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Sun, Oct 20, 13 at 14:25
| As snow and freezing temperatures make their way into the forecast, I've been evaluating the 27 roses that I managed to move this year from my old place to my new home and noting how they've grown in their new environment. Sadly, I am forced to consider that Dr. F.L. Skinner may be a mistake. I carefully looked over all my 200 roses in my old gardens and picked and chose among them with great deliberation. Dr. FLS made the cut because it was relatively new to me and had such good ratings - I always looked for large hardy roses especially in yellow shades since I lived in zone 4 and roses with those qualifications are very hard to come by. Well, it IS all of that...but it is also powdery mildew prone and blackspot prone. Such a disappointment! It grew like a weed this summer in its new home, an east facing bed that is a rather eclectic collection of all sunny yellows and yellow/orange roses (Harrison's Double Yellow, Morden Sunrise, Sunsprite, Selfridges, Sunbonnet Sue, Graham Thomas, Lawrence of Arabia and Jude the Obscure) interspersed with blue shades of bearded iris. It is the only rose in its bed that is afflicted with PM and one of the worst cases of BS. I should give it another two years, but as there are still roses I could move here from the old garden and put in its place, I'm wondering if it is worth my time and effort to continue to trial it. Anyone out there grow this rose and have something positive to offer about it that might encourage me to give it more time to mature? To be fair, it was purchased from Pickering in March of 2012, but was dug up and moved here spring of 2013. This quote from HMF was one of the reasons I ordered it: "Dr. F.L. Skinner - Joanna Hill x altai Not completely hardy, and not a heavy bloomer. Blooms once. Nevertheless, this is one of the choice beauties, worth growing if there is room. Blossoms large, semi-double pale amber yellow, with petals of good texture, opening hybrid tea form. Tends to open and bleach as it ages, but it is still one of the best." Walter Schowalter, Alberta Canada notes 1985 |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by henry_kuska z5 OH (kuska@neo.rr.com) on Sun, Oct 20, 13 at 14:50
| There are different strains of blackspot. A rose may test free in one area but show infection in another. Also, there is a disease very similar to blackspot that is often confused with it. I am in a hurry now if no one else joins in to name it, I will look it up later. I think it is something like ceros........ |
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- Posted by henry_kuska z5 OH (kuska@neo.rr.com) on Sun, Oct 20, 13 at 15:36
| The link below is to a research paper specifically on old roses. It includes a list of the blackspot - strain behavor of many old roses. |
Here is a link that might be useful: link for above
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- Posted by henry_kuska z5 OH (kuska@neo.rr.com) on Sun, Oct 20, 13 at 15:45
| "Cercospora leaf spot is a disease often confused with black spot. Both diseases cause severe defoliation in heavily infected plants. The infection starts from the bottom of the canopy and progresses towards the tips where new growth is present. Lesions are primarily found in leaves but also in pedicels, stems, fruits and bracts." |
Here is a link that might be useful: link for above
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| annececilia, regardless of what you decide to do, the flowerbed sounds absolutely beautiful! |
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- Posted by annececilia z5a/N.Michigan (My Page) on Mon, Oct 21, 13 at 7:19
| You are absolutely correct, Henry, and I admit that it is most likely Cercospora that has a hold on the good Dr. - I simplified the situation by saying "blackspot." But since I am not likely to ever take up my sprayer again it is a moot point. Cercospora rosicola or Diplocarpon rosae, either one makes the rose look terrible. And it is the secondary disease on this rose, having been claimed by powdery mildew (Podosphaera pannosa) much earlier in the summer. The point is that none of the other roses picked up PM and only a few others have very light cases of the cercospora or diplocarpon rosae leaf spot if anything. Most are completely clean. Dr. F.L.Skinner's leaves, by comparison, look extremely unhealthy. I am never surprised when any rose that is weak and spindly contracts a disease, but considering how robustly he grew this year it is concerning. He may very well shake it off and continue on regardless, but do I want a large rose covered in diseased leaves in that bed? Thank you Annalyssa - I do look forward to next season when the iris will bloom for the first time in that location. I hope it looks as lovely as I am dreaming it will! :-) |
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| When I grew Dr. F.L.Skinner, before the voles devoured its roots one winter, I fell in love with it. Remember the pale yellow blooms that come so much earlier than any other HT like blooms. I wish I had caught FLS and planted him along side of Safrano, because both have that yellow going to palest apricot that I love. I think that it's a combination of the really lovely blooms plus the timing of the blooms that made me so fond of this rose. Now if you have other large flowered blooms that are better, ignore this. But....I found it easier to work in the borders when this one was doing its thing. |
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- Posted by annececilia z5a/N.Michigan (My Page) on Mon, Oct 21, 13 at 19:40
| Well, Ann, that is a pretty persuasive description. I guess I owe Dr. FLS a few springs to show me how delightful he might be. If you think he is a worthy companion of your Safrano (which I saw in person years ago and adored) that's good enough for me to give him a chance. Maybe there's even hope that he'll settle in and grow out of this phase of being disease prone. Or maybe I'll just decide the spring show to be worth the end of summer uglies. Many thanks for your post. |
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| Anne, The other thing: save any hips he makes. He ought to have great looking, winter hardy offspring that might be fun to watch. |
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