21,400 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

Here's my three-foot wide bed, this time on the west side of the house, and most of them stay fairly tall and narrow. In this shot are Illusion, Sunrise Sunset, About Face, and nonblooming yet Estelle, Distant Drums, Hot Cocoa, Hot Chocolate, and the bed also has roses like Molinieux, Pat Austin, Precious Dream, Sammy, Grey Dawn, and several others that slip my mind.

My "poster child" for tall narrow roses is Queen of Sweden, who tends to be 6 feet tall and 2 feet wide, but a runner up is Jeanne LaJoie, the miniature climber who stays very narrow because she runs up a shepherd's hook in the back yard. Plenty of nice choices for that spot, so look at some of the more narrow Austins and shrubs or find a way to restrain a climber would be my suggestion.
Cynthia


Thank you so much, going to read up about all of these.
Excellent point about the zone, I'll bear that in mind.
Shepherd's hook - there's an idea, or an obelisk. I didn't want to install trellises but hadn't thought about freestanding supports.
How about tall & skinny & purple (or lavender) & zone 4? I've always had trouble with purple roses, which seem to hate the afternoon sun.

Wow- thank you both so much for the detailed information on both techniques.
I will try both, the next show is in Sept here. I have been disbudding Folklore and Red Intuition, but not the others or the floribundas. I can't wait to see the different outcomes! Maybe an exacto knife would be better than using my fumbly fingers, which is what i've been doing.
I don't ask too many questions of fellow exhibitors as i don't wish to pester or ofcourse, seem stupid. So, thank you to all on this forum who reply with wisdom and patience.

frenchcuffs, there should be someone at the show who can help you with prep or other info. nickl helps new exhibitors at our show. ;-)
Some plants are usually single bloom per stem, some want to have sprays/candelabras. There is a lot of finger pruning that goes on, and as Nick said, the earlier the better. Good luck!

Lady Kim,
My Rhapsody in Blue...




I do love the scent. I like to put it near the front door.
I'm going to ring the garden centre and demand to know what purple varieties they sold last year. I'll let you know what they say and we can whittle down the mystery.
M

That's gorgeous, M! I would grow Rhapsody in Blue here, except, it wants to be a climber in the heat; it's susceptible to black spot and until it gets well established, it stops flowering when it gets hot. Though not as awful as where many here are, it gets HOT here and remains so for far too long to have a thorny, green mountain of a plant depriving me of flowers. Kim

I am a bit confused re the dimensions of what I think is your wooden planter - how long is it? How wide is it? How deep is it?
If it is only 1 foot deep, I don't think that is deep enough for carpet roses, as they are full size bushes. From what I have heard about Florida soil, growing them in a planter which is big enough, in good soil, might be a good idea. Zone 9 here is perfect for carpet roses. Florida is much more humid, I believe, so hopefully some one from there will respond.
Jackie

Graham Thomas,
In much better shape but still showing signs of stress and plenty of blackspot. I'm not too worried about the blackspot, I seen plants resist better once they had a chance to settle down.
I'd like to hear what you guys think about the frame work?
Do I need to cut anything back, if so where? Should I thin the ( super skinny ) canes? They both look awfully wispy whereas the graft is the biggest I seen so far.. don't sa much since I'm brandnew but wow, what a gnarly knot that is.
Advice is to sink the graft a few inches under ground, whats your take on it? I rather be rid of Huey if it's able to root its own base but then perhaps, not the most hardy in my zone5?
Ok , community I have high hopes of being showered in your collected knowledge!
I wanna hear everything, 1, 2 ,3 ... Dish!


Hmm...it seems that the site for his nursery- Cottage Garden Roses-doesn't work, or at least not via HMF. I'll try using Google to get to it.
Yes, indeed, the idea of his repeat-flowering ramblers is very exciting. I checked out the Landhaus Ettenbuhl site,which does have some pictures ,but alas! I don't read German,so can't understand the descriptions! I think I may go ahead and try contacting Mr. Scarman himself via the John Scarman's Welt der Rosen site.I see that Belle Epoque carries his roses, and will probably order through them, but there's not a whole lot of info provided. Some of them I can see I definitely would like to include in my garden: for example, Mrs. Billy Crick,Dancing Girl,Diggy's Rambler,Scarman's Himalayan Musk (these last two only once-flowering). But there are several pink climbers ,and more details would be very helpful in making a selection: a more precise idea of the exact shade of pink,flower size, habit, etc.The thing is, as my garden progresses, I'm getting more and more picky about these things, since I tend to want a rose for a particular situation,to be paired up with one that's already there, etc.It seems a bit rude to pick a man's brain too much about his own roses, but I may have to do that . What a shame I can't read German! regards, bart

Bart - you should be able to set the translation icon going - usually, there will be a little union jack to click on which will (amusingly) do a direct translation from the German. I seem to recall there was an icon somewhere near the top of the page on the right.......
Go ahead and pick brains - it is my observation that most gardeners, growers and breeders like nothing more than to expound, at length and detail, about every aspect of their passion. Being picky is an ideal way of channeling more pertinent information (I for one, rarely respond to vague requests for a 'pink climber' or such stuff but the minute things get specific....)
You might have already said (and I am sure it was nothing to do with Simpsons) where your name (Bart) came from........apols, if you did, for the useless memory (which gets daily worse) but still curious............
I take it that you already have Mr.Scarmans useful book? Another handy one is 'Wild and Old Garden Roses' by a Gordon Edwards.........


I don't have enough experience with own root roses to weigh in on the success of own root vs. grafted. I've grown only grafted David Austins, some from local nurseries, others purchased bare root from David Austin in Texas and also Regan in California. I've been pleased with the quality of plants from both.
In my experience I've found that the more mature the plant is and the longer time it grows in your garden during first summer, the better. Own root roses will be leafed out plants shipped to you in May so you lose out on some growing time. Often they are younger, smaller plants than bare root grafted plants will be. Having said that, I've received some very good sized own root plants from High Country roses in Colorado (not Austins though I see they do sell them).
If you order from David Austin directly, specify a shipping date, don't let them decide. This year they shipped my bare roots in May and that is way too late. I had a hard time keeping them alive in the warm weather.

Yes, unless you are in a zone 4 with an unusually hot and long growing season, grafted Austins will do much better than own-root. It just takes the own-roots too long to establish and grow.
I've also had bad experiences with Austin in Texas and shipping dates. They have no clue. Bareroots should be planted when it is still cold out. Not after it's warmed up.

Somebody here said get Papa from Palatine so I did. I had it growing very well on Palatine's multiflora roots in a 15 gallon can and it was a good bloomer. When it made roots of its own, it got put in the ground and hasn't looked back. Maybe the big Palatine roots gave it a good head start.

I've grown Mister Lincoln, Oklahoma and Chrysler Imperial.
Of the three Mister Lincoln produced the best cut flowers and the color was the truest red, although it does "blue" with age like all fragrant reds. Personally I didn't mind the burgundy color of the mature bloom because it contrasted so nicely with the golden stamens in the center. I especially liked the velvety texture of the petals and the extremely long (and strong) stems. Kept well watered and feed it produced huge blossoms the size of a grown man's outstretched hand with near perfect flower form. It's faults included slow repeat bloom and an ugly, lanky shrub. Mister Lincoln was my late father's favorite rose.
Oklahoma's blooms were definitely darker, a deep smoldering red with purplish-black tones. The large blooms were more globular and the stems sometimes weren't strong enough to hold them erect. The bush had a nicer shape but the vigor wasn't as good. It did bloom more often but lacked the wow factor I look for in a red Hybrid Tea. I shovel pruned it.
Chrysler Imperial was by far the best garden rose of the three. Nicely shaped shrub, lush foliage (provided you sprayed for black spot), and reliable repeat bloom. The large blossoms were held erect on strong stems. It would have been just about perfect but the blossoms lacked the elegance of those on Mr. Lincoln. The color was a touch less vibrant (and velvety) and the flower form (although pretty darn good) not as perfect. I still kept it because it was much more reliable and still beautiful in its own right.
These roses were grown in a Tidewater Virginia garden (USDA zone 7b) where summers were hot & humid. All three roses had intensely strong (Damask) fragrances that were capable of inducing olfactory orgasms.
Hope this helped,
Patrick

Make your planting bed wider. There will be more room for the plants to get the size nature intended them to be, and less lawn to mow. An appropriate proportion is 1/3rd the maximum height of your home. For example, if you home maximum height is 18 feet, a proportional bed width would be six feet.
With a bed 6 feet wide, you can plant in layers: taller plants in back, mediums in the middle, and small colorful fillers in front. Makes for a much better looking home.


Pre-internet, the USDA was tracking the spread of RRD. That got defunded over a decade ago.
The most recent map I know of was one that was presented at the American Phytopathological Society in a poster session that had Peck, Amrine, Boudoin, and Hansen as co-authors. I am the Peck on that reference.
We put it together.
The problem with a map is that it reported where RRD had been found, not where it was. States like Ohio where solid infected. Arkansas north of the Ouachitas, likewise.
But then there are the points of spread: where it's seen in a garden way beyond the "front" of the disease: RRD on some HMusks near Talahassee is such a point- those bushes were removed.
RRD on a garden in Charleston SC and on wild roses just south of Charleston last year.
RRD on one patch of multiflora in central Massachusettes.
RRD on several roses (now removed) in Elizabeth Park, CT.
And locations in Canada that you can read about in my ebook from a paper I did for National Roses Canada.
Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Rosette E-book

Michaelg, where I am in S. Louisiana with heavy clay soil, raised beds are a necessity. It's strange--my yard is only about 150 feet deep--the front yard drains very well but the backyard is always so soggy after a rain. Of course days when it might rain in excess of 3-4 inches are a semi-regular occurrence here, and the last half of my backyard fills up like a swimming pool, especially along the back fence. If I dig a hole when it's dry and fill it with water, it will completely drain within 2-3 hours. Not great drainage, but not terrible with heavy clay. On Friday, we had a "gullywasher" of 3+ inches and the lake formed. Got another 1/2 inch the next day. Most of it has drained out of the grass area, but the holes where I pulled out the roots of some large Sweet Viburnum bushes are still totally full. The funny thing is, the Viburnum bushes that were in the wettest part of the yard grew like gangbusters, and there is even a Parkinsonia aculeata (Jerusalem Thorn) in the area with great growth, and that is really an arid climate tree. Maybe the drainage isn't as bad as I think?
I really wanted to put a bed for roses along this wet back fence too, so a raised bed is absolutely critical here.
I am embarrassed about how the yard looks now, but I'll take some pics so you can see what I'm working with.

I can empathize about the lakes forming in the backyard, mine does the same thing but out here in California I'm sure it's a rarer occasion. Nevertheless about half of the winter I have large ponds in my backyard that make it a muddy mess. My next big project is to do some grading and have a dry creek that runs to a dry well to deal with the drainage issues, have you ever thought of changing the grading so you don't get such bad ponding in the rain? I'm not sure what your style is, mine is naturalistic so I love the idea of a rocky dry creek in my yard. Sometimes designing around problems yields the best ideas and most beautiful gardens.
This post was edited by peachymomo on Mon, Jul 15, 13 at 12:06





I'll add that I don't think Golden Showers will be disease resistant in your area. It is not here.
magneato, you referred to being taken by the orange-yellow colors of Polka. Autumn Sunset is quite pretty too and can exhibit a blend of apricot, soft gold and soft orange in hot climates. You are not in a very cold climate and Autumn Sunset should be able to take the heat there; it does in Las Vegas. Could be worth taking a peek at on-line.
Lynn