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Mutabilis...
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Posted by
zjw727 Coastal Oregon 8b (
My Page) on
Thu, Mar 14, 13 at 3:52
| So...I was looking for pots at a big store, and couldn't help but look at the display of Body Bag Roses, which featured Tiffany & JFK...and Mutabilis! I was surprised to see it- after I went home I couldn't stop thinking about it...so I went back tonight and rescued it. I'm excited to grow this fascinating rose, but I have no idea what it will do in my damp and sometimes dreary PNW climate. Any advice? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Mutabilis...
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much the same as what it does in my damp and dreary climate, I expect.....which is get a fair bit of BS.
But, this is a rose I really agree is both fascinating and enigmatic. For sure, the BS comes in cycles and usually starts later in the season - the early foliage is one of my spring highlights. It recovers fast and I usually tip the ends of the canes when I deadhead....which spurs it into fast recovery.
Don't expect it to cover itself in bloom or foliage - it is an airy and delicately upright rose - will stay short and shrubby or you can let it get tall. Looks terrific with airy perennials such as gaura , grasses, queen annes lace.
I keep mine a bit separate from other roses because its habit seems so different (not shrubby at all) - it is easy to propagate cuttings so you could have a mutabilis grove in no time. I doubt you will regret growing this. |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| campanula, it must be the difference in climate, but in my garden Mutabilis is a huge and very thickly leaved and branched shrub which I find looks very well with other old roses as long as the colors blend. I've tried to use many different shapes and sizes of rose blooms with it and on the whole I'm very satisfied with the overall look. The changes in the color of its flowers actually make it more compatible with different colors of roses and companion plants. To me it's one of the great old roses. Unfortunately I don't know how it would do in a climate different than mine but even in my dry garden I've seen blackspot on it at various times. Ingrid |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| Oddly enough, we've never seen Mutabilis blackspot here. (Not warm enough???) But I know it can do so, because I saw it blackspotted rather badly in the Chambersville (TX) rose garden. Roses! Never fail to surprise you! But since it doesn't blackspot HERE, it might do just fine up in coastal OR. Jeri |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| It grows great for me here in Portland, and there are two at the Chinese garden here, too. I've never seen any black spot (or any other disease) on it. It seems to continue growing slowly all winter despite the cold and rain, so if it can stand the salty air on the coast I don't think you will have much trouble growing it. It's always one of my first roses to bloom, so with your milder winters, I'd expect it to start even earlier on the coast. By the way, with this rose I wouldn't recommend pruning too severely. Just pruning for shape seems to keep it happy...anything harsher than that leads to a slight sulk. That said, it can get huge, so there are still times when I have to give it a good haircut, anyway. John |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| Yeah, you can do that, at need. Consistent hard pruning, tho -- we killed one. Seriously. Jeri |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| JOHN!!!!! I can't believe you chimed in...I was going to ask if you grew Mutabilis, I couldn't remember. I had never seen it in person until I was in Charleston, SC last month- it seemed like every garden in the city had a bush of Mutabilis. And then it magically turns up at Fred Meyer? I'm totally up for the challenge of growing it here- Exciting! Except...where the h*** am I going to put it??? |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| Speaking of blackspot, I don't really have much trouble with it here. When it happens, it's usually in small doses. Rust and mildew are far greater problems. And balling (ugh). |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| here's mine....with blackspot 
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RE: Mutabilis...
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| campanula, beautiful picture even with the blackspot. For those with little room but who can accommodate a climber, apparently Mutabilis can be used that way also. Since it's a fairly limber rose it shouldn't be that difficult. I saw a picture of Mutabilis clambering 30 feet up the side of a stately mansion in England, proof that it can be done. I'd pick a wall with morning sun only if you have hot summers. Ingrid |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| At the Stagecoach Inn, in Newbury Park, CA, I have seen Mutabilis scramble up into a Coastal Live Oak tree. Of course, it has now been pruned firmly down to small bush size, and I suspect will soon be a thing of the past. But it DOES climb, if given something to climb ON. And I bet it would like something like a warm wall, in your conditions. Jeri |
RE: Mutabilis...
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Fri, Mar 15, 13 at 21:00
| Eek! I'm getting a little nervous here. All this talk about the huge size. I got some cuttings from Kim last spring and successfully rooted some and I'm thrilled because I just adore this rose! It's in the greenhouse this winter and I'm so hoping it will winter OK for me but where on earth will I put it if it gets giant?!!! |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| I have one coming in April, I plan to put it in a corner of my horse fence. How far away from the fence on each side should I plant it. I want it to stay in the fenced in area, and I know it can get huge. (Which I don't mind, as long as it stays in the fence.) Three feet away from each side enough? |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| Seil -- that's California! You know, like TX -- everything grows bigger, here. :-) |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| yeah, it won't get massive for us, Seil. We do have a choice though - we can grow it short and bushy (ish) or let it scramble and make some height. In my short summer, this gets the most continual flushes of all my roses, although not all over the bush at the same time but in separate clusters here and there. Even growing tall, it still feels airy for me. I guess it would rather be hot and sheltered (as Ingrid's is) but it makes do with the cool winds of fenland. |
RE: Mutabilis...
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- Posted by alameda 8 - East Texas (My Page) on
Sat, Mar 16, 13 at 12:14
this isnt a great photo, but look to the right and you will see a Mutablis trained as a climber. I visited this house with a friend who was thinking of buying it.......and was fascinated that Mutablis could be made into a climber. I just bought a one gallon Mutablis that had 2 canes and I plan to try to get it to climb like this. Would love to see some other photos of climbing Mutablis - I have only seen it in the bush form.
Judith 
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RE: Mutabilis...
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Sat, Mar 16, 13 at 12:31
| Thanks for the reassurances, everyone. I was hoping that my colder climate and shorter season would keep it smaller. Where ever I put it I plan to let it get bushy, not climb. |
RE: Mutabilis...
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- Posted by zjw727 Coastal Oregon Zone (My Page) on
Sat, Apr 6, 13 at 13:14
| In less than a month, planted in a large pot, it has DOUBLED in size! And at this point, it looks bigger every day! I'm so excited to have this! |
RE: Mutabilis...
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Sat, Apr 6, 13 at 20:04
| Can't wait to see pics, zjw! I got my rootlings out of winter storage today and they're all green and growing, yippee! |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| Mutabilis is one of the roses I could be without. Mine is growing up into a holly tree. They were planted a goodly distance apart, but have grown wildly. M grows every which way, as Chinas do, including up, and is now close to 8'. I indulge it completely. Besides cutting back lower bits that get in the way of the lawn mower, I do nothing. |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| I am able to grow with this with minimal problems (I live near Corvallis) - I typically dont like singles - but I do like this rose :) Great find! Marleah |
RE: Mutabilis...
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| Mutabilis!!! I love it! Here in my hot & very humid climate it gets 12' wide and 9' tall--yes, I'm serious!
However, it can be trimmed back to whatever size you want with hedge clippers. There is a graveyard in Houston that has several trimmed into tree shapes. Mutabilis will grow a large trunk if you train it that way, or as a multi-limbed tree. It can even be topiaried! Don't bother spraying it--it gets blackspot, but totally shrugs it off. Just think of it having the occasional polka-dotted leaf. |
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