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Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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Posted by
boncrow66 Zone 8 East Texas (
My Page) on
Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 14:38
| We are planning on putting a new arbor at the entrance of the lane that leads to our house. I want a climbing rose that will cover the arbor and have blooms from spring until winter and I was considering Mermaid. Has anyone had any experience with Mermaid? All advice is appreciated as well as pics:). Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| For an arbor I would much more be interested in a noisette or tea-noisette. I have never actually grown Mermaid in my garden but I have seen a LARGE specimen and here in the Pacific Northwest the one I saw was twenty feet across at LEAST. And it has TERRIBLE thorns/prickles. It is disease free in any case. There some very nice white noisettes that will certainly get big enough in one year to at least be at the top of an arbor and have a nice scent without making you rue the day you planted it. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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I agree with Papa! I grow Mermaid and it is VERY STIFF. Really needs to be on a wall or grown as a natural fence. The prickles are huge, but because of their size I'm more aware of them!
It's just too stiff, I think, for an arbor.
Celine Forestier is a vigorous grower here and very lax. Lamarque…lots come to mind.
Check out the Antique Rose Emporium website. They have roses classified under "mannerly climbers" and "exuberant climbers" (or something similar). Whatever they offer will thrive in your area. You could even consult with them re: color/fragrance…
I grow Parade which is a beautiful climber. You'd probably need one at each "post" of the arbor…but it is beautiful, healthy, and in constant bloom.
Susan |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| Wow that sounds like a monster with thorns! My second choice was Rev d'Or. Thanks Paparoseman, I didn't realize it was going to get so huge. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| Susan thanks for chiming in! I think I am going to reconsider this and look for something that won't eat my arbor and small children lol. I have a while before the arbor is built so I have time to make a good choice. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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My Reve d'Or is super vigorous. She's just starting out this year on fortuniana rootstock and her canes are at least 10 ft. long and I'm getting some good bloom. This is a beautiful rose!
Check out Celine Forestier and Lamarque too, if you haven't yet.
Whatever you choose it will be beautiful and you will love it!
Susan |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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I read in another thread that you like Fields of the Wood. I saw it at Florida Southern College on a gazebo. And it had NO trouble covering it. The roots looked like tree trunks!
If you hang out for long enough you can see it on this virtual tour. FSC and Malcolm Manners hosted the HRF conference there last year. I purchased F ot W there as a bitty band.
Susan |
Here is a link that might be useful: virtual tour Fields of the Wood on gazebo
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| I grew Mermaid back in Texas. It was on an 8 ft section of fence. After it took that over, it grew OVER the house on one side, and covered the gate, THEN the 16 ft section of fence on the other side, and grabbed shirts with its VICIOUS thorns on the sidewalk!!! I paid to have it pruned, and they NEVER came back to finish the job. We hooked onto it to pull it out, and broke 6 posts off at the ground when we did. YMMV.... Nancy |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| I grew it sw of Houston. Very pretty blooms & they are abundant, over a long season. But. Almost everyone I know who has planted it regrets doing so, unless they stuck it way in a back pasture or used it specifically to cover an old shed or dead tree. Extremely exuberant, and the canes are viciously thorned. I mean REALLY vicious. Like the McCartney rose that has invaded pastures in the milder winter areas of TX. That's it's parent, after all, & it is a bracteata child, for sure. Will form enormous mounds of heavy canes like braided bobwire. Even young canes are almost untouchable they're so spiny. Very pretty in a huge space set aside for it. A monster on a normal rose arbor, I'd think. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| Ok I have changed my mind, this rose is pretty scary sounding. No more Mermaid for me. Thanks everyone for helping me make that decision lol. I did admire Field of The woods but didn't realize it was a climber, I will have to check it out. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| I agree with all of the above, having grown it in another garden. Another drawback is that it's never really covered with roses, and to me is not spectacular enough for an arbor, quite apart from the fact that it's viciously armed. Celine Forestiere is nice (although I still like Reve d'Or better) but for me it grew at a glacial pace and in my hot garden the flowers never looked as pretty as they did in pictures. Lamarque has beautiful flowers and would look well, as would one of the noisettes. Ingrid |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| I have a new band of Fields of the Wood and so far it is busy growing and I let it bloom once. I like the shade of red blooms and the shape. I think I will love this rose. A local rosarian told the story about how Barbra Streisand planted Mermaid as a security fence along the top of the bluffs at her beach front home. A stalker type person tried to sneak in and ended up calling 911 to come and rescue him from the rose. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| Kippy what a funny story, that made me laugh, I definetly don't need something that could trap people lol. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| I love my Mermaid, but everything above is true. Mine was on a dead tree but pulled it down, so I guided her along an alley fence. She wanted to be on the other side too, so I jacked her up on semi-circular cattle panels. She now makes an archway over the alley and often steals my hat as I walk beneath. (I think she also has designs on the nearby hay shed...) |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| Wow sounds like mermaid is like a fortress. She would definetely need a special spot to let her grow, I will keep her mind if I ever need a security rose bush lol. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| I planted one many years ago but lost my nerve and took it back out. I'm daring, but not truly brave. Folly |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| The Italians have little to learn and much to teach us about engineering problems. I saw Mermaid growing in Venice up walls and over extremely tall arches (10 to 12 feet?) over the garden entrance. They prune it very high so that the bottom ten feet or so are bare of growth, like a single-stemmed tree rose, actually, and then they train it horizontally -- way up in the air. The houses there have high ceilings, so that it starts blooming in the stratosphere, as it were, away from human contact. It can cover the side of a house and it sends its fragrance for blocks. It really is fantastic grown that way. A sight never to be forgotten. |
RE: Has anyone grown Mermaid?
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| That's sounds beautiful, I would love to see that one day |
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