Rose 'Tropical Lightning'

 New to my garden this year, climbing rose 'Tropical Lightning' was introduced in the US by Weeks Roses in 2015.  The hybridizer is Pierre Orard, son of Joseph Orard who hybridized one of my very favorite roses, 'Firefighter'.  'Tropical Lightning' was originally introduced in France as 'Poséidon'
 
 Even though this is a young, recently planted rose, the flowers have been long-lasting and hold their color well.  The initially yellow stripes become orange as the flower matures. 


Nice, so far--it's giving a good first impression.  Fragrance is, alas,  described as "none".  Oh, well--'Firefighter' makes up for that.

Speaking of climbing roses, they were putting on a good show last weekend at the Huntington.  The Huntington's rose garden looked great.  It looked loved.

 On the arches, two stellar So Cal performers, 'Fourth of July' and of course 'Iceberg'
 The white climber is 'Alister Stella Grey' as I remember.  Correct me if it's not.
 The orange climber on the arch is 'Above All'
 'Eden' ('Pierre de Ronsard').  There is no other like it.
 'Sally Holmes'.  I think the small apricot climber to the right is 'Colette'
 Wonderful, eh?  May my little 'Tropical Lightning' grow up to be so lovely. 

Comments

  1. Great to look at, and the fragrance at that garden must have been wonderful.

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    1. Yes it was! Fragrance is the important aspect of a garden that doesn't photograph well.

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  2. I'm so glad you said the Rose Garden looked "loved," because it really is. Tom Carruth has done an amazing job in the four years or so that he's been curator there, the two gardeners (yes, only 2) John and Marcelino work their butts off daily to keep it spruce, and 52 of us volunteers deadhead and answer visitor questions about it daily. Loved indeed! You mentioned 'Eden' ('Pierre de Ronsard') - did you walk directly across the garden from it to see its darker pink sport, 'Margaret Mae?' It's an unstable sport, so there are a several branches that have reverted to the lighter colored 'Eden,' and last week, there was one blossom that was half 'Eden' and half 'Margaret Mae.' You'd have loved it!

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    1. I did see 'Margaret Mae' and did take some photos, 'cause it was pretty! Was wondering what the story on that rose was--thanks for filling me in. Yes, loved. I was talking to our HOA's gardener, he talked about how he could see if a garden was loved or not. Cool guy--for most mow/blow guys it's just a job, but he actually likes plants.

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  3. I'm not usually attracted to the striped roses but I like 'Tropical Lightning'!

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  4. I am giving Tropical Lightning a try this year too. Will get it planted if the rain ever stops. I've only visited the Huntington Rose Garden once but it was amazing. Lovely post!

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    1. "if the rain ever stops" ?!?!? I'm trying to imagine that!

      I can say that first impression on TL is--I'm impressed. :) I hope yours performs well, too.

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  5. A wonderful display at the Huntington. But I do like 'Tropical Lightening', fabulous colours. It would go well in my new bronze bed, but I'll probably have more luck trying to track down 'Poséidon'.

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    1. Bronze bed, that sounds beautiful--bronze is one of my favorite colors in the garden. Great idea--I think I'll steal it.

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  6. Lovely to see the beautiful rose garden, we have to wait another month here. Alister Stella Gray is yellow.

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    1. Starts out golden, yes, but in our incessant and insistent sun, bleaches almost instantly to white. I used to grow it, and still miss it.

      Another month?!? A long time to wait!

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  7. Can't tell you how incredibly inspiring your garden blog has been to me. I spent some time looking up Pierre Orard since I have a Firefighter Rose and found his beautiful website (in french) and even looked into the process of hybridization…someone suggested you can "do this at home" LOL, Anyway this am I went out to look at my roses and there I found a teeny tiny rose nestled among the "normal" sized roses on my Weeks "White Licorice". I posted a pic on my blog. Maybe it made it's own hybrid???? Fascinating.

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    1. Seedling roses do appear--I've had a few come up. It's a numbers game, hybridizing--the more seedlings, the more chance of something special. Usually in the tens of thousands of seedlings to produce one special.

      I love 'Firefighter!' The best fragrance!

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