22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Thanks Kippy and mustbnuts. I've been playing with drought tolerant versions of English gardens, a little like some of the things Marlorena has been posting, only water restriction friendly. Have found some drought tolerant, low care plants I'm enchanted with. In particular, angelonias, dwarf gauras, a manfreda, and even some agaves. We'll be showing off a new floral ribbon created with some of these plants. Deadheading roses is bad enough. I refuse to deadhead anything in the floral ribbon. "Take care of yourself or die" is my attitude right now.
But, look -- If you have 1-2 small touches of powdery mildew, it's not practical or necessary to drench the entire garden in chemical controls. Wipe it off, and see what happens.
If you find that only 1-2 roses are troubled by this fungal problem, consider replacing those roses with roses that don't mildew.
I know there are other good lavenders, but I would definitely agree that Love Song is a great choice. I planted several new to me varieties this spring, but haven't had them long enough to have an opinion yet. Love Song puts on a beautiful display of lovely blooms and has good repeat.
Chantilly Lace and Red Intuition are two that I have never seen before. Gorgeous. And I don't usually like stripped roses, but that red/dark red pattern is really pretty.
How is Take It Easy performing for you? I have Easy Does It and absolutely adore it. I wonder if Take It Easy would perform similarly. I've been thinking about getting it. But it would have to be on Fortuniana and I'm not sure if any of my sources graft it on Fort.
I mentioned several days ago that it looked like several of my Brecks roses, some from each order were very iffy on making it. I contacted Brecks and they said to wait 60 days and file a warranty claim on the roses that didn't make it. So, since it has only been 4 weeks I said I'd contact them after 60 days.
This morning I received an email with credit certificates for all three orders. Of course they didn't reimburse shipping but they did reimburse the full price I paid for the roses themselves.
I just got off the phone speaking with them. They said my orders were filled in error and should never have been accepted. Their last order date was May 27th but the system allowed orders to be taken through the 8th of June. I explained that over half of the roses were very healthy and leafing out. They said due to the fashion of the order they could only credit the full amount. I asked if they could send new bushes in the spring and they said no.
Consequently I suggest if your roses do not make it that you contact them.
Im really looking for more disease resistant roses but that have good form and are good for cutting. I don't show roses so it has to be a good garden rose for me to want to grow it. I also have limited space so the ones I grow need to perform well or the get the shovel. I do spray, but BS is such a problem here that even with spraying only the disease resistant ones look good. I have an Easy Does It that I'm loving right now. Its FULL of blooms and never gets BS. Its been in my garden for 3 years and is really getting going now. I'm not insane about the form and its not necessarily a good cut rose, but it performs so well and has such an nice shrubby habit that I love it.
Dick Clark is my other best performer, but has a tall scraggly look by comparison. Its only been in my yard for one year however and I hope it will get more bushy as I shape it while it grows.
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Happy to have been of help.
Those are great suggestions, thanks Ken.
Do you know where I can find hot cocoa grown on fortuniana?
Howdy Neighbor, I had Charisma and I liked it, but it died in the polar vortex. Ken's suggestions are great, he is an expert. I think going with a darker color rose to compliment the rest of the roses is a good idea. Munstead Wood is great, I have it on Dr. Huey, still in a pot. The color was very intense the first flush, but with this heat we have had the second flush was a bit lighter. I also love Playboy (another one I had that unfortunately was blown over by a storm and didn't survive, but I fully intend to get another one). It's a 'single' but the color can be intense.
K&M Roses and Cool Roses sell roses grafted on fortuniana. I have my first fortuniana grafted roses this year, so far they are doing well and seem to like this heat! They are the only ones still blooming like crazy. The real test will be this first winter, if they survive. They will require some winter protection at least the first year or two.