Rose growers thread!

[kfchickenlady]

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ok, that does it, have to get one now!

 

[Eatin'Dirt]

I LOVEEE ♥♥♥ my roses!!! I have about 15 different ones. I have to find heat ones, I live in Las Vegas & its hot. LOL They do very well here with a lot of water for sure!

 

[Eatin'Dirt]

I LOVE the A Darby!!! I love the petals on that one!!!

 

[AquaEyes]

First off, I was just thinking "I wonder if there's a gardening thread in here" and BOOM! I find a thread about my favorite plants -- roses. I had to leave my english roses behind when I moved to Buffalo, but I put together four huge plots in the area at the end of my street with a grant from my block-club.

I put in just over 200 perennials and 16 antique roses. It's just a starter, meant to have room for neighbors to share offsets of their own garden plants. I already got a bunch of bearded iris divisions that I added to the plots last summer. The roses that went in were eight varieties of Albas (Alba Maxima , Madame Plantier , Chloris , Konigen von Danemark , Blush Hip , Felicite Parmentier , Great Maiden's Blush and Armide ) and eight varieties of Gallicas (Aimable Rouge , Belle de Crecy , Belle Isis , Cardinal de Richelieu , Charles de Mills , Desiree Parmentier , Duchesse de Montebello and Henri Foquier ). I purchased them as bands (rooted cuttings) from Rogue Valley Roses (www.roguevalleyroses.com), so they will be own-root (not grafted) and thus have better winter hardiness -- and will also grow larger over time than grafted roses. A great place to find just about ANY antique rose is Vintage Gardens (www.vintagegardens.com), and if you want to look up a particular rose, go to Help Me Find (www.helpmefind.com) and look on their rose database.

I also bought a whole bunch of roses to grow for myself (a mix of Bourbons, Portlands, Hybrid Perpetuals, and two Hybrid Musks), but after one pot (I was growing them in 5-gallon nursery pots so I could take them with me when I move next year) "disappeared" one night, I decided instead to give the rest to some of my favorite neighbors. I kept two plants of the same variety for myself, the one called Eugene de Beauharnais (now generally believed to be in fact Le Grande Capitane...many of the antiques were "rediscovered" from abandoned gardens as unnamed plants, and rose experts tried to match them up to descriptions from old catalogs dating back to the 1800's...so sometimes they find out later that the first name assigned to a found rose was incorrect, as is the case with the one I got, but I don't care about the name because I LOVE this rose). The ones I bought for myself that I ended up giving to neighbors were:



Bourbons -- Honorine de Brabant , Louise Odier , Madame Ernest Calvat , Madame Isaac Pereire , Souvenir de la Malmaison , Souvenir du President Lincoln , and Zephrine Drouhin

Hybrid Musks -- Lavender Lassie and Prosperity

Portland -- Comte de Chambord , Duchesse de Rohan , Indigo (the one that disappeared

), Pickering Four Seasons Rose , Rose de Rescht

Hybrid Perpetual -- Ardoisse de Lyon , Baronne Prevost , Marchioness of Londonderry , Paul Neyron , Reine des Violettes , and Yolande d'Aragon

A condition of me giving them to my neighbors was that I'd get to come see them before I leave, and take a few cuttings to grow on myself. They were all small plants when I put them in the ground, so this year we'll get to see them start to take off, but they'll be in their glory long after I leave Buffalo. I did get to enjoy blooms from all of them last summer before I gave them to the neighbors in the end of August. I'd rather they be safe in someone's yard than get stolen and who knows what.


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The two roses are very different. Ferdinand Pichard is a Hybrid Perpetual, while Rosa Mundi is a Gallica. Ferdinand Pichard will bloom again after the late-spring flush, and grow into a taller, arching bush. Rosa Mundi will bloom only once, in a big, magnificent display in late spring. It will grow lower and spread over time into a thicket. So it depends on how you want to use the rose rather than "which is better." A lot of people think there's no point to the once-blooming antique roses, preferring the repeat-blooming ones. However, you should think of them as a flowering shrub rather than the picture of the rose they show in the catalog. If you need a shrubby plant that gets to about 3-4', and if you live in a very cold climate, then the Gallica class will work great for you. The once-bloomers have about as many flowers per year as the repeat-bloomers, but they give them all in about 4-6 weeks instead of spread out over several flushes. So a Rosa Mundi in bloom will be covered in flowers, while a Ferdinand Pichard will be more modest in display, but offer several of them. It depends on what you want. I suggest thinking first about the form of the plant for the space you want, and choosing a rose class that fits. Then, narrow your choice to the flower you want.

Also keep in mind that the once-bloomers grow faster, because when a rose is in bloom-mode, it's not putting out much growth. They grow AFTER they flower, then, if they are repeat-bloomers, they pause, put out blooms, finish, and put on some more growth. At each bloom cycle, they need to be watered and fertilized to do well. Since the once-bloomers come into bloom at the end of spring, when things are wet and fertile anyway, they can pretty much be left to themselves. And if you want to dress up the plant when it's not in bloom, plant a clematis next to it and let it climb into the rose. The Group II clematis will bloom the first time around when the rose blooms, then again after the hottest part of summer has passed, when the rose won't be blooming. Group II clematis don't need to be pruned (Group III bloom on new wood, so they need to be cut down to about 12" in the spring or else they get all bare at the base over time) and don't get huge (Group I clematis can reach 30' and are best used to climb up a tree or the side of a building....the Montana clematis are a good example).


I'll stop for now....because otherwise I'll keep going.

 

[AquaEyes]

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I highly recommend that you forget Hybrid Teas and look into the classes of antique roses that do well in warm climates -- Chinas , Teas (not Hybrid Teas, which came about from crossing Teas with Hybrid Perpetuals, hence the name of the group), Noisettes , and Tea-Noisettes . There's also a group informally called "Bermuda Mystery Roses" which were collected as unknown roses from Bermuda and passed along as cuttings. Go to Vintage Gardens and look through the classes I mentioned to get an idea. These are the roses that were grown all over Florida before there were fungicides available. Hybrid Teas were not bred for use in the garden -- they were bred during the height of rose exhibition for beautiful flowers on long, straight stems more than a healthy and attractive plant. They're great for what they are, but if you want roses in the garden, find the ones that are better described as "flowering shrubs."

And if you want a very good home-made black-spot and mildew preventative that is non-toxic, the Cornell University recipe is just a teaspoon of baking soda, horticultural oil and dish soap mixed into a gallon of water (I might be off slightly on the amounts, but you can find the recipe in many rose books or online). There are variations of it available for purchase as well.

 

[kfchickenlady]

wow, aquaeyes you are an aficionado! we need pics though, lots and lots of pics.

 

[AquaEyes]

I don't have any, and in any case, the plants were purchased as bands only last year. Any pics I take will be of small plants with a few flowers. Unfortunately, they'll all be in their glory after I leave Buffalo next year. But I posted the names of the ones I got as links to their profiles on HelpMeFind, and on that website there are lots of pictures uploaded from members' gardens. Click on the names and see them for yourself.

 

[kfchickenlady]

theyre gorgeous, thanks for posting all those links! I like the flowers with many many petals and good scent. First I have to find an anti deer concoction before I add any more to my rose garden...

 

[halo]

I have to trim back my Duchesse de Brabant, because it will just completely take over if I dont. I just planted Crepuscule next to my chicken run, hoping it will grow up and over the top to give them some afternoon shade.

I have a grown over Mr. Lincoln that I have GOT to dig up, cut back, and replant near the house. Its so overgrown the rootstock that its on is blooming, too!

 

[galanie]

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Yes, The Duchesse (that's what I affectionately call my Duchesse du Brabant) does surprise you by how big it gets. I have had them before and when planting a new one, I still underestimate it's mature size. Definitely take care of Mr Lincoln or that rootstock will overgrow him and you may end up with no Mr Lincoln at all!