22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

Be forewarned that Abe Darby is a rust bucket in Southern California and it grows kinda sideways. Colette is pretty but not really apricot. My favorite is a Mini Climber called What a Peach...nearly always in flower.

Kent

It would probably help if you said your location, not asking specifics just the general area.

If you have nematodes, it might help to ask what root stocks are working for people in your area.

Mariannese, I'll be looking forward to that study! Since you're also in a cold zone it will be good to know what does well there. That climber is a beauty! Shame it's not as hardy as it needs to be.

Vibert
Austin
Kordes
and of course not only being from IOWA:
Dr. Griffith J. Buck

Here is a link that might be useful: The Buck Rose Web Site

I think its out of whack because when I started the garden the soil had been covered for at least a decade with thick plastic sheets, weed barriers and stone. When I uncovered it after buying my home, it was very very very dense clay with some odd pockets of soft, dry sand.

So being a novice garden, I started a flower garden without amending the soil at all, and used a lot of things like miracle grow and Bayer products to help the plants eek out a horrible existence.

Over the last few years I have been tilling leaf compost into the garden and using only the epsoma products for both flowers and roses. I do, however, still use a Bayer fungicide.

Either way the Ph in my soil is still high, as it is in my well water in general. If I don't remediate this in my house with a water conditioner system, it pretty much destroys my pipes.

In my garden, my roses suffer magnesium and iron deficiencies. I fix this with twice a summer applications of a liquid iron chleate and epsoms salts.

What I am hoping is to get Ph level down through other means, but have yet to really take a crack at this.

So that's my story.

Cheers

???????

Soil pH should have a high correlation with groundwater pH. So the soil pH is correct according to its own logic. It is going to take active work to lower it, because that is going to be an artificial construction - commonly known as sulfur. Basically, unless your pH is over 8, the problem isn't with the soil, but with what you think it should be. Adding organic matter will get is somewhat closer to 7, but not a lot.

Basically, I've been there, done that. There are roses that much prefer an acidic soil that I don't grow. I also don't grow blueberries, azaleas, or any rose of multiflora heritage. If it likes a pH over 7, it grows like a weed.

Gorgeous! I'm totally envious.

Yes, gorgeous, indeed. I want to reach into the photo to touch MM. Thanks for the pics. Now on to HMF to look it up. Diane

Mine likes to stay about 4-5ft tall. I didn't prune it much last season and it seemed to bloom better. I also noticed the blooms were a little bigger. Maybe it was just a fluke this yr. I dunno.

I have mine on a trellis. It was originally in a pot, but the root grew through the bottom into the ground. She REALLY wanted to live in the dirt!

I usually prune in late late winter and I'm not shy about cutting her back; she can take it. I try to keep her upright for maximum blooming.

Good luck with yours!

Check with K&M Nursery's web site. He carries several climbers that are grafted onto fortuniana rootstock that should grow well in zone 8. I think he still carries "Fourth of July". Don Jaun is also a GREAT climber on fortuniana rootstock.

Heirloom has Fourth of July on its own root available and they are having a sale right now.

Has anyone grown either Shadow Dancer or Soaring Spirits? How do they do in heat? How is the rebloom. They both are so pretty, I can't decide between the two.

Believe it or not, I'm not a member of Facebook, but I used your link and saw your stunning photos of Ascot. What a gorgeous, healthy looking rose. I wish my photographer (granddaughter) could get that deep red on her photos. It's been difficult to get, but you nailed it. Clare's photos are wonderful so I'm not complaining. Red has just been the hardest color to photograph accurately.
Anyway, beautiful photos and of SDLM, too. Diane

Diane, you're so right -- red is a bear to capture. Our facebook pictures of Ascot luckily nailed its rich, saturated blue-red. But for another lovely and even deeper burgundy, Tradescant, the color in my photos isn't even close. Too bad -- that color is amazing.

I want to thank you for inspiring me to consider Ascot. It really has one of the most beautiful blooms I've ever seen, and will be a rose well worth keeping once we get it blooming the way yours does.

Thanks, iris gal. No, they are about the same height as the fence (nine feet). It varies from year to year, depending on how much I prune and other factors. They really got whacked last year.
It's very dry here, so I don't know how they would perform in a hot, humid zone. I wouldn't recommend Brother Cadfael--he does a lot of balling when it get very hot. I think it's important for his blooms to open before the real heat sets in. Jude blooms more, and the blooms open better in our weather. Both roses have wonderful scent. Diane

Thanks. Didn't know if the 9ft was only for the stone portion and the snaps
were 4 ft. tall :-)
Whew!

Sorry for the delay in replying but I just came back to the post. I checked the box to have the replies sent to me but they never arrived.

Here is a list of legal roses that I will have cuttings to trade:

Old Garden Roses
Aimee Vibert Scandens (1828)Climber 9-15ft.; White Noisette; Repeats; Musk fragrance
Duchesse de Brabant (1857)Tea; Lt. Pink Cupped Double; Repeats; Strong Tea fragrance
Felicite et Perpetue (1827)Rambler 15-20ft.; White/Pink; Blooms once; Mild fragrance

Hybrid Tea & Others
Bewitched (1967) Hybrid Tea, Bright Pink, Damask fragrance
Brandy (1982) Hybrid Tea, Apricot, Mild Sweet Tea fragrance
Brass Band (1993) Floribunda; Tree, Apricot Orange, Mild Damask fragrance
Double Delight (1977) Hybrid Tea, Dk. Pink/Cream, Strong Spicy fragrance
French Lace (1982) Floribunda, Pinkish White, Mild Spicy fragrance
Heirloom (1972) Hybrid Tea, Lilac, Strong fragrance
JFK (1965) Hybrid Tea, White, Strong fragrance
Joseph's coat (1969) Floribunda Climber, Red/Orange blend Moderate, fruity fragrance
Mister Lincoln (1964) Hybrid Tea, Deep Red, Strong fragrance
Oranges & Lemons (1994) Floribunda Hybrid Tea, Orange & orange blend striped blooms; Mild fragrance
Paradise (1978)Hybrid Tea, Purple & Pink bi-color, Strong Rose fragrance
Snowfire (1970) Hybrid Tea, White reverse, red top, Mild fragrance - FEW CUTTINGS
Sterling Silver (1957) Hybrid Tea, Lilac, Strong Citrus Sweet fragrance -FEW CUTTINGS
Sundowner (1978) Apricot, Grandiflora, Strong fragrance
Tropicana (1960) Hybrid Tea, Coral Orange, Strong Fruity fragrance

Got the information from HMF. Anyone interested?
Clare

I have been hard at work pruning and don't have many unpruned roses left. Too bad, maybe next year. I am trying to root a yellow sport of Chicago Peace this winter. I usually have good luck rooting cuttings outside in winter.

Too funny, SJN. He's a beautiful guy and I think he knows it. He must make some good fertilizer for you :)

Thanks jasminerose4u ! Yep we get a lot of chicken fertilizer around here and they eat lots of bugs too :)
~SJN

I always wanted Roberta Bondar since I have read good reviews of it.

Diane/Nanadoll, what do you feed your roses. All of your roses are picture perfect. Do you have any "regular" roses in your garden at all?

Haha--we don't take pics of "regular roses" around here, and if a mistake is made and we do, those pics go in a buried vault, never to see the light of day. I'll dig up one to show you.
I use all kinds of fertilizer. My favorite are the "Tones"--Rose Tone, Plant Tone, etc, whatever I can get my hands on in a 36 pound bag and for the cheapest price. I use manure and compost in combination, too, and cheap granular fertilizer (just once a year on that type). Thinking of eliminating it. Let's see if I can find a "regular" rose pic. Diane

I always go to that rose garden for Mother's Day or around that time. It is so incredible when they are all in bloom. How does someone volunteer to help prune? I am in Aptos by the coast but could drive over to San Jose. What happens to all those cuttings?
Clare

Congratulations, and that's an intriguing way of coaching new volunteers not to prune the roses too low. The wooden stakes are probably reusable year after year, and they help avoid people's poor estimates of about "three feet" or whatever the pruning target might be.

I suppose there's unlikely to be anything blooming by the end of January is there, even in San Jose? I'll be there for work at the end of January/first of February and I'd love to see the gardens, but I fear they'd still be in down times. Well done regardless on a truly daunting task.

Cynthia

OK, I admit to being so rose-o-centric that I saw this title thinking these were names of roses, and I clicked on it with great excitement wondering what color "Steel Arbour" was going to be. That elusive grey-beige color, but deeper? At first glance it sounded better than a rose called Vinyl Arbour would be, though I could see it passing as a creamy beige. It sounds like you're getting some nice advice and steel wins the picture as well for ACTUAL arbors. If you ever decide to hybridize a Steel Arbor, however, do let us know.

Cynthia

Well Cynthia, if I should ever hybridize any rose, I will name it after you...lol.

Again, thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.

I thought you guys should know that I came across an article whose author said that avoid aluminum and iron arbours because they will rust. Steel arbour is the way to go. Having said that evidently the current vinyl arbour sold by Home depot and Lowes is supposed to be very "weather resistant". Either way, both has pros and cons, it comes to a matter of personal preference.

Thank you Steve the videos on the YouTube page were great.

I think you are talking about the BBC show"The Great British Garden Revival." IT had segments on many types of gardens. It is having a second season at the moment and the first episode of the second series is on roses, same presenter, this time more emphasis on old roses.

I love British gardening shows, they are so much better than anything in USA at the moment. If you subscribe to Garden World youtube site, you will have a huge variety to choose from.