22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses


Of COURSE ignorance and lack of research have kept ND a popular rose. That's how the vast majority of the rose buying public actually buys their roses!
But around here the reason it sells well is because there are so many out there in neighborhoods looking wonderful and people see it and want it. It's that simple.
Now, I also have a theory why in my area there are so many ND and not many examples of other things. In the early 80s we had a several nights in a row well below zero and it wiped out all the teas and other warm weather roses that can do well here. ND is hardy a couple zones colder than most teas and it was still early in the general interest of Old Roses. I suspect many that were lost were unidentified and/or unavailable commercially even if you knew what they were. So they weren't for the most part replaced. But the ND lived on.
As to why I have them by those doorways? We don't use those doors--they are mainly for show. A hallway is on the other side and stray cane blooming on the other side of the window is a pretty lovely thing to see as you walk down that hallway. An quite frankly it's a perennial garden and it's just not that big of a deal to whack it back when needed. And I can whack it back and not worry if I've hurt it feelings or if it's going to sulk. It can completely defoliate from rose slugs and a few weeks later be back in business.
Considering all the temperamental, fragile, accident prone roses out there, there is always going to be a market for a robust one. Don't get me wrong there are things I don't like about it and since I bought them I've discovered other possibilities that might be as good or better and I've considered replacing them. But if I replace them it won't be because of their exuberance!

I have two :) Mine repeat nicely (not continuously, but nice flushes), so I never get the comments about repeat other than to notice that I must've gotten a good clone.
I think her blooms are gorgeous. Much better in person, imho. But her utility for me is that she blooms in so much shade it's unreal!
I have one just cut and transplanted behind 6 ft tall old, old boxwoods and she's even blooming behind them, lol. She'll eventually climb up her wall trellis and find the sun, but I didn't expect that she'd bloom there at 2 ft tall :) The soil isn't great, as you'd imagine with boxwood roots thicker than your wrist. No problem for that girl :D
I'm not going to deadhead her, though! She's to be seen at a distance anyway there. I'll prune/tie once every year and that's it for that area.
My other one grows in evergreen trees under huge maple trees and just does her thing. I prune her pretty severely, but I just don't want her too tall or wild there. The pruning is more severe but it's no more work in my mind than the pruning I do on all my mature climbers.
I never did let her get out of hand in the first place, mind you. That would not be a good idea with New Dawn at all, no :) Bad soil is practically a prerequisite at the least, imho. (That's after she puts out more mature growth, btw, y'all. You could actually kill her as a little baby plant, I'd imagine).

Have Koko Loko here in Chicagoland(z5) planted last spring and has been a disappointment to me. Lost half the plant (while mounded) over the winter and the colors are just okay to me. Honestly, my ten year old Distant Drums is similar in color but much more hardy and free flowering. To be fair, my Koko Loko is grafted and I don't have much luck with grafted.

As Zack says, it sounds like you didn't prune enough to get rid of winter damaged canes.
Exposed grafts will be an issue if the temperature drops to around zero, which it will in Nashville sooner or later. Plant future roses with the graft just underground. With long-shanked fortuniana grafts, plant the rose slanting at a 30-degree angle to the grade so you don't have to bury the rootstock roots a foot deeper than they want to be. Cut off any roots that would project above the surface because of the angled planting.

The main difference in damage symptoms between spider mites and thrips damage is that thrips are usually associated with irregularly shaped white or greyish-white spots distributed mainly along the mid-rib and side veins of plant leaves; while similar symptoms caused by spider mites are distributed randomly on leaves. Found this at http://old.padil.gov.au/pbt/index.php?q=node/13&pbtID=116 In addition, I see the leaf turning bronze colored then looking at the underside of the leaf with a magnifying glass can see small white "dots" moving around. This is the mite.
You will need to use a "miticide" to controll or kill the mites. It is difficult to do and you have to us a regular spray program. Miticides can be expensive, but I found a Spectricide product at my local Ace hardware that works for me.

Just a note on thrips.
The Knock Out family seems to be particularly attractive to thrips. So much so that we can use our Knock Outs as "canaries in the coal mine" to give us an early warning that thrips are around and we should be on the lookout for them on our other roses.

You planted them this year or last year?
Young plants not established don't have the resources (a strong root system, canes containing a lot of stored carbohydrates) to produce their best flowers, just like a 21 year old man is a lot stronger physically than he was when he was three.
Patience! This assuming the roses are getting regular water and are in decent soil and are getting a goodly amount of direct sunlight (6 hrs) daily during their growing season.
One thing exclusive of plant establishment is Thrips--are the edges of the petals brown? If you shake a flower over a white piece of paper you may see tiny brown insects--those are Thrips, a rasping insect that can ruin flowers. The other thing is extremes of weather--a forming bud can be damaged by a sudden near-frost or a nasty heat wave. But the other stuff first.

Describe "deformed".
If they were hit by a cold snap during formation, that can do it. Also, if you mean strange green centers, that's called proliferation (there are threads with photos), and it happens in some varieties in the spring, usually on the very first buds to form.




Best picture: Fame (blossoms stay on the bush for weeks and even if faded they add color to the garden)
Best actor in a leading role: Mellow Yellow (planted front and center, always blooming, "look at me" kind of bush)
Best actress in a leading role: Julia Child (love those bright yellow blooms, bushy bush)
Best actress in a supporting role: Betty Boop (blooms and blooms, never has any issues with mildew, no need to deadhead)
Best actor in a supporting role: Christopher Marlowe (just a small bush, blooms regularly, trouble free)
Best visual effects: Gourmet Popcorn (a mini which really does look like popcorn)
Best foreign language: Yves Piaget (love the blooms on this bush, but sadly, a tree is shading it and it suffers mildew but blooms on)
Best visual effects: Dark Lady (love the blooms, but another mildew magnet)
Lifetime achievement: Snowfire (has been in place well over 30 years in a difficult, hot location. It carries on year after year.)

What about Lavaglut? I do not grow it-- it is on my "next year" list.
I have read and heard many good things about it-- though I'm not sure it would meet your height requirement.
Nor do I know firsthand about JB avoidance, but my experience this year is that JBs go for the yellow roses.
I'm also hearing good things about Europeana...

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for your reply. glad I asked here. wow. Home Run is beautiful!
I found my local nursery was selling Flower Carpet Rose Scarlet for 20% off. I don't know about this rose so didn't take it. But is anybody growing Flower Carpet Rose?
thank you in advance for your input.


I've seen it win some awards for form. ;-)
Fragrant Cloud has a true exhibition quality to it, and is relatively unique with it's habit of reflexing the bottom petals. Touch of Class is another rose that does that and we all know of its exhibition capability.




Thanks a lot for the replies! Glad to know its the scent I smelled in the garden center. I received my 2 from heirloom today. Will be putting them in the ground soon. A quick note though, there were 3 bushes in the rose garden of CM, and the other two seemed healthy but one was covered in something (blackspot?) and looked weak. From what I heard though, the disease resistance is good with this rose, am I right? And I'm guessing it needs full sun? Unlike some other Austin's that wouldn't mind shade at parts of the day?
Thanks again!
Mine is planted on the east side of my house along the front porch. It gets morning sun and by 1 PM it is shaded. It is just as happy as it can be. No blasting full sun that can cook or fade the blooms.