My Garden under the Mountains

There is a deserted hundred-years-old house in Brasov, Romania. That's where I planted my first roses, about three and a half years ago.

There were 4 of them that I can remember and a fifth crimson one whose name I forgot. I ordered them on David Austin's website, but not all were his creation.

As we live 1500km away from this house and garden, they are completely neglected. Never pruned at a right time - only when I get there, which is almost never right.

Winters in Brasov are hard, with a lot of snow and big frosts. Most winters bring temps of around -25 or even -30.

Ironically, my rose Golden Celebration was not killed by those winter lows, but by the people who mow the grass and cut it repeatedly to the ground.

This June was the first time that I saw the surviving roses in bloom.

It is Margaret Merill, a white floribunda.

and this is the neglected bush in its 3rd year:

It was probably cut to the ground several times, as it was a meter away from Golden Celebration.

The rose that thrives the most is an old rose that is climbing an arch and is very charming in its small perfect rosette shape. It has 2 tones of pink, in a variegated blend and a nice medium fragrance.

It's name is Cottage Maid and there are two things I don't like a lot about it: it has countless thorns, big and small and it loses its petals quite fast.

Oh, and it is a once bloomer.

and here you have the bush in its 3rd year

My favourite rose in this garden is called The Ingenious Mr Fairchild and it's an Austin creation with peony like blooms with the most amazing fragrance.

What I don't like about it is the rather slim branches which make the blooms rather droopy. I do forgive it for this, because even neglected it build a decent bush and it seems to be completely desease free.

and here is the bush in its 3rd year

There's also this red rose which looks somehow as a hybrid tea (but maybe not :), also ordered from David Austin, but whose name I must look up. It smells just like my grandma's old roses and I love it for this simple reason.
(Later edit: it's the George Dickinson rose, indeed a hybrid tea.)

and the twiggy small bush in front of Cottage Maid

There's also this 2 year old rose called Blossom Time with pretty blooms and a nice fragrance, but with really poor growth in these rough conditions.