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| Good morning, folks. I'm here looking for suggestions for a foundation shrub for my house. First, the site: I live in North Carolina in the Piedmont region, zone 7b. The site is facing north east and receives sun until about noon. My soil is heavy clay, though for roses I generally excavate at least 2-3 feet wide and up to 2 feet deep. What I'm looking for: I would also appreciate a rose that is at least some what disease resistant. I am not opposed to spraying, but I would prefer to do it as a last resort, and I (and my wife!) would like to rely on good looking plants / foliage as a primary strength of the roses. I've considered all kinds of shrubs for the site, from English / Austins (Glamis Castle, could be a good bet, sold by our local nursery, Witherspoon), to Chinas (Ducher, too twiggy I think) to Bourbon (SDLM, prone to blackspot?) to modern tough shrubs (Innocencia Vigorosa, which I will likely use in another location). However I have no experience growing any of these and would love to hear from other growers in similar conditions! |
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| I have SDLM planted this year and it has had a touch of black spot but I picked off the leaves and it had been clean ever since. Mine was just plant this year and has been the slowest growing of all my new roses planted this year. But it is also my favorite and has not been without a bloom since I planted it. |
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| I love ' Little White Pet' which we got from hortico.com, photos are at helpmefind.com/roses under Search. It has pretty white blooms that show a bit of pink sometimes. It is very disease resistant here, has plentiful dark green foliage and repeats bloom rapidly. It grows to be c. 4 feet tall where I live near San Francisco. 'The Fairy' is another excellent rosebush, very disease resistant with plentiful foliage, it is a pink rose. Here it is easily kept at 4 feet tall. Both of these roses have small blooms, in general such roses need less feeding and re-bloom well without dead-heading, compared to rosebushes that bear large blooms. Luxrosa |
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- Posted by comtessedelacouche 10b?South Australia (My Page) on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 15:07
| You'll need something shade-tolerant, so I'd maybe think about the smaller Hybrid Musks and Rugosas; also Albas (but no repeat bloom). Examples to consider might include: HMs - Ballerina (pretty little sprays of hips along with the flowers in autumn), Felicia or Lyda Rose; Rs - Frau Dagmar Hastrup (various spellings) or Martin Frobisher; As - Amelia/Amelie, Belle Amour, Celeste/Celestial, Chloris (maybe a bit too tall), and Pompon Blanc Parfait... Other possibilities: a Pimpinellifolia - Stanwell Perpetual (thorny but long flowering) or a (not very mossy) Moss - Alfred de Dalmas/Mousseline(not much repeat). Most of these should make attractive, healthy, plants and some have extra features like autumn hips &/or foliage colour, but before deciding, I'd double-check with others on this forum re their likely performance and maximum heights in your zone. The (UK) Peter Beales website might be a useful resource for more ideas, since you can specify shade-tolerance in your search criteria. :-) |
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- Posted by Sidos-House 7 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 15:36
| One thing I'd encourage you to take a look at is how much overhang you have. I have several roses as foundation plantings and climbing up our house. I love them but they're not always easy and they don't always look good -- the problem is spider mites. Once the weather warms up, those roses that are more protected from rain tend to break out with mites. It's especially bad this year. We have rather deep eaves and -- although it makes me feel like a traitor for saying this -- I am usually happier with my gardenia border and my foundation hydrangeas (both I grow on the northeast side of our home) than I am with my roses growing right next to our house. Not in glorious spring, no, but for the long long rest of the summer... Camellias may also be something to consider. Camellia Forest has an open house in the fall, I think. But with some extra tlc and some pruning you might also consider David Austin's Queen of Sweden or The Generous Gardener. Queen of S. is sturdy and upright and in constant bloom. The Generous Gardener is spectacular and has very good glossy green foliage. Both have been extremely healthy in my garden. Have you ever seen the DA's at Witherspoon? I hate to say it but whenever I've been there they've look totally unloved and ready to expire. I'd wait and order bare roots directly from David Austin this winter. |
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- Posted by phasedweasel none (My Page) on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 19:27
| Sidos-House, that's an interesting point about the Witherspoon DAs. Have you had a chance to go to Long Ago Roses? They have several varieties I was already considering ordering in the spring. That said, I didnt think the DAs at Witherspoon looked unhappy, but I'm relatively new to this. |
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- Posted by mauvegirl8 Texas (My Page) on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 20:52
| Souvenir de la Malmaison exhibits 0 blackspot. I live in Houston, one of the most humid cities in the world. It stays short for me. Belinda's Dream is taller. Fresh raspberries and rose fragrance Both these roses repeat bloom in a New York minute! |
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| Bonica. Meets al your criteria, plus deer leave it alone as well. Roses Unlimited stocks it. |
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