'Lavender Ice'.... 'Lolabelle'.... [may be an early Austin] 'Mill on the Floss'... 'Forever Royal'... 'Blush Noisette'... Geranium oxonianum 'Cream Chocolate'... oxonianums are long flowering Geraniums of compact habit... never straggly like Rozanne.. May to October.. very suitable with roses of all kinds...
@Hexagon ...the bare root roses Mr Vine Eye ordered are cheaper than the fully grown roses, which are from 24.50 to 28.00 each grown in a pot.... the bare root roses are for delivery during the winter... the higher prices are for potted roses available right now - whole grown plants...
...you have to realise that the roses Mr Vine Eye bought are David Austin English Roses...and bought direct from the breeder... they are the most expensive roses to buy in this country because of their extensive and costly breeding programmes to produce them... they also offer a 5 year guarantee which comes at a price... plus labour and maintenance to cover the costs of production and field work..
..you can buy much cheaper roses, grown in pots from other outlets... I pay just £6.50 each for some local to me, even as little as £3...but they are not usually David Austin roses, and choice is limited to just a few.... also if one shops around we can buy bare root David Austin roses cheaper from other suppliers but they don't have the choice available.... we are paying for the choice of varieties here, which is extensive ...
@Hexagon The difference between a bare root plant in winter and the same potted plant in spring is only several months. At the end of bare root season even less. In both cases, you are getting a rose which is two years old or starting its third year. Approx. 25%-30% price difference sounds quite fair. And bare roots usually also have a lower postage costs if you order online
With bare root roses, you get the benefit of planting in the dormant season which gives the rose a headstart. With a potted rose, you get an instant effect. I wouldn't say one of them is easier to plant, I always dig deep and wide holes to replace the soil or mix it with manure/compost and new topsoil and to get all big stones out.
I only ever buy cheap plants. The last two years have been my first of properly gardening, and this last year was when I started filling the garden with plants. The bulk of what's in the garden I've grown from seed (Wilko 25p-£1 packets) or cuttings from family, gifted or bought for £1.50 - £3 from Aldi, Morrisons or Burton Agnes Hall (great plants, grown in the grounds, and really good prices)
I simply will not spend over £5 unless it's very special or something that I can easily divide or take cuttings from.
But for some mad reason all of that's thrown out of the window for the roses! The majority of my plant spending this last 9 months has been on roses.
If you'd asked me a year ago I'd have told you "I'm not much keen on roses, nasty, fake looking thorny things!"
Mind you I've been able to justify it because I've been spending money I received for Birthday and Chistmas last year.
That DA order has wiped me out! I saw the 15% discount code and just went for it!
I dont even know where Munstead wood came from, that wasn't on my list originally. I only intended to buy 3!
What I do these days is this... I prefer to buy a potted rose at this time of year.. some are going on sale now, reduced.. I've just planted a 'Dame Judi Dench' rose I paid 24.50 for plus postage, rather than get a cheaper one bare root in November because I'm prepared to pay for that extra years growth on the potted rose... I like speed, I'm in a hurry, and obviously I can meet that cost... for the sake of about £6 or £8 or so, I get a rose that's a year ahead in growth of the same bare root I would plant during the coming winter...
I will still get some bare roots from various vendors... most won't get planted into the ground at this stage but into plastic pots, to be kept in the greenhouse and grown on like potted roses through the winter until next Spring... plant out in May.. by which time they would be the same as a more expensive potted rose...full of buds ready to flower..
I keep all these pots for this purpose...
..this big pot on the left is what DA use for their big climbing roses and probably Standards.. I think it's 10 litre and is able to take a rose right through almost the whole season... the pot on the right is the normal 6 litre..
Everyone seems to be getting their hands on reduced roses now but my local garden centres just won’t budge, even if some are absolutely riddled with fungal infestations! I was prepared to put those in quarantine if I ever buy them at reduced price but yet they’re still going at 24 quid each. I can’t imagine anyone buying them at that price considering David Austin’s nursery has them in tip top condition at the same price.. maybe it’s a north west garden centre issue?
The Garden centres near me are particularly tight. They never offer DAs at reduced prices. Even their 'reduced' plants are still being sold at quite a high price.
I'll still go to have a look though. Just on the offchance.
I've got higher hopes for the British Garden Centre a bit further away as they do have some good offers, like half price on their remaining 1L summer perennials.
The only problem is they don't have a huge range - the only two they had that I really liked were Desdemona and Lady of Shallot which I've already ordered!
Though I suppose if they were available at a substantial reduction in price I could cancel or change my order.
It did please me though, that before looking at the name labels, I saw one and thought that looks gorgeous, I hope it's Desdemona! Just to prove I made a good choice, and it was.
Posts
'Lolabelle'.... [may be an early Austin]
'Mill on the Floss'...
'Forever Royal'...
'Blush Noisette'...
Geranium oxonianum 'Cream Chocolate'... oxonianums are long flowering Geraniums of compact habit... never straggly like Rozanne.. May to October.. very suitable with roses of all kinds...
...the bare root roses Mr Vine Eye ordered are cheaper than the fully grown roses, which are from 24.50 to 28.00 each grown in a pot.... the bare root roses are for delivery during the winter... the higher prices are for potted roses available right now - whole grown plants...
...you have to realise that the roses Mr Vine Eye bought are David Austin English Roses...and bought direct from the breeder... they are the most expensive roses to buy in this country because of their extensive and costly breeding programmes to produce them... they also offer a 5 year guarantee which comes at a price... plus labour and maintenance to cover the costs of production and field work..
..you can buy much cheaper roses, grown in pots from other outlets... I pay just £6.50 each for some local to me, even as little as £3...but they are not usually David Austin roses, and choice is limited to just a few.... also if one shops around we can buy bare root David Austin roses cheaper from other suppliers but they don't have the choice available.... we are paying for the choice of varieties here, which is extensive ...
I simply will not spend over £5 unless it's very special or something that I can easily divide or take cuttings from.
But for some mad reason all of that's thrown out of the window for the roses! The majority of my plant spending this last 9 months has been on roses.
If you'd asked me a year ago I'd have told you "I'm not much keen on roses, nasty, fake looking thorny things!"
Mind you I've been able to justify it because I've been spending money I received for Birthday and Chistmas last year.
That DA order has wiped me out! I saw the 15% discount code and just went for it!
I dont even know where Munstead wood came from, that wasn't on my list originally. I only intended to buy 3!
What I do these days is this...
I prefer to buy a potted rose at this time of year.. some are going on sale now, reduced.. I've just planted a 'Dame Judi Dench' rose I paid 24.50 for plus postage, rather than get a cheaper one bare root in November because I'm prepared to pay for that extra years growth on the potted rose... I like speed, I'm in a hurry, and obviously I can meet that cost... for the sake of about £6 or £8 or so, I get a rose that's a year ahead in growth of the same bare root I would plant during the coming winter...
I will still get some bare roots from various vendors... most won't get planted into the ground at this stage but into plastic pots, to be kept in the greenhouse and grown on like potted roses through the winter until next Spring... plant out in May.. by which time they would be the same as a more expensive potted rose...full of buds ready to flower..
I keep all these pots for this purpose...
..this big pot on the left is what DA use for their big climbing roses and probably Standards.. I think it's 10 litre and is able to take a rose right through almost the whole season... the pot on the right is the normal 6 litre..
I'll still go to have a look though. Just on the offchance.
I've got higher hopes for the British Garden Centre a bit further away as they do have some good offers, like half price on their remaining 1L summer perennials.
The only problem is they don't have a huge range - the only two they had that I really liked were Desdemona and Lady of Shallot which I've already ordered!
Though I suppose if they were available at a substantial reduction in price I could cancel or change my order.
It did please me though, that before looking at the name labels, I saw one and thought that looks gorgeous, I hope it's Desdemona! Just to prove I made a good choice, and it was.