The Comtesse

lovely lovely stuff!

Radio Times seems to be a very pretty rose and a good bloomer, but is it really as prickly as everyone says?

I also have Comtesse Delabarthe, which is known as Duchesse de Brabant here, but it's new and I can't wait to have it bloom. This is my third try and I hope it will prove to be a success. I'd love to see yours when it's in full bloom.

Ingrid

Radio Times is prickly, but I think all the Austins are. I will try to get a shot of the stems.

More

My Duchesse de Brabant is blooming now, and has been blooming since last Spring - at I'd say about 20-30 % of its Spring flush. It is about 7 years old (it is a rooted cutting of an ancient one from our garden), and about 6-7 feet tall. I don't do anything to it. It is not on our automatic irrigation system, so only got water since last March occasionally when I remembered to turn the hose on it. I love that the blooms vary in color and number of petals, depending on the weather. This is one of the best roses in my garden.

Jackie

Radio Times seems like a very pretty rose and not as prickly as Glamis Castle, a rose I really hated. RT seems bushy and lax, not upright and gangly like GC which was armed to the teeth and smelled horrible as well. I was never so glad to get rid of a rose.

Duchesse de Brabant to me is one of the most beautiful and romantic of the teas and a great treasure. Adam, I hope yours doesn't get overwhelmed by the bougainvilla (sp?), another spiny monster although it can be so beautiful.

Ingrid

Ingrid, You can't see from the pic, but the rose is in a diferent bed to the Boug, which I keep hacked back as a shrub anyway.

Radio Times mid-flush

Oh my, what a beautiful thing that is! I don't think Radio Times gets enough press; I had no idea it was so gorgeous. It seems to really love your garden, Adam.

Ingrid

close-up

The best thing about 'Radio Times' is its powerful fragrance--truly outstanding. It's also a good bloomer. The thorns are super-sharp and something of a nuisance. My plant was not bushy like Adam's, but produced long, sprawling canes. After a few more years of pruning, it might or might not have made a nice plant, but I lost mine to rosette disease after three or four years. It was fully susceptible to blackspot.

Thankfully mine doesnâÂÂt blackspot, but it does mildew in damp, cool weather. Mine also threw out "ocopus canes", but I have discovered that cutting long-stem flowers keeps it in check and encourages more blooms.

Here is a pic of this morningâÂÂs harvest. There is a trick to picking though. I need to wait until the first bloom in the spray has faded. Buy this time, the remaining 2-4 are just about ready to open and be cut.

Adam, I am very happy I happened to come across this post. Very beautiful pics. When I was a teen in Florida, this was the first rose I grew. A birthday gift from my dad -- it was stellar and I fell in love with old fashioned roses. Yes, it is very thorny... but its frequent rebloom, form, and fragrance more then compensate. Enjoy! :)

What a beautiful cut rose this makes! It must have very much of an old rose look in a vase, and the buds and flowers are equally pretty. Add fragrance, and it adds up to being a very desirable rose. Thanks for the lovely pics, Adam.

Ingrid

My partners mother and sister have come to stay with us so I cut a big bouquet for the sitting room. They were amazed by the scent, which has them craving Turkish delight.

Be still, my heart. That is the most decadently luscious arrangement ever. I don't think I have a single rose that can duplicate that look.

Ingrid