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Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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Posted by silverkelt Z5b/Southern Maine (My Page) on
Fri, Sep 10, 10 at 8:54

Whats its desease resistance like?

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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I've seen it only once, in the Sangerhausen rosarium. It was one of the sickest of all roses there, mostly with rust but also blackspot. But I've heard of healthy specimens in Sweden.

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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It depends on what your expectations are. If you have 'rugosa' expectations it will disappoint you--it only has one Rugosa parent which passed on hardiness and fragrance, and not much else. The rest of its attributes come from its other parent--a Tea-Noisette/HP cross. If you think of it as a hardier early Hybrid Tea you will be more pleased. It tends to a little blackspot on the lower leaves, but I've never seen mildew on it.

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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It has no disease resistance. Prepare for the most spectacular Rust crop you've ever witnessed.

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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But the blooms are so beautiful...

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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It has huge, fist-thick 10-foot canes with thorns worse than razor wire and flowers on the very ends. They are beautiful flowers, though, and very fragrant. I don't think it is especially disease resistant. Many yrs ago the Brooklyn Botanic Garden had quite a few specimens, pruned to within an inch of their lives and held to five foot tall or so.

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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Here in Kansas, Conrad can make a monster of a bush; at the Topeka rose garden it is a 7X10 foot specimen, but in my garden has only reached 4X3 over 5 years. I don't have a lot of disease problems with it and don't spray it, but it does get a little blackspot by the end of the season. The flowers are nicely fragrant and the bush is very hardy in Zone 5, but you wouldn't want this rose anywhere where people walk; it's a viscious beast.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musings

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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I hope so. I wanted something cold hardy and thorny that would protect my little home, here in Kansas, like barbed wire

I have new baby ones to plant. I understood them to be more disease resistant than reported. They sure are pretty thorny.

Wish me luck.

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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That was QUITE interesting! I've only seen CF Meyer here in SoCal where it is TERRIBLE! It is the rustiest rose I have seen anywhere. Being half Rugosa, it can't be sprayed or it will defoliate, which it is going to do anyway due to the rust. I tried it for a year and a half before dumping it. New foliage began rusting within weeks of being formed. I'd defoliate it (awful job!) and start all over. It just wasn't worth it. NOW you know where the rust on David Austin's Cressida, Tamora and Sir Clough came from. Gorgeous flowers with amazing scents with the most awful plants under them! Kim

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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  • Posted by hoovb z9 Southern CA (My Page) on
    Mon, May 16, 11 at 16:43

Maybe 'Gertrude Jekyll' instead?

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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I've seen this rose's name before, but never seen the rose in person.

Having said that, what I read about it on HelpMeFind indicates it's susceptible both to rust (as the West Coast rosarians here have already attested more than once) and also blackspot. If that is indeed the case, then I would speculate that this rose probably is at its best in the Upper Midwest (or very possibly central-ish southern Canada), but not near either North American coast (& certainly not near either Mainland US coast).

The flower pictures I see of it on HelpMeFind are truly lovely, but from the sounds of it, there are plenty of equally lovely (or more lovely) roses available in southern Maine that grow better, with fewer disease hassles.

Based upon what little I've read so far, I suspect that even if your goal is a rose with lovely flowers that will also keep out trespassers you probably can find a better candidate than this one. Why grow a rose that will easily defoliate not only in a dry climate (from rust), but also a humid one (from blackspot)?

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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I found CFM to get a half way up the plant infection of black spot. No rust here in South Michigan. BS not too bad here.
Easily to 9-11 feet here it's second year own root. Canes are winter hardy in my Great Lakes Z5b.
It responded well to pruning to 5-6 feet to have those stems thicken, re-grow and bloom at the end of the vegetive breaks in clusters. The plant swiftly soared above the first story roofline long before the end of the season.
Fantastic scent in repeating silvery pink blooms.
I'd grow it again.

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RE: Is Conrad Ferdinand Meyer worth growing?

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Notorious rust bucket in this part of the world too. Such a shame.

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