22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

Dr. Earth #3 is 5% N, alfalfa is 3% N. So you could use a cup of DE or 1.5 cups of alfalfa every couple of months during seasons of active growth. Either would have about the same effect. Half-life of slow N is about 6 months. It takes 2-3 weeks to get going, depending on temperature. Blood meal would be for a booster.

Thanks. I think I will continue using Dr. E every 6 to 8 weeks, then a couple of TBSPs of bloodmeal only occasionally. I will post the results (photos) in a month or two.

Thank you all for the help. I'm having a great time with these beauties.

andrea

Thanks, Jackie! I hadn't noticed this pattern occurring until this thread popped up, but it makes sense to gradually encourage the main cane to put out basals rather than cut off the whole top-heavy thing at once. I'll have to try that this year!

Cynthia

One thing I do with them, especially when they are on small cluster flowered roses like hybrid musks, is cut the entire thing off and use it as a ready-made flower arrangement in a vase. If you have two that is even better!

Jackie

Thanks, Kippy.

I am kind of hesitant about digging a trench because of the 60 year old red maple tree located right where the gophers are showing up in my yard. I know nothing is fool proof, but I don't want a second gopher colony in my yard.

Smiles,
Lyn

Save your pet poop and flush it into the gopher holes. Instant fertilizer and a real offense to the varmints. VERY satisfying, too! hehehe Kim

I love this rose. I have two and they are a joy. Your R&R is beautiful. Wish it had more scent, but a real winner for me. Thanks for sharing. lesley

Hmmm. Mine does have scent. Not from feet away, but it's got a good sniff to it. Maybe I'm happy with less strength of scent than you are? Also, while my deck does get hot (hottest spot on the property) it starts to cool off as the shade line creeps out, so maybe my scent lasts better than it does at your house. It's supposed to hit 81 today here, but my deck will possibly be 85 for a short time and then start to chill off considerably, and that's IF it ever gets that warm...

Oh RATS. Rats x 10. I'm so paranoid about bugs on my roses that I just went and killed it, and if it had been anywhere but on the rose with something I (stupidly) didn't recognize as a spider egg sac, and some munching evidence, I'd have patted it on the head and let it go on its merry way. I hope I get credit in life for all of the spiders I haven't killed.

Thanks. :( Better go google pictures of rose pests.

The good news is that I have never, ever, had only one garden spider in the garden - you will see more, and now you will know what they look like and to leave them alone. Sometimes I even go around by a different path when I encounter one of their large webs across a path. Of course, if the web is blocking one of our doorways I just gently pick up part of it, and try to move the indignant spider to one side.

Jackie

Of the ones you listed I grow The Huntington Rose and I used to grow Geoff Hamilton.

The Huntington Rose is very suseptible to blackspot, but has beautiful blooms. It also has the notorious "octopus canes" that so many Austin roses are known for :(

Geoff Hamilton, I traded away because he was not vigorous here AT ALL! After 3 years he was still in a one gallon pot. He went to Texas (I believe) where the weather is not as humid, and the blackspot pressure is lower. He was ownroot, so maybe buying it grafted, as you mentioned, would make the difference in terms of vigor.

However....I would recommend The Dark Lady and Queen of Sweden. Both have really nice shape and beautiful blooms.

Tammy

This post was edited by TNY78 on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 22:53

Thanks everyone. I was so pumped with all the ideas that I have now expanded my selections and will consider maybe one more flower -- and this time perhaps something that is yellow Maybe a Charles Charwin or Charlotte or a Graham Thomas.

The local supplier here has unfortunately a limited choice for David Austins and that is perhaps due to marketability or what had survived last year's winter. Still David Austins do very well in my zone. The roses here have to be grafted onto hardy root stocks and this helps them thrive in my climate. We just have to bury the graft union to 2-3 inches below ground and the plant comes up vigorous and with big blooms.

Anyway, due to the limitations -- there is no Eglantyn or Queen of Sweden being offered in the current season. But let's see what happens in Sept.

Ianna

JC flowers will fry to a crisp on any day when temp goes above 34 C.

Johnnidappl thank you for the information. I love the color, it just looked more fragile to me, more than many other Austin's, and my instincts were correct. Well... If I move to Portland I will purchase it and plant it there.

Well, against my better judgement I sent off the money today.

I ended up with:

Mardi Gras
Strawberry Ice
Cherry Parfait

When we finally move to the new house, it'll take a week or more to plant everything I've acquired this year! Oh well, so far its been worth it :) I love my roses!

Appreciated the heads up on the RU sale. Even though I probably should have resisted. I ended up with

Christopher Marlowe
Darcey Bussell
Angel Face
Easy Does It
Lagerfeld
Shreveport

Wanted Tea Clipper and thought I was going to get it, then she discovered she was out of it. Darcey was the substitute.

Julia Child and Sunsprite . Very little fade. Ht form, Henry Fonda.

Consider Sunflare, one of the best recent yellow introductions. It does fade some, but the clusters are very pretty in varying shades of yellow. Rebloom is excellent and the shiny green foliage is most attractive.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunflare at HMF

As well as climate in general; how heavily they're fed; how heavily they're watered, etc. Kim

It's Rules of Thumb. If it says 7' tall, I wouldn't plant it in front of a window with a long view.

Yes, "whatever works" is the theme of my garden! This area is always in partial shade (at best) because of our huge scarlet oak tree, and also 100 year old black walnut street trees. I have several old tea & china roses which bloom happily in this bed, but this is the first modern rose which has been able to cut it at all.

Jackie

I have been surprised that my Morden Sunrise and The Prince are doing so well in the shade. They each get a little sun, but not much. Your Blushing Knockout is quite pretty, Jackie. Diane

Does the yellow consistently start out a clear, strong yellow? Does the yellow fade toward off-white as the flower ages? Or toward pink at the edges? Or not change?
There aren't that many unfading clear yellow hybrid teas, and Oregold (1975) was, they say, the first. It was widely distributed.

Or, perhaps, 'Sunsprite.' That's always been a terrific garden rose.

Jeri

Am I imagining it, or did I just get an email in the past few days saying that "Portland's Best Rose" for 2013 was Sugar Moon? When I Google it, I can't find it, and I don't know the rose at all, but it got spectacular comments.

I agree with Jeri - the best advice you will get on here is from folks who live in the same area you do. Please give us an approximate location, and then I'm sure locals will chime in with suggestions which will really be useful.

Many people do not realize that roses, even modern hybrid tea or shrub roses, all do better in some places than in others, for various reasons.

Jackie

Very pretty. It could be a seedling dropped by a bird, or it could be an old planted rose that had not been getting enough sunlight to bloom in previous years. If the flowers are quite small and the canes long and flexible, it is an old rambler. These often survive in vacant lots and can travel a good distance from the original spot.

Cool!