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Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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Posted by
campanula UK Cambridge (
My Page) on
Fri, Aug 10, 12 at 15:03
Yet another UK rose which seems to have found favour over the pond, so much so that it is practically unheard of in the UK (Mrs B R Cant is another). Having run out of all possible climbing space at the allotment, I have been turning my attention to smaller shrubs....but not titchy little things as they simply cannot compete with the hurly-burly (and neglect) at the allotment. Poor old Mrs Oakley Fisher has disappeared under a sea of penstemons and geraniums. So, I want a nice tall shrub and, as I have mentioned (often, at tedious length) I love singles so, Betty Prior seemed to have my name on it, even though it is ridiculously hard to get hold of.
Although I have been reading reports of its durability in the heat, it is available from a Scottish nursery (and not the niminy-piminy west coast and gulfstream part of Scotland) so it seems to be a toughie. Convince me to spend rather more than I might usually (have to buy a potted rose as they are out of bare-roots) or should I just go for more sweet briars and the like. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| Definitely the sweet briars. Betty is a blackspot prone wimp, and I can think of so many better singles. |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| We found an exquisite Betty Prior in an old cemetery in Northern CA. In this place, there were MANY roses, but over the years the "caretakers" are killing them at a steady rate. We took this photo in April, of a lusty, healthy rose in full bloom. We were back in late October, and found that it (and several other lovely roses) had been "pruned" down to a single cane. I'm sure that "Betty" has immense roots. Perhaps she has survived, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Still, this shows what a beauty she can be, in conditions she finds congenial. Jeri |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| Get Betty. She's one rose I'll always grow. No trouble or disease in my area--bright, cheerful and always in bloom (seems that way anyway.) She'll hold her own against those cheeky penstemons and geraniums. Colleen |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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- Posted by catspa NoCA Z9 Sunset 14 (My Page) on
Fri, Aug 10, 12 at 21:35
| I have fond memories of Betty Prior as there were two of her flanking the center entrance of The Jones Library in Amherst, Massachusetts (Zone 5) when I worked there from the mid '80's to mid 90's. Patrons would often wander into the front office (my realm) and inquire about the name of the "magnificent rose" in front. They would often also remark about the wonderful scent. I, honestly, could never detect any scent and would silently attribute it to the large planting of white alyssum always used as a groundcover there. (Link for a photo of the library from around that time below -- unfortunately, no close-up of Betty. The wretched wisterias on either side of the central door were blessedly removed under the pretense of the renovations in the early 1990's. Not only had they never bloomed since at least the 1930's, according to local residents, they caused at least $1000 of damage to the copper gutters and slate roof every year!). As I remember, she bloomed a lot, never had much disease (she was in a full south exposure with lots of rock surface around her, as you can see), and was a hardy old war-horse who even survived Phil, the janitor, piling a ton of snow on her every winter and projectiles of ice sheets shooting off the slate roof. ~ Debbie |
Here is a link that might be useful: Jones Library, Amherst, Mass. pre-1992
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| I was fortunate to find Betty Prior at the local Home Depot and I really like this rose very much and for me it has no disease. However, in this hottest summer on record, she is really struggling near the house wall (even with only morning sun). I don't know what disease problems she'd have in more rainy areas, but for me it's a rose that's full of charm and beauty. I've had quite a few singles over the years, but Betty Prior and Mutabilis are the two I like best. Ingrid |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| I vote for Betty, Campanula. She's always reminded me of Pink Dogwood, one of my favorite flowering trees, and which I can not grow here. I hope she's as continuous flowering there as she has always been here. And, I agree, it must have been the alyssum the patrons detected. I've never been able to smell anything from Betty. Kim |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| yeah, well I know where you are coming from, Mad Gallica, you can't go far wrong with a nice sweetbriar...but honestly, I am struggling with the size thing and after the Pleine de Grace fiasco, I am really leery of another 7 footer....but I am not quite ready to go for neater shrubs (groundcovers are proving a neat compromise for me) just yet since they tend to be as unruly as the larger shrubs I like but not monsters. A classic floribunda but a bit taller sounds just right. Also - and maybe a bit weirdly, I actually don't mind half as much when singles get defoliated from BS - I help them on their way in fact, as I sort of pretend they are like some sort of japanese anemone and they can float airily amongst the flowers (weeds) - mutabilis is always completely bare. Those thick leaves looked like they might hang on though, which is not a nice look, when spotty and yellow, hmmmm. That's the trouble with hard to find roses, it's hard to get a local and honest critique. |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| What about Else or Kirsten Poulsen? I have Betty and Else, and I love both of them. Betty is a big ole girl, but probably wouldn't be that big for you. Else is my favorite. Her blooms are larger and she is more upright and not as large as Betty. And by virtue of being more upright, she's a lot easier to prune and it's easier to avoid getting pricked as much as I get with Betty. Still, as I said, I love Betty. I've had her for nearly 20 years now. She gets blackspot and then gets over it. I haven't noticed any fragrance, but she sure can put on a show. |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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ah, I am a bit prejudiced against Poulsen roses at present since the worst absolute dogs in my garden are both Poulsens - although, to be fair, they are Poulsen's Renaissance series, which have none of the virtues of earlier floribundas and polys.
Funny how we can be so attracted to very simple things - Betty is not an outstanding colour and is an uncomplicated shape, but just seems like a rose which would fit very well in the semi-chaos of the allotment. |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| Not to bring up Poulsen again, but check out 'Poulsen's Pearl,' from 1949 . . . Jeri |
Here is a link that might be useful: Poulsen's Pearl, at HMF
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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Jeri - you swine! you have thrown me into a flap now! I LOVE the look of PP! But thankfully, I bought a little peachy rose called the Charlatan which is a dead ringer but really, what a wee gem.
Truly, I think my recent Poulsen experience had blinded me to the many many virtues of these lovely roses - completely up my street, tough, cheerful, what's not to like? There is a lonely little gooseberry bed just aching for a corner filled with single floribundas... |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| Poulsen's Pearl is a great favourite in Sweden. Three HMF photos of it are by Swedish contributors, Helena, Anna and Kajsa, the first two are friends of mine. I can't understand why I don't grow it myself, having seen so many glorious plants of it. I'll make a note to get it soon. |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| I have no singles in my yard [at least not intentionally; the heat wave would make you doubt that statement], but if I did, Poulsen's Pearl, Dainty Bess, and Altissimo would be my top 3 picks just from oogling photos. |
RE: Betty Prior, one of ours but so hard to find
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| "Jeri - you swine! you have thrown me into a flap now!" HAHAHAHAHA ... She said ...
Fearless Enabler . . . Seriously, PP was more or less out of commerce in the U.S, but Ralph Moore spotted it at a rose show in Fresno, CA. He said, he was so taken with it that he asked permission to take the cutting home, when the show was taken down. He took it home, and propagated it, and I suspect used it for breeding, as well as offering it for sale. Smart fella, Mr. Moore. Knew a good thing when he saw it. Jeri |
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