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Mon, Nov 26, 12 at 13:57
| I am planning to replant my rose garden. It has four quadrants with a little fountain in the center, cross-like grass path separating the four beds. All four beds are edged on the outside with a 2' high boxwood hedge. On the inside bordering the lawn pathway I was going to plant a low hedge of lavender, or a similar smaller edger. However, after looking at some pictures of DA roses I found several of varieties that are lower growing and more importantly seem full all around. They seem to be covered with leaves and flowers all the way to the ground and would make perfect edging roses. An example would be Munstead Wood or Harlow Carr (although that one is taller than I would like for the front of a rose bed). For those of you who have grown DA roses, is that really the case, or were these rose bushes simply pruned to be covered all around and to show "bare legs" so to speak? Any varieties that seem particularly suitable for that kind of position? Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions. Marc |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by caldonbeck none (My Page) on Mon, Nov 26, 12 at 23:56
| I don't know of any that would make a good very low hedge, certainly not in the 2' range. I tend to have things like munstead wood, princess anne, sophy's rose, princess alexandra of kent, alnwick rose, at the front. They are upright and the other bigger boys behind them rest on them if they spread under the weight of their flowers. I would wait for somebody in your area to tell you what stays compact and won't arch over in to your path. |
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| I grow a mini rose called Sweet Diana (yellow) that gets about 2 ft tall maximum --blooms a lot, small hybrid tea type blooms. I have 7 in a hedgelike row--they stay quite full nearly to the ground. Don't know if that is something you are looking for or not. Now that I think of it, the mini called Green Ice is kind of a spreading plant--gets maybe 18-20 inches tall. It is white and blooms nearly continually. You could also investigate what are called "carpet roses"--low and wide-spreading. Don't grow them myself, so can't comment on them. I'm not aware of any low-growing Austins. The ones called "low" grow about 3 ft tall--not exactly what I mean when I say "low-growing." A couple I've grown in that category are Happy Child, Pretty Jessica, and Anne Boleyn. Don't know if that is the look you are after or not. Kate |
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| If you are not already growing Geranium 'Rozanne', it is a superb low-growing companion to roses that blooms like crazy all through the growing season. |
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| Miss Alice is compact here, but hardy. It's about 16 inches tall. Repeat bloom is good. It's small enough that it can be planted at the front of the border, or placed at the edge of a bed. I have two Miss Alices, they are planted with Hybrid Teas. |
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| Thanks for all your suggestions. I think I was confusing with my question. I am looking to not use a traditional edging plant, but rather use lower growing DA roses for the foreground and taller variety behind them. What I don't want are roses in the foreground that are growing like a vase shape, with lots of bare ankles showing. In the DA catalog (2012, I haven't gotten the 2013 one yet) they show pictures of some of their roses in garden settings that have leaves and some flowers all the way around. Not so much a vase shape, but more like meatballs, if that makes sense.. :-) I remember the Munstead Wood's rose as showing that "meatball" shape, nicely rounded, clothed in foliage all around... does that make sense? Btw, I have been reading a lot of threads about all kinds of rose growing and varieties, and I want to thank you all for sharing so generously from your experiences and ideas. Thank you!!! |
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| I'm just looking at my David Austin catalog from last year, no experience with most of these. For roses that "are supposed" 3' or under from their primary (and there are more supplementaries): Princess Anne (new), Skylark (new), Ambridge Rose, Darcey Bussell, Munstead Wood, Molineux, Sophy's Rose, Anne Boleyn, and Christopher Marlowe. Another you might want to consider although not a DA, is Bolero - a Romantica - very beautiful, fragrant and small. |
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