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bman1920

Albas everyone loves but fading away!

bman1920
9 years ago

Albas very popular because they are always sold out. But yet the places that sell them keep selling less of them. I guess I don't understand why a business would not sell more. If people buy a product you would think a company would follow the demand.

Comments (5)

  • malcolm_manners
    9 years ago

    If they're own-root, part of the problem is that some of them are tricky to root, and so they may not be able to make as many as they need.

  • monarda_gw
    9 years ago

    A person at a well-known old rose nursery that boasts an extensive (in theory) list of varieties for sale told me by phone that they have in recent years been contracting all their rooting out to a third party. She said they used to root the roses themselves and had a lady working for them who had a magic touch for rooting hard-to-root roses, but she is gone. She made it sound as if now that these older rosarians are dying out, the delicate and almost mystical ability has become virtually extinct.

    I myself suspect that perhaps the "lost" (or just too costly and time consuming) skill is that of propagating hard-to-root, but beautiful and vigorous roses by budwood, as has been done for hundreds of years. This is a real shame.

  • sidos_house
    9 years ago

    bman,

    I decided to start a collection of the pinkish albas this past winter and found, like you, that they were difficult to come by. I don't know when the vendors typically have the old roses ready for sale... if there is usually a fall offering or not. But what I did to get the roses I wanted was check the vendors's websites almost every day in late winter to spring. I was able to obtain all that were on my list. Sometime in March, Rogue Valley added a couple to their inventory. Not very long after in the same month, Heirloom added tons of roses their inventory and I was able to get everything else. Roses of Yesterday sent me a large bare root of Celeste.

    Timing is important, I'm sure. But you might also contact the vendors and see if they are working on the roses you'd like to obtain.

    It seems odd that Palatine doesn't have more of an alba offering. The did have Felicite Parmentier last year but it's not listed for 2014-2015.

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    Pickering was the main source of grafted old European roses in North America. We can only hope Palatine or somebody will take up some of that slack.

  • taoseeker
    9 years ago

    Some are easily propagated like Maxima and Mmm Plantier, you can get a sucker from a plant and it is very simple. If you know a plant growing near by it should not be too difficult to get someone to give you one. I have managed to root cuttings from Felicite Parmentier, Maiden's Blush, and Princesse de Lamballe but I have to admit I am more stubborn than the roses. If it doesn't root the first time or second, I keep on trying. Rooting cuttings can be a bit difficult, but there is no reason why they should not be budded to a suitable rootstock? They take almost all of them if you are good at it.

    This post was edited by taoseeker on Wed, Sep 3, 14 at 0:57