22,795 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
You may be able to get a pretty good idea of how big some of your roses would get by visisting the two roses gardens in the city. Both have a good number of Austins. I know the one in Bronx should have a list of their roses on its website.
I cannot say anything from personal experience: all my ownroots are either 3 or 2 years old, and it is too early to tell. I doubt they will get anywhere nearly as big as those in Cali: we have a far shorter growing season and blackspot pressure might also slow things down quite a bit.
Hi Drew
So much depends on the genetics of the rose and the growing conditions that it is really difficult to predict eventual outcomes. Even within the Austin stable, there are huge variations in growth size. What I would suggest is to pay some careful attention to locally grown roses (and probably be more querying than a mere physical evaluation because water, soil types, nutrient factors all have a bearing on the eventual size and shape of a mature rose....which will, incidentally, take a few more years before yours have reached their full potential. Austins typically take around 4 years to really get going....and even then, the girth of the canes will alter, changing the overall shape, from a loose framework at the beginning, to a much sturdier rose after a few years. If you find you are unhappy with the placing, it is a simple task to move them around during their winter rest phase....so just enjoy the growing period and maybe fill in extra space with some direct sown annuals until your roses are nicely filled out. But do be aware, the smaller Austins (Mary Magdalene, Anne Boleyn) hover around 2.5 feet while monsters such as Graham Thomas, Constance Spry, The Generous Gardener etc. can all top 3metres, even in a cool zone 6.
Probably if you stake them up once winter is over, they will retain an upright stance and you can remove the supports later. Brrrr that ice looks cold. We had a little frost nip here and got silvery lawns and rooftops but that was all. I read about your ice storm on the Texas garden forum. I'm glad your plants were not broken.
I remember a lot of ice storms in Connecticut when everything was covered with ice and usually the power was out. The roses will be fine. The ice actually protects them. Any problems you have you will see next spring or where you are probably in February or March. Some years we had a lot of canker from freezing and thawing but not from ice.
I don't think Las Vegas is that much colder than Pasadena where I am and I planted my first roses here in December last year. The ground here never even gets that cold and they grow right from the start. I imagine your soil is as bad as mine is so I would work in as much organic material (compost) as you can and pile on mulch. And by all means fertilize with organics. I have two barrels of steer manure in water only because I haven't been able to find alfalfa. They love the steer manure. Also I would think that if there was ammonia you would smell it and if you do I wouldn't use it. I have never smelled it with any king of organic concoction I've used.
I'm a little disappointed that it won't develop into a fragrant rose, but where I planted it is at the back of a bed, against a fence, so that it is scentless won't be noticed. Most importantly, I wanted a thornless climber with pale flowers, so for that it works. I'm looking forward to watching mine grow, and will love how it looks with a purple clematis growing through it, as seen in one or two pics on its HelpMeFind page.
:-)
~Christopher
Andrea - what NORMALLY happens to roses in mild Northern California winters is that they get rained on relentlessly. I live in the North SF Bay Area. In a normal winter (which this one IS NOT), I do not water at all from when it starts raining in late October/mid November until when it stops sometime between March and June.
This winter we have had exactly .80 inches of rain so far (they start measuring on July 1), instead of our "normal to date" which for this date is about 15 inches. So, we have been turning our irrigation system back on every time it is dry for about 14 days. Not right now however, because everything is frozen (also NOT normal), and my DH noticed that I "blew up" one of our timers by turning it on the other day.
We are hoping that things, or at least the temperatures, will get back to normal soon (not freezing every night), at which time we will start irrigating again unless it rains.
Your question is a good one, but this year is so weird that I am not surprised that you are getting different answers...
Jackie
Oh thanks Jackie. That is exactly what I wanted.
I have sprinkler systems also, but since I only have about
30 roses, I water them by hand. And it's is cold out there to be playing with a hose.
Another place where I find conflicting info is the weather forecasts for California this winter. Some say we will get water some say another drought year.
So, as you suggest, I will water unless it is freezing.
Thanks again,
andrea
Yes, hard scape, topography, buildings and plantings can make a world of difference. The frost the other night didn't affect my bougainvillea and hibiscus on the hill, but the neighbor in the "hole" below me has significant freeze damage to his established bougainvilleas visible from my back yard. Same "zone", almost the same gardening space, but the cold "pooled" for him where it simply flowed through here. Thankfully! Kim
Hmmm, I am with Hoovb here - zone ratings are just one tool in a whole box. Microclimates in a particular garden can make a huge difference on a small scale whereas things such as latitude, daylight length, altitude, topology, geology (soils types), positioning aspects (facing north?, east?) and rainfall are all part of a way of describing your particular horticultural requirements. Observation and experimentation are, ultimately, the only reliable predictors.
I'm in Melbourne, so I cant give you any direct addresses, but... Peards is a Gardenworld, isn't it? There's one near me, and they have so many nice things!
They seem to get stock from all over; so If you were determined to get something specific, I would try and go to the source,.. you could try Corporate Roses (google em) based in S.A.; they seem to carry/be a supplier for a lot of Meilland roses, and I've seen their stock in garden centres etc in Victoria- you could try calling/emailing to see if they have sent anything to Sydney nurseries..
I've also seen a bit of Swane's stuff in my local Gardenworld- they have branches all over NSW, so you could try contacting them too.
Otherwise try contacting Peards and see who supplies them? They might be nice enough to tell you, seeing they don't deliver outside Victoria...
Thanks for starting this thread! I've been working out the same thing! I love my JC but she needs neighbours. I was seriously considering Hot Cocoa, but thanks to Lainey (thanks Lainey) I think I'll scrap that and go with Cinco de Mayo or maybe Dragon's Blood.
Henryinct - I love that combo of JC with Wild West! Gorgeous!
I can't say much for mine, which came as a band in Spring 2013, but I picked 'Orfeo' based upon a few good reviews. And I say "a few" not because it got a lot of bad ones, but because not many people seem to grow it -- but those who do, love it. Mine hasn't bloomed yet (which isn't surprising), but it has grown very well. If the canes weren't wrapped around a tree trunk, I'd estimate they reached at least 6' before the rose went to sleep for Winter.
:-)
~Christopher
I have all three. Moderate grower would be Perdita. LA is a largeish fountain, a little thin on foliage. Windermere is very tall and mostly vertical in growth, easily over 7' if not regularly cut back. Perdita is the rounded fully foliaged shrub of 4x4.
Fragrance? Windermere, hands down. Wonderful fragrance, citrus-y. Perdita has a little, LA almost none.
Bloom production? In this order, most first: Windermere, Perdita, and lagging far behind, LA, which is stingy.
Heat tolerance--probably Perdita first, then LA. Windermere has very ephemeral flowers with tissue paper thin, delicate petals.
Beauty of flower---Windermere, then Perdita, then LA.
And no, you don't need all three.
This post was edited by hoovb on Sun, Dec 8, 13 at 17:28
Thank you, hoovb! That is just the type of response I was hoping for. Very helpful! From what you've said, I think I'm going to go with Perdita. I had originally planned on ordering that one, but the other two looked so inviting looking out from the DA catalogue that they got me thinking...... So, for size, heat tolerance and for coming in second in bloom production and beauty of bloom -- Perdita it is. Thanks again!
If life gives you lemons make lemonade. What a creative way to use a destructive force of nature. I know everything in nature serves a purpose (except Mosquitoes?), but who could have dreamed this up? Not even that Martha woman thought of this one........Maryl
Very interesting.