I received 'Midsummer Night's Dream' today from Style roses. They look good, very happy. A bit surprised about the planting advice: The leaftlet says 'Ensure the union (where shoots break out from the main stem) is just above ground level. Previous roses I have planted with the union one or two inches below ground level, pretty much as in the photos shown by @Mr. Vine Eye , and I thought that was the standard advice. I see David Austin also advises to bury the union. So I'm a bit surprised Style roses advise differently.
...you can ask a dozen professionals which way they do it and you will get a whole range of answers...
..like this one from Peter Beales, who have been involved in this industry for long enough.. ''the graft point (union) will be approximately an inch below soil level. This is to reduce the risk of suckers developing and damage from high winds.''
..that's my preferred method but I do also go with the soil level which is also advised by Harkness Roses and RHS... I don't do above as I just don't like the look of it..
Thank you @Marlorena ! Insightful. A quick search gave one person recommending the below-soil level method to avoid windrock (oh, that's in the Beales' advice too I notice now). That makes a lot of sense to me. I have an Albertine planted with the other method, and it feels not as firmly rooted as my other roses, and I think that would be true even in the absence of windrock.
Very excited about MND. First saw it in your pictures of it, so thank you! For my next rose I'd like ideally something healthy, single, fragrant and repeat flowering. If you have suggestions that's great, but otherwise I will also enjoy the hunt!
.... come to think of it .... is it the case that fragrant roses are more commonly doubles? Or are there simply a lot more double roses (or let's say many-petaled) than single roses (few-petaled), so the fraction of fragrant roses may be the same among the two classes. Or is it the case that doubles also have a higher propensity to doube up on scent? I hope this question makes sense!
...more often the case that the most fragrant roses are the ones with big double blooms for one simple reason... most of the scent comes from the petals as well as the stamens, so more petals means more fragrance... however lots of roses have scent direct from the stamens only, and this is where single roses can come into it... the most fragrant single is the specie rose Rosa moschata.. the Musk rose... but it's a climber and blooms from mid July to October...
'Mrs Oakley-Fisher' is a single flowered hybrid tea with a good scent, although I wouldn''t describe it as overly strong... a short growing rose, repeat blooms well...
I had a rose delivered from Style yesterday also, first time I've used them. The nice lady from Parcelforce left it at my address fortunately, even though I was out.
Had it soaking overnight and just ran out and planted it. It's Shropshire Star, an orange climber. I can't imagine what it will look like in real life from seeing the pictures on Style's website.
@micearguers People in cold areas often plant even deeper than two inches above the bud union. In winter, their roses can freeze to the ground level (or snow line) and completely regrow from that.
We don't need to do this but I agree with Marlorena that it helps to stabilize the rose in winds, I live in a windy location and my roses planted by the previous owner of the house with the union above ground have problems with wind.
Planting deep also encourages the rose to go own root, which is a good thing for most roses (not for some varieties known for their suckering habits). There were some discussions about how probable it is and how long does a rose need to go own root but I recently read a lot on a Czech rose forum (Czech is my native language), they have cold winters and plant deep and most of them experienced their roses developing own roots quickly, often in their first year. But the most important reason for me is that it looks so much better with the union buried.
...just to add that our conditions here are very different to Eastern Europe and parts of N. America where they suffer much colder but drier winters, usually with snow cover which protects the roses.... here we are often very wet and very damp, and if you garden on heavy wet clay soil, and live in an area with higher rainfall... you would be better advised to plant the union at soil level rather than going too deep with it... as in these conditions there is a risk of the lowest parts of the canes where they join the graft, below soil line, could turn black from being submerged...
...if you garden on free draining sandy loam, as I do, then it's not a problem...
That's an interesting point about graft unions @Marlorena . We have heavy clay soil and I guess, being in the Southwest, a lot of rainfall, so I must remember your advice when my new roses arrive.
November need not be dull...some other plants to grow with roses, still flowering now.. Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles'... flowers from June onwards.. Clematis 'The Vagabond'.. very long season... Parahebe 'Avalanche'.. evergreen... flowers for about 8 months of the year... Nerine bowdenii 'Alba'... Sedum 'Autumn Joy'... Aster 'Ashva'... late flowering as I got it late... autumn colour on Achnatherum calamagrostis… this was moved recently so bit straggly.. 'Octavia Hill'
Posts
..like this one from Peter Beales, who have been involved in this industry for long enough..
''the graft point (union) will be approximately an inch below soil level. This is to reduce the risk of suckers developing and damage from high winds.''
..that's my preferred method but I do also go with the soil level which is also advised by Harkness Roses and RHS... I don't do above as I just don't like the look of it..
I hope your new roses do well for you...
Very excited about MND. First saw it in your pictures of it, so thank you! For my next rose I'd like ideally something healthy, single, fragrant and repeat flowering. If you have suggestions that's great, but otherwise I will also enjoy the hunt!
'Mrs Oakley-Fisher' is a single flowered hybrid tea with a good scent, although I wouldn''t describe it as overly strong... a short growing rose, repeat blooms well...
Had it soaking overnight and just ran out and planted it. It's Shropshire Star, an orange climber. I can't imagine what it will look like in real life from seeing the pictures on Style's website.
But the most important reason for me is that it looks so much better with the union buried.
...if you garden on free draining sandy loam, as I do, then it's not a problem...
Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles'... flowers from June onwards..
Clematis 'The Vagabond'.. very long season...
Parahebe 'Avalanche'.. evergreen... flowers for about 8 months of the year...
Nerine bowdenii 'Alba'...
Sedum 'Autumn Joy'...
Aster 'Ashva'... late flowering as I got it late...
autumn colour on Achnatherum calamagrostis… this was moved recently so bit straggly..
'Octavia Hill'