I also ordered Reine de Violettes and Comtesse de Rocquigny, the latter of which is also not available yet. I wanted to see how the larger and older plants that Greenmantle ships would do for me. I confess I'm weary of bands that still look like not much of anything after a year. At the moment I'm all for instant gratification. I should receive RdV next month and hope to have blooms next year. I've been very conflicted about this rose since I love the color and no thorns, but rebloom doesn't seem that great and the flowers seem fleeting. It's probably also not the best rose for my climate. It will replace the tea Souvenir de Pierre de St. Germain which has such unsatisfactory flowers even after three years, small and limp and fleeting, and a rather shapeless bush.

The nice lady at Greenmantle who discussed roses with me at length told me a shocking statistic. Their average rainfall is 150 inches a year and this last winter they had SEVEN inches. I find that very scary.

Ingrid

I too ordered RdV, bare-root this year. I am interested in the color and fragrance. Mine is grafted on Dr. Huey and it is from from D.A.. Good luck with it. I hope it thrives in both of our gardens and climate.

Is this the same Greenmantle in Northern California- Humboldt County? An annual average rainfall of 150 inches is surprising, actually shocking. I would have thought < 60".

Lynn

Yes, that is the same nursery and I myself was surprised when the 150 inches were mentioned on their web site. However, even if it were to go from 50 inches yearly to 7 that would be pretty amazing.

Ingrid

"However, even if it were to go from 50 inches yearly to 7 that would be pretty amazing". I agree!!

I plan to plant mine in mid to late January, (oops, corrected a mistake... Had written Feb.), the soil will be amended per testing, and the area will receive about 6 hours of morning to early afternoon sun daily. When will you plant yours?

Comtesse de Rocquigny is gorgeous!! I would love to see it and so many of the roses I have seen on this forum in their entirety, with companions, according to the gardener's design. Again, thank you for sharing pictorial tours of your garden:)

Lynn

Lynn, I would be careful in comparing what you get from David Austin on Dr. Huey. David Austin does not virus index any of his roses, and many on these forums have reported getting roses from him infected with Rose Mosaic Virus. Complete with very parti-colored foliage. I don't know what effect RMV has on chlorosis status (maybe nothing??) but many of the clones in commerce are infected even though a clean version has been available for years. I wonder if the reports of chlorosis in RdV are on plants that have RMV? I don't know the answer to that question. If I recall correctly, some poor performance has been on plants grown in Southern California. However, my plant from Greenmantle is a clean clone, and no chlorosis. Could be it is my soil, what I feed, or something else unrelated to virus status.

Melissa

Melissa, I'm afraid I did miss the Marquise but will hopefully get her in the future, assuming the climate here will still allow a rose garden. Marissa said she's had her Comtesse de Rocquigny for about ten years and it's one of her very favorite roses, with an incredible fragrance. She mentioned feeding with a seaweed product; I wonder if that's the same as the fish kelp you use. I want to get hold of that too.

If you want something really big, Cerise Bouquet should do it. I've seen pictures where it was gigantic, but so beautiful.

I wouldn't order from David Austin again; I'm sure the Young Lycidas I recently purchased is virused, and I'm very underwhelmed with that rose as a whole. Of course I'll see how it does the next year or two; his roses aren't exactly cheap enough to discard on whim.

Ingrid

I had not ordered from David Austin for over a decade, but it is the only place I found offering a grafted version of RdV on Dr Huey. Based upon GW input, and other research, this one was reported to perform better as a grafted rose for climates with dry hot summers and alkaline soil. I have 2 RdV that are own root, one is planted and one is still growing in a pot. It will be interesting to see over time which performs the best in my garden.

There's so much information out there and on the web regarding RMV, honestly I have two thriving climbers that have it, and I just do not worry about it. When they fail to thrive, I will likely just replace them with some other rose that has caught my eye.

I have many own root roses growing or newly planted; they have been a chore, and often problematic. While I realize the benefits, for my garden and climate it is rapidly ceasing to be a preference.

Lynn

Ingrid

Lynn

Re your concerns about disease resistance: Bourbons do well in my garden, and MdB is as healthy as most other members of the class.

As to your concern about "large gangly" Bourbons . . . That description is more likely to apply to the other one you ordered from Greenmantle. 'Comtesse de Rocquigny' is a lovely rose having, IMO, an unlovely growth habit. It's up to the gardener skillful with secateurs to keep the mature CdR both productive AND attractive as a garden plant.

I've ordered from Greenmantle for many years and have been pleased with their plants. I'm one of those who relentlessly pinches buds off new ownroots for a full year before allowing them to bloom. With shipments from Greenmantle, however, I encourage you to allow the plants to bloom ASAP. Just saying . . .

I wasn't aware of the Comtesse's less than optimal growth habits; I was hoping it would be somewhat similar to SdlM. I may have to pass on that one too. However, now that I'm looking for a very large rose as a screen, Greenmantle would be my choice as vendor. I'm glad that I won't have to disbud the roses. Reine de Violettes will be arriving in January from Greenmantle and I'm eager to see its blooms!

Ingrid