I live in Staffordshire and I reckon we have had 3 months worth of rain in the last 3 weeks. In fact I can't recall a day since mid April when it hasn't rained... Bizzare country we have.
I have a couple of roses with at least a couple of buds half open. Mme alfred de carrier and Claire austin. All the others are full of bud but just so cold. Funnily enough my roses are behind where they were last year even with the beast!! The weekend looks a little warmer so we shall see
I hope you u don't mind my asking but I know you grow ancient mariner.
Mine is in a pot and budding now but one cane has shot up really tall. There's no bud on it but it's throwing off the balance of the rose (maybe this is silly).. Should I chop it right down? Will it flower if I do or just shoot back up again! Thank you.
@Ffoxglove what I would do is leave it, as it tends to bloom at the top of canes, so I would wait until the buds develop and start to flower, then I might cut the stem for the house in a vase or something if it still looks odd.. and prune it back then, to the height of the rest of the rose.. it will flower at the top of that cane.. ...this rose you have wants to be 6 x 6 foot, that's what mine is, it becomes a very large bulky rose... I would have difficulty keeping it in a pot for too long.. but it's up to you, if you don't like the look of it, you can cut it back to the rest of the plant, but you will be losing blooms and it will likely just shoot up again..
Most larger growing roses like these from Austins throw up what we call 'Octopus' canes, but the rest of the plant usually catches up in time..
@Marlorena What are your thoughts on root pruning roses grown in pots. I found it here- http://www.robertmattockroses.com/pots.asp and tried it last year one one of mine with no noticeable difference in buds this year. Nevertheless it was a mammoth task; getting the rose out of a 40cm pot. At times thought I was going to damage the pot or pull the crown/union off the root. So really don't want to do this if its just an old disproven myth.
@Alchemist ... I agree totally with the Mattock's.. root pruning the rootstock is necessary in the longer term... It's something a lot of people don't realise that when we buy roses we are actually getting two varieties, not one... the bottom one is the rosa canina 'laxa' variety, which if you've ever dug one up from the garden, one that's been there several years on a big bush, sends out a long tap root just under the soil, that seems to go on for ever.. it's this tap root that needs controlling.. ...also very much agree with the soil based compost that's necessary, not these flimsy peat ones... although I do mix the two.. watering from the base is not something I do though.. but I like the term bonsai'ed.. that's just how it is really...
However, I have a different method which won't please everybody. Roses in pots I simply do not keep forever... I grow them for 4 years at most, and then they're gone.. I remove it, replace the loam based compost, and plant a different rose... so mine never get root pruned.. and it doesn't matter if I damage the rose on removal as it's going in the wheelie bin... any rose I have in a pot, and I've got about 10, are those I do not intend to keep that long unless I have a place in the garden I'm planning to put them..
I find it's a great way to find out if you really love a rose or not... some I might keep only one or two seasons..
@Marlorena many thanks for your response and cofirmation of this process. A bit more confident now. I intend to keep 4-5 roses in the pot for the foreseeable future. Not because there is no place in the front of our house but whenever I dig there is a big puddle of water as its next to the wall with pavement on the other side. Digging deeper doesn't seem to be a sensible solution as its heavy clay underneath. So doubt the roses would appreciate that?
Also agree if I don't like something it's an easy way to replace it. Although until now, have been fairly happy with them and haven't come to that point. May be once I have a collection your size .....
@Alchemist yes they come and go here.. I keep very few roses much beyond 10 years.. looking at the gardens I've had for that long..
When you look at the Chelsea Flower show and all the rose exhibits by Austin and Beales, roses up arches and all over the place, so beautifully arranged, climbers, ramblers, the lot.. I think they must have them in pots and root prune.. probably down to a fine art... ...I keep one large growing rose in a deep pot, over 2 feet depth just by replacing the top of the compost.. I have toyed with the idea of cutting out the bottom of the pot - it's plastic resin type - and it stands on gravel, so the deep taproot could find its way out the bottom into soil below.. then I could just tilt the pot a little and with a lopper prune it off to restrict it.. ...it's just an idea I have, I've not done it yet as it's a long way off being necessary... but I do need to keep the rose containerised.. something for the future maybe..
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I have a couple of roses with at least a couple of buds half open. Mme alfred de carrier and Claire austin. All the others are full of bud but just so cold. Funnily enough my roses are behind where they were last year even with the beast!!
The weekend looks a little warmer so we shall see
Mine is in a pot and budding now but one cane has shot up really tall. There's no bud on it but it's throwing off the balance of the rose (maybe this is silly).. Should I chop it right down? Will it flower if I do or just shoot back up again! Thank you.
...this rose you have wants to be 6 x 6 foot, that's what mine is, it becomes a very large bulky rose... I would have difficulty keeping it in a pot for too long.. but it's up to you, if you don't like the look of it, you can cut it back to the rest of the plant, but you will be losing blooms and it will likely just shoot up again..
Most larger growing roses like these from Austins throw up what we call 'Octopus' canes, but the rest of the plant usually catches up in time..
...also very much agree with the soil based compost that's necessary, not these flimsy peat ones... although I do mix the two.. watering from the base is not something I do though.. but I like the term bonsai'ed.. that's just how it is really...
However, I have a different method which won't please everybody. Roses in pots I simply do not keep forever... I grow them for 4 years at most, and then they're gone.. I remove it, replace the loam based compost, and plant a different rose... so mine never get root pruned.. and it doesn't matter if I damage the rose on removal as it's going in the wheelie bin... any rose I have in a pot, and I've got about 10, are those I do not intend to keep that long unless I have a place in the garden I'm planning to put them..
I find it's a great way to find out if you really love a rose or not... some I might keep only one or two seasons..
Also agree if I don't like something it's an easy way to replace it. Although until now, have been fairly happy with them and haven't come to that point. May be once I have a collection your size
When you look at the Chelsea Flower show and all the rose exhibits by Austin and Beales, roses up arches and all over the place, so beautifully arranged, climbers, ramblers, the lot.. I think they must have them in pots and root prune.. probably down to a fine art...
...I keep one large growing rose in a deep pot, over 2 feet depth just by replacing the top of the compost.. I have toyed with the idea of cutting out the bottom of the pot - it's plastic resin type - and it stands on gravel, so the deep taproot could find its way out the bottom into soil below.. then I could just tilt the pot a little and with a lopper prune it off to restrict it..
...it's just an idea I have, I've not done it yet as it's a long way off being necessary... but I do need to keep the rose containerised.. something for the future maybe..