kind to my point and shoot camera.

This time there were more buds to enjoy.
Less singles but sprays of blooms would soon be here.

This rose is bred by Caruth (1999) and characterized as having bright green foliage.

21 May 2011
Yes, the tree in full view.
The laterals you've seen earlier were now with blooms (canes on the left).
Each ended with a spray.
The canes on the right produced single blooms and shorter.

Side view.
If you can see, more basal breaks arrived at the base at the same time.

The first bloom in a spray somehow always a 3 inches.
Above, aged while the companions were still in close buds.

Just bloomed. Simply gorgeous.

FOJ is top in my list of most-wanted roses as it is claimed to be floriferous climber and resistant to blackspot. These two traits are very important when growing roses in the tropics since you can't have a climber that looks more like a tropical foliage plant stingy in blooms or one that is leggy and bare for losing foliages due to blackspot.

Blackspot is one of the worst nightmares to rose gardeners in the tropics besides thrips, spidermites and scales.

Fade to magenta/purplish as the bloom aged. 

A fair 4-5 blooms in a single spray. 

24 May 2011

24 May 2011
If cut, it would be a nice bouquet as half opened blooms were nice too.

25 May 2011
Displayed a great spray of gorgeous ruffled blooms when all fully opened.

The colors were so vibrant!

Golden stamens make wonderful contrast to white and red.

I must say FOJ here is unwilling with white.
I hope to see more of stripes in future,
though I have a feeling that this
wonderful trait wouldn't be FOJ strongest here. 

Thorny - not dense but very thorny.
Very-very long and sharp hook, pricked me couple of times.

FOJ can grow to 10-15 feet tall in temperate climate. 

It can be grown stunningly on pergola or trellis.  When trained on fences or against high walls, it too would show a spectacular effect. 

Once mine grows stronger and dense, I'll have this rose move to ground and attached to an arbor painted white to match the white stripes. It's going to be quite a garden project and a new rose-adventure for me.

Garden arbor in the making.
It took me a considerable amount of time to design and draw this 2-post arbor to ensure
measurements are right before we purchase the lumber.
I think it's gonna be great.

For now, it sits on my fence (the main gate) in a container with a task of greeting me daily.

Placed next to my pink moss rose (Portulaca Grandiflora 'Sundial Fuchsia').

I think one FOJ is not enough in my garden that I must have at least two. I simply just love it. Especially when I need 2 plants for the arbor. An excuse to add more of this lovely rose... aight?

Copyright of Rough Rosa