22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

Ok! The men are the winners! Jim first, and ken : Easy Livin, it is. Well done!
And thanks to hoovb, on an older thread, I will not leave it in a pot, but transfer it to a spot where it may soar to six feet. ( hoov, really- truly?)
Glad to see my instinct won out! Thanks for playing!
:). Marti

Per Help Me Find, Apple Blossom is a sport of the original Flower Carpet. Yours seems to be reverting to the original. Kim
Here is a link that might be useful: Apple Blossom Flower Carpet

Jason, we need to know where you live. There are a lot of things that can affect blooms and a lot of them are condition related, like disease pressures, soil and weather. Knowing where you live will helps us determine what conditions the rose is growing in. Then we need to know exactly what you see that is wrong with this rose. The leaves look fairly healthy. The buds are a little droopy but some Austins are like that naturally. So I don't see what the problem is.

hi to all who came back with comments...... we live in the south of England and for the past month or so its been quite warm and humid I will try suggestion of peeling back gently the outer leaves thanks to all of you any other comments much appreciated !!!


Hmm.. I'll have to check fragrance next time it blooms. I'm bad about that. I grow roses more for looks than smell, so I don't always check. I don't believe J&P is doing the test roses anymore. This past season was the first time they didn't offer them. One of my favortie test roses was HYPNOTIZED. OMG that one is gorgeous! And a good bloomer.

Several of the Austins might work for pillaring since they do like to get tall and leggy here anyway. You'd have to see which ones are more flexible. I have Golden Celebration and Graham Thomas and of those two Golden Celebration might work but Graham wouldn't. He's very stiff caned. The best advice you can get on how to do it is Paul Zimmerman's video.
Here is a link that might be useful: Paul Zimmerman's pillaring instructions

I am going to second the Paul Zimmerman videos on YouTube. He shows you how to pillar a rose and how to care for climbing roses. I planted climber this year and have 3 going up the poles of my arbor. The videos are very informative and once you get the idea it's not so scary lol. I planted climbing pinkies to pillar and they have very lax canes that are easy to handle. I am also growing golden celebration as a climber and if you catch the canes early it would be easy to wrap around a pillar. Also look into Peggy Martin, she has very lax canes and is super easy to grow. Good luck and have fun!

About training New Dawn: I have given up trying as the canes are stiff and the thing is a thorny monster. As soon as I ties one cane down, another one shoots right up. But I am a newbie (and a untidy gardener), and for the record, I did see Awakening beautifully trained. I doubt I would ever acquire that skill (or have the needed desire/courage). I don't get too close to ND these days, and have given up dead heading it.

I'm not a bug expert, but I'm not a rose newbie and I am sure those spots are not fungus, but made by some kind of insect sucking sap of new growth or munching away at the leaves in odd ways. There are loads of them, not just aphids and larvae, there's a group of insects called heteroptera that cause exactly the type of damage your roses have in these pictures. They suck or eat on the tender new growth, and as the leaves continue to grow the damage show up as spots, deformed, curled up leaves, tiny holes, etc. You can't really prevent it, but you can spray some kind of insecticide if there are lots of this. Heteroptera insects aren't as easily detected as aphids and larvae, because they don't stay on the leaves and on the plant that much. When they are finished eating, they will wander off to a near by plant, perhaps come back later in the day, or next day. The make noticeable damage to new growth even if they dont come in huge numbers like aphids and larvae. You might have a few of them and they make their presence know if the decide to stick around.

Hello rosefan.
I've gardened off and on all my life, but the rose bug just bit me again and I think my case is terminal.
I second the motions on Paul Zimmerman and the HelpMeFind site. That site is amazing.
Once I reabsorbed a book on Classic Roses I bought back in the 80's, I mined Amazon deep for .01 used books and pick a quartet. Also got a couple from a used bookstore. So winter reading is set.
My rose foray thus far, has been a couple of rustling expeditions even though it's a bit late in the season. I'm using my veggie grow-shelf lights to see if I can get some cutting to take root of some wilds I found and my neighbor's Rugosa (probably a hybrid). I love to propogate, but roses always eluded me in the past.
Good Luck!
Sounds like you're off to a great start!

Jjjessee, that sounds very grand. I'm going to take slips from an old aunts house tomorrow morning, see if anything works, but not holding my breath!
Seil, you have a point but the rose has been in the ground about 4 months now and has only just bloomed so I only just realised that it was wrong, proof of purchase is long gone...sigh. However, it does mean I might have to get my five year old a zeffie...so I'm not going to let it get me too down...
Husband threatening to hide the David Austin catalogue now!! ;-)

A HelpMeFind link for Charles Albanel
Here is a link that might be useful: Charles Albanel



In my humble opinion as a gardener, I believe that you are asking too much of the roses. The first photo clearly reveals an initial planting designed to be evergreen with minimal care, and once established to require minimal water. That is not the environment roses prefer (even KnockOuts) - they do best with regular water and little root competition. The boxwood roots are champion competitors.
I would look for a more appropriate site for the roses or just remove them entirely.
And I would instead install something of the "hardscape" persuasion in that spot. It would be excellent for some folly - a tasteful sculpture, piece of outdoor art, bird houses, etc.
If this isn't within your budget or to your liking, then I recommend looking for plants that have survival requirements similar to box. This would mean that in terms of the desire for another colorful plant that colorful foliage be considered. A variegated plant, for example, that would do well there is almost certain to exist. Or one with burgundy leaves as the post above suggests.
Good luck.





To this in 2014...
Maybe something to try once in a while?? I'm too inexperienced to understand what the effects of frequent applications of 1 tablespoon of vinegar per gallon of water might have. It's, as Nik said in the thread linked above, a short-term solution. Maybe others can offer some sound advice on this method. It worked wonders for me and I feel fairly comfortable watering once or twice this way before the most important bloom in Spring. Maybe it will help deepen your reds.
Vinegar is 5% Acetic Acid. Applied properly in appropriate concentrations it can temporarily acidify the soil/water, releasing more nitrogen, iron and other nutrients which may be locked up in insoluble compounds due to alkalinity. Aluminum sulfate and nitrogen can both accomplish similar effects. All of them, if used improperly, can severely burn and out right kill the plant so use with caution. Kim