22,796 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
"What I love more than that though is continuous bloom during the season."
Oh, definately! The biggest reason I don't want once bloomers is because they bloom on old wood; if something should happen to them I might need to wait two years before I get any flowers. Equally, and perhaps most important, is their desease resistance. I don't spray and I don't want to spray, so any rose that's susceptable to desease won't survive with me. I'm also new with roses, so that adds to the necessity.
I'm so excited to be getting roses! It's felt like spring all winter because I just picture them all blooming. I have to be careful, or this can become an addiction ;)
I tend to fawn over quartered, flat blooms. It may be that after first looking through Rose Encyclopediae, more Centifolias, Gallicas, Damasks, and HPs were on my lists of "most beautiful blooms" than any other and the disappointment I felt when I learned they would never thrive here in Santa Monica strengthens my desire for those shapes.
I love lots of petals typically, but I count Mrs. Oakley Fisher amongst my favorites on account of the color. Color is very important, but I do like all sorts of colors in roses. In descending order, I consider White, Apricot, Dark Dark Red verging on Purple, Light Yellow verging on Cream, and crazy blends/bis/striped/unusual roses as my favorites. I have tendencies, but no strict 'rules' or absolutes.
Again in descending order, some of my favorite blooms are Madame Hardy, Reine des Violettes, Gloire de Dijon, Blanchefleur, Lady Hillingdon, Boule de Neige, Mrs. Oakley Fisher, Distant Drums, Crown Princess Margareta, Etoile de Lyon, Felicia, and Hot Cocoa.
Jay
I've ordered bulbs and plants from them as well and have had pretty good luck. Most have been healthy and grown as expected, and they've been good about replacement when things have gone awry. I did order a mystery grab bag last year and it took them more than six months to ship it - every time I checked the order status the shipping date had been pushed back. But in the end I got a nice selection of tulips, lilies, hyacinth and daffodils. We'll see how they grow this spring.
I saw an interesting thread from a couple years ago about Gardens Alive taking over Weeks roses - they also own Brecks, Spring Hill, Michigan Bulb, and a few catalog companies in Canada. It was pretty pessimistic for the most part.
I also sent Brecks an email asking about their supplier for roses and information about the rootstock used etc. They wrote back promptly (wrote it yesterday and heard back this morning) and politely told me that they couldn't tell me anything.
I'll be interested to hear about Neil Diamond this spring, Beth! They carry Diamond Eyes, which I'm trying to find, but not in Canada, which is where I live.
Karen
Here is a link that might be useful: previous thread about Weeks and Gardens Alive
I grow two Westerland as climbers. They fare well here. Hardy and vigorous reaching over ten feet with minimal feeding.
Although the blooms open orange, they quickly fade to salmon/yellow blend. At any time there may be anything from orange to a pastel light salmon or coral.
Originally I grew Betty Corning clematis, which is a light blue-purple, with Westerland. Betty soon overwhelmed the arbor and the rose.
I later transplanted Betty Corning and substituted the viticelli clematis Venosa Violacea
Thanks for the photos! I really like the colour comination in foto 2; the FADED Wland flowers with the clematis. That is sort of what I'm hoping to do: pair Wland up with paler apricot/pinky pastel companions so that even when it's flowers are at the colour-phase illustrated in photo 1,the general effect will be more like that in photo 2. The colour combination in Photo3 is great; I'd like to achieve something like that, but with a lot of the above-mentioned pastel colours mixed in...and some deep plum-coloured leaves ...
Campanula - Thanks for your helpful advice.
Sammy - I really do want to grow some of the antiques, they are really beautiful and evoke a feeling nostalgia. Right now I have Rose de Rescht, Reine des Violettes, Mme Isaac Pereire, and Zephirine Drouhin. I planted them all last spring and with the exception of Rose de Rescht, they bloomed very little. Those all came from Roses Unlimited. They all look really healthy and I am sure they will be fine, I just get a little anxious, I guess. I ordered a few more antiques, including SDLM, which you mentioned, this time from Pickering. I have seriously considered the teas and chinas, especially the teas, but have been a little afraid. Maybe I'll try one or two in 2015, they are really lovely. I saw the article you mentioned. I will try to find time to read it tomorrow, looks interesting. I have visited the Antique Rose Emporium a number of times, I love it!
bartleby1, I live in Brooklyn which as you know is not far from nyc. The USDA has revised its zone hardiness map so that we are now both in zone 7. It's too soon to prune now, so hold off until end of March/early April. Once you prune the rose will want to start growing so it's best to do that when the outside temps are warm enough.
Are there any rose nurseries near you that you can recommend? I'm looking for a new source as the choices in my neck of the woods are disappointing.
This is from someone who knows zip about roses sooooo, anyhow, may I suggest you take a few post-it notes, number them and stick them on the branches, then retake your pictures. That way Camp and others can direct you to the correct cane to cut. ie. above # 6 about 2 inches cut at a slant so etc etc.....
Baltimore Belle grows later than most Ramblers and in my garden, preferred a little shade as the full sun bleaches out and also burns the thin petals. This rose has very flexible canes and although I kept mine as a 8 foot shrub, it still needed a lot of support. Darlows Enigma is another rose that doesn't like the full sun and the flowers stay longer plus look better in some afternoon shade.
Jim, I'll be crowing to the four points, LOL! I have some hope for it. Last season, I got five blooms, after two seasons of dwindling and only 2-3 flowers, and it had two canes instead of one shrinking stick. Cross your fingers!
Dan, the problem here is that the frozen days have been short term, and sporadic. The ground hasn't frozed, so I haven't added winter mulch. At this point, I'm going to rely on the own root CPM being buried correctly, and cross my fingers on the lavender. I couldn't find any burlap locally.
And spend the next month or two trying to figure out if I want to keep the KOs and move them, or just get rid of them.
LynnT
Just wanted to add my two cents. I live near Sacramento--pretty darned hot! I prefer floribundas but do have some HTs in pots. I ran out of ground a long time ago and have quite a few in pots. If it is a truly special rose, I do find a ground spot by removing a non-performer.
Always plastic pots or maybe foam, I like the big square ones but the round ones work too. I use redwood bark mulch in the pots, an absolute must for me. It really helps. My roses are in full sun. You must religiously water them each day in the hot weather. So my occasional dog sitter must and is willing to water my pots along with taking my dog out twice a day!
Some weaker roses have done better in pots than in the ground for me. Have fun with your potted roses!
I live in Selma (near Fresno, CA). Gets very hot here. I have roses growing in pots on my deck. Two big pots with Bolero (white romantica) rose - standard form. Great fragrance. Blooms all summer.
I like the standard form because when I sit in my chair on the deck, the roses are above my head and the fragrance is wonderful. Also, it is easier to arrange the furniture around the standard roses. I underplant them with a hardy geranium.
I have found Fame! to be a very heat tolerant HT, Its cerise, color doesn't fade and blooms all summer (no fragrance).
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Hope this helps.
If you know which ones of those main canes at the base are the oldest you can take out a few of those and it will supposedly encourage it to send up some new basal breaks. I would never take out more than about 1/3 of the canes at the base in any one year though.
As for shortening it, why? Does it need to be shortened? Is there any winter die back on the tips? If not, and you have no real need to make it shorter, I'd just leave it alone.
You may want to try and spread more sideways to encourage more laterals so you'll get more blooms. Otherwise, it looks happy and healthy! Show us a pic when it blooms!
I was able make it to the wake....his little wife is such a sweet lady. Talked with one daughter...there was all kinds of Rosenut things there.....I am so glad i went....such a loss to my area. I wished I would have been more in contact with him.
This is really sad to hear, thank you for posting the news. I always enjoyed reading his posts and checking in at his website from time to time. My condolences to the family, Jay