Rose Watercolor

Watercolor is one of the most beautiful varieties of roses. The hybrid tea subspecies received this name due to the peculiar color of the petals. It is very often chosen by gardeners to decorate private plots and yards.

The authorship of the breeding belongs to the Rosen Tantau company, which is located in Germany. It was bred by Hans Jürgen Evers, based on tea and remontant roses. The nursery, in which the tests took place, was opened back in 1906 and is still operating. The varieties that grow there are popular all over the world. As for the Aquarelle variety, it has been awarded more than once for its unique appearance. The last time it happened was in Italy and Spain. There, the rose received an honorable third place.

Watercolor refers to perennial hybrid tea roses. The shrub grows quite quickly, it is usually 60-90 cm in height, but it can reach up to 120. The diameter of the bush is 50-60 centimeters. The foliage has a leathery shiny surface, is dense and dark green juicy color. Peduncles are powerful, form 1-3 buds, but in rare cases 5-7 specimens may appear.

Now let's see what the Watercolor flowers are:

• belong to the densely double type, have 60-70 petals;

• pink-cream buds, very delicate in appearance;

• the central part is golden, with a peach tint, but the edges of the petals are pink-crimson;

• the shape of the bud is represented by a glass or a ball;

• flowers vary in configuration from spherical to cupped;

• the flowers are rather large, about 10-12 cm in diameter, located singly or in inflorescences;

• The aroma of the flower is very bright, juicy, intense, with pronounced fruity sweet notes.

Watercolor has the following strengths:

• very beautiful color of the petals, where one shade smoothly passes into another, but the edges of the transition are blurred, as in the watercolor technique;

• after cutting, the flowers do not lose their spectacular appearance within a week;

• the plants have a strong and pleasant aroma and large flowers;

• the rose can be grown in open soil and in boxes indoors;

• the sun does not affect the brightness of the colors of this variety;

• plants grow rapidly upward, are resistant to drought and rain;

• rose bushes are rarely affected by diseases typical of the culture.

The disadvantage of Watercolors is that the plant is quite whimsical to care for. In addition, it is demanding on lighting. If in summer the sky is often overcast, such a rose will bloom weakly. It has a high frost resistance, but for some parts of the country it is still not enough.

The watercolor blooms in two stages. The first flowering starts in the 20th of June, the second - in the first days of August. In a comfortable summer, the rose blooms very profusely, almost continuously.

Roses of this variety are often grown as standard forms. They are grown in containers in indoor and outdoor rose gardens, combined in flower beds with other flowers and planted in small groups separately.Flowers are perfect for planting in mixborders, ridges. With their help, you can effectively arrange paths on the site, a fence near the house.

Watercolor is grown in all regions of Russia. The plant adapts well to different climatic conditions, but in the Urals, the Far East, Siberia, it needs to be grown only in a closed rose garden.

For planting roses, you should choose bright and open places, but with the possibility of creating partial shade for a couple of hours a day. The plant loves fertile light substrates that allow air to pass through well. The acidity of the soil should be weak. By timing, September is usually chosen, but if the time for autumn planting is missed, then you can plant at the end of April or in May. The main thing is to make sure that the return frosts have passed completely.

Aquarelle bushes do not differ in spreading, but when planting it is better to follow the schemes of experienced gardeners. If you want dense plantings, then the pits are placed at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other. About 0.5-0.7 m is left in case of free disembarkation. Otherwise, the planting process does not differ from other varieties of roses. The seedling is placed strictly in the center of the hole, which is then filled with earth, deepening the root collar by a couple of centimeters. Water and mulch.

The rose should be watered twice a week. If the weather is too hot and dry, the amount of watering is increased up to three times. It is worth watering with warm water, spending one and a half to two buckets for each plant. In conditions of constant rains, irrigation is excluded until the weather stabilizes.

Loosening is carried out in order to prevent an earthen crust, since the variety loves loose and permeable soil. It is customary to loosen the soil after each intake of moisture, natural or artificial. Weeding is also extremely important, the amount of which will be limited by the mulching layer.

Watercolor will definitely require pruning, which is carried out several times per season. At the beginning of the spring period, it is worth carrying out sanitary pruning, removing branches that have been frozen and weakened during the winter. In the first season, attention is paid to healthy shoots. They need to be shortened to 3 buds. In subsequent seasons, they are shortened already to 6. In the summer, it is recommended to promptly cut off already faded inflorescences. The peduncle should have about 4 leaves from the soil level.

You can start fertilizing the bushes from the second year if the soil where they were planted was fed and ennobled initially. In the case of a poor substrate, feeding is given from the first season. In the spring, plants will need nitrogen, and with the beginning of budding, they are fertilized with complex dressings for flowering crops. In August, the bushes of this variety are fed with phosphorus and potassium.

The frost resistance zone of Aquarelle is 5, which means that the plant can withstand frosts from –23 to –29 degrees. But it cannot do without shelter. Preparing for winter, be sure to carry out autumn pruning. The stems are cut so that stumps of 10 centimeters remain. They need to be spud and covered with spruce branches. Many people also choose agrofibre.

Watercolor is a fairly persistent variety, so cases of the disease are extremely rare here. It is especially resistant to powdery mildew and black spot. But rust or rot may well infect plants. To prevent this from happening, in May the bushes are treated with fungicidal preparations for prophylaxis. Pests can be safely destroyed with insecticides without wasting time on long folk methods, because roses do not produce fruits that can be spoiled by drugs.

The easiest way to propagate Aquarelle is green cuttings, which should be cut starting from the second decade of August. Seed reproduction also takes place, but this is such a laborious process that gardeners rarely resort to it.

Many summer residents liked the watercolor. It was appreciated for its large double flowers with a wonderful aroma, bright unusual color, good immunity and resistance to rain. But some gardeners say that the petals fly around quickly, freeze in winter, and do not always fully open.In isolated cases, the bushes were poorly accepted or did not take root at all.