Blooms in heat

My husband gave me a huge bouquet of red roses today to celebrate our 42nd anniversary.  They are lovely to look at but have no scent.  I think it's a crime that the marvelous scents of roses have been bred out of the flowers.  Fortunately, I just have to walk out the front door of my house to be transported by that heady aroma. 

Here is a look at one of my roses in bloom:

It's a Chrysler Imperial.  There are three blossoms on my Mr. Lincoln, the branches stretching nearly 5 feet high, about eye level. The Knockout roses are full of blooms too.

Despite the incredible heat, the roses are blooming more this summer than in several past years.  Perhaps I've been more diligent about fertilizing and dead-heading the blooms.   The only disappointing factor is that the blooms don't last more than a day in the heat and humidity.  But neither do I.

I was reading another blog about growing roses and the writer recommended a climbing rose called Stormy Weather.  It's purple and strongly scented.  I will have to research that one to see if it will do well in this area.  The Nelson nursery specializes in growing roses on root stock for Florida so that's a place to start.

Keep cool, my friends.