22,796 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Ahhhhh . . . you may wanna rethink that. Balconies and potted plants are often more trouble for both than one ever would think in advance. The only happy people with balcony plants are those that (1) don't own the balcony, and (2) have no ground floor space at all. That's because balconies and wet pots do not play well together -- think rotted wood wherever that pot drains, unless you can somehow create a "no standing water, ever" drainage way for the watering water. And that's hard to do, in practice, because there's always somewhere that water collects near a pot. And the plants are not usually all that happy either -- balconies tend to be either hot and dry or shaded and damp, and it's hard to find one with decent sun exposure that doesn't get too hot.
Many HOA's have "no pots on balconies" rules for exactly that reason, and having been a construction defect lawyer for awhile, I completely understand the need for that rule.
kstrong,
Our HOA does not have much input regarding what goes on our balconies, but they seem to be more concerned about the placement of trees and plants near property line dividing block walls, decency laws etc. Honestly, they cannot see into our backyards.
I was a little concerned about the water/balcony potential issue, but my DH is very knowledgeable and "particular", generally speaking, so when he suggested putting two or three potted plants on our balcony, I figured that he had already determined that it was okay. I do know that there is a slight slope for water drainage, along with railing between the pillars.
It will be hot up there, but the balcony runs along our master suite, and the pots will be positioned as such to receive a.m. sun. Our home is 9 years old, and whatever is directly underneath the rug out there now is not wood. Wood is likely underneath that surface as part of the constructionâ¦.
Thanks Kate. Frau Dagmar is one of the shorter varieties for sure, but over time can still reach between 4 to 5' tall. It can also sucker like mad once it goes own root. This was originally one plant grafted on multiflora and planted about 10 years ago now. She is now about 12 feet wide, 6 feet deep and between 4-5 feet high and I have to prune away suckers each spring to keep it in control.
Frau Dagmar is on the right and that is Wild Edric standing taller behind her.
I have 15 minifloras now. I like them because the plants don't get as tall or big as the HTs do but for the most part they have that bloom form. They work very well in my patio pot garden. All of mine are own root and I've gotten them from many different sources but Burlington and John's Miniature's (now through Heirloom) are the two where I got the most I think. Since I've been maxed out on room of late I haven't gotten anything from For Love of Roses yet but I peruse their web site often and I'm sure an order is soon in my future, lol!
The class was started mainly for exhibition purposes I believe. Hence the nearly always exhibition form. There were some newer minis coming out that were just too big to be shown as minis and/or would simply out shine the minis because they were bigger. So they started to call them minifloras, somewhere between a mini and a florabunda. The ARS didn't immediately recognize it as a class and the term "miniflora", all one word, wasn't sanctioned until a couple of years ago. Before then there were several different spellings.
As for sizes you have to remember that the classification of a rose is soley up to the breeder. So if the breeder says it's a miniflora, it's a miniflora. Whether the bloom is 1, 2 or 3 inches in size. It doesn't matter. So there is a range of sizes for plant, leaf and bloom. As a general rule of thumb minis are usually around 1 to 1 1/2 inches in size up to 2 at the most. There are a few bigger ones because they were classed before minifloras came into existence. Minifloras generally range around 2 inches but can go to 3. Florabundas are between 3 and 4 inches and HTs can go from 4 to 6 inches in size. But there are exceptions to all of that. For the most part breeders are careful to place things in the right classes but sometimes there are reasons for putting it in a different class. It happens.
As for what I like best of mine, probably First and Foremost as a garden plant. It blooms almost non-stop for me and i love the bright cherry red color. As a show rose I'd have to go with Snow Ruby because I've won Queen of Minis twice with it!
Not for me. What I believe is the classic Tea rose scent is for me a dry, aromatic, "woody" scent, akin to that of freshly sawed hardwood, or perhaps cedar. Of course that scent can be blended with many others, even in Tea roses; there's a mild sweet scent that comes from the China ancestry, and some Tea rose fragrances have fruity notes as well.
Melissa
There was exactly one of it at the garden centre last Saturday. It seems that the rose, along with several others, were imported bare-root from Europe and potted up. It is probably sold by now. I didn't want to purchase the rose without knowing somewhat about its background. My loss.
It is most definitely Aloha Hawaii.
It also thought it might be Caramel Fairy Tale since both the blooms and buds are very similiar to Aloha Hawaii. However, the leaves give it away. Aloha Hawaii has the glossy and more crinkled leaf form shown in your picture, whereas Caramel Fairy Tale has a more matt leaf texture with slightly less pronounced crinkles.
Yep, it's seeing campanula AND Beth AND Kim all report how Eyes for you or Bulls-Eye or the Eyeconic series are bullet-proof for them makes me sigh in frustration. I don't think my problem is the amount of moisture or sun per se, since we get relatively little of the former and plenty of the latter, but I suspect it's our loamy clay soils that makes the hultemias not survive my summers, Sandandsun. Other semi-xeric plants from places like High Country Gardens have died similarly rapid deaths when I've tried to create the light soils and rocky conditions under which they would be more suited. If I were better at pots and a lot more organized about keeping control of conditions in specialty gardens I might be more successful, but that's too much like work.
At least I CAN grow roses, just not these. I will post some pictures of the garden once spring gets going and I appreciate the encouragement as well as compliments, Sandandsun. Not that any of us need TOO much incentive to show off our yards anyway...
Cynthia
To excerpt from Jim Sproul's article linked in a post above:
"Hulthemias however,...are not true roses...."
So I agree with you, Nippstress, because although I've observed that most roses do love clay (as your garden, one of mine, and others here demonstrate), the same probably should not be said about hulthemia hybrids.
Also, I completely agree about too much work because my instincts always told me that working with Nature was the path of least resistance providing the greatest rewards. I've enjoyed those rewards in other climates. I am now VERY slowly, but it seems surely, getting them here too.
In a similar vein, pots ARE too much work for ME. Temporary pampering is the most pot work I will do, but I digress.
Yes, it is abundantly clear that you CAN grow roses and I don't think that I'm the only one that celebrates that fact.
Best wishes for a glorious spring.
Lastly even if unnecessarily: incentive, incentive, incentive!
I have mine growing essentially as a free-standing plant, though I'd describe it more of a pillar than a bush. It grows fairly thick self-supporting canes without much significant support, though once it gets beyond about 6 feet I have to either provide something to prop it up or prune it back to keep the top from flopping over. Under these conditions, it doesn't seem to put out many basals so the blooms are mostly in the top 1/3 of the plant. Mine is 6-7 feet tall but no more than 2 feet wide. In contrast, my Quadra when it was grown as a self-supporting bush was probably 6 feet tall and 8 feet wide with gangly masses of canes from the base reaching all over the place.
i presume with different pruning patterns Aloha could be encouraged to broaden out a bit, but it doesn't seem to be its first choice. Also a Med climate your conditions are considerably more humid and warmer than mine.
Cynthia
Someone needs to invent cheap speaker/motion-detector/solar driven units that could be placed all over ones property. The units would transmit to a receiver which in turn would cause the speaker that was the farthest away to start producing a pack-of-dogs barking sound. Then slowly advance to the next speaker unit that is in a direct line to the deer/object detected. Such as the dogs coming out of the barn to chase the deer. With the sound of a pack of dogs always behind the deer it shouldnâÂÂt be hard to run them off your property.
So, there ya go, run with it and make your millionsâ¦. just remember you heard it first here on GardenWebâ¦.. lol
Last year, I started with four cages. I found some plastic stakes that had a hole near the top. I used four stakes per cage and attached them with shower curtain hooks. It was a bother to keep unhooking the cages to access the bushes. I didn't notice any movement with the cages, unhooked, so I left them unhooked. The deer sick their tongues inside the cages and will eat anything they can reach. I need at least six inch clearance from plant to cage.
I have increased the size of some of the cages to get the clearance. They are all around four feet in diameter and four feet high. I have observed through deer damage that the deer can't eat anything higher than 3 1/2 feet.
About 25 years ago I rebuilt a wire fence between my property and a creek bed. The fence was 50 feet long, six feet high with 2/4 pressure treated wood in concrete. The wire fencing was attached with u shaped staples. The fence was not intended to keep deer out. One day a deer in my yard felt trapped and kicked the wire until an opening was created. I haven't bothered to repair it, since it would happen again. If a deer pushes against a cage, it flexed but doesn't move. It is more of a psychological than a physical barrier. A dog or a raccoon would need about three seconds to get under the cage. Fortunately my problem is with deer.
I have what is known as urban deer. A few small families that stay in the same area.
I rarely see a buck. Last year, there was a one that hung out around mating season and they are much more wary than the does.
I now have a cluster of 8 cages that offer more protection than a single cage. They go all the way to the right side of the photo. As you can see, they are not as obtrusive as a fence and no gate is required.
I don't usually prune them off unless there is some other issue that would require it to be removed. Black spot is out there everywhere and whether you have some spots on the canes or not the plant may still get it at a later date when the conditions are right for it to grow.
I envy you Jackie. I wish I'd inherited more garden and less silver and china.
Oh, how wonderful for you, Jackie! I got my love of roses handed down from my Grandmother to my Mother to me and I'm so grateful for it.