I am probably a masochistic gardener because my best roses aren't always my most favourite or most loved.
I had slightly over 20 roses and bought approx. 25 new ones.
My long term favourites: Gertrude Jekyll, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Scarborough Fair, Scented Garden My favourite newbies: Souvenir de St. Anne's, Gabriel Oak, The Prince, Empereur Charles IV., Reine des Violettes Good do-ers (both old and new): Olivia RA, Purple Skyliner, Super Excelsa, Joie de Vivre, Claire Jolly
No idea how to combine these lists into the ultimate top 5. I think I still have a stronger bond with older roses but I am very happy with many of the new ones.
Gräfin Diana is a surprise @newbie77 it’s meant to be very vigorous from the off. Just goes to show how the same rose can behave very differently in different locations. It’s good to record the duffers too. My biggest new duffer is Burgundy Ice, it’s totally miserable, wimpy and diseased here. I also hate the coral tones of spindly, weak PAoK. Those I just don't have the patience to nurse. Old under-performers for me that are being shovel-pruned are mostly Austins that hate my heat and the BS nightmare that is Wild Rover.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@edhelka - hey! You cheated, that's way more than 5!!
😉
Rosa Remembrance is absolutely rubbish and is destined for the bin. I think I might move Arthur Bell out of its pot and plant it in the ground at my allotment to give it a fair chance. But that's also performed very poorly.
From last year's roses I'll pick Royal William and The Generous Gardener. Both flowered fairly consistantly throughout the summer and have put on impressive growth. TGG is so pretty and fragrant. RW is more scented than I expected and has velvety red blooms that last and don't fade.
Most of my new roses have not had a fair go yet but Diamond Eyes and Julia Child are just healthy flowering machines with great colours so have to be in.
So one more, hmmm. It's btween Rhapsody in Blue, Eye of the Tiger, Wollerton OH or Charles Darwin. I just cannot choose my very new roses or Heidi Klum and Ebb Tide would be contenders. Sooo it's WOH.
Some great list and nice to see reasons why and those that have failed.
It's a difficult one for me as most are in their first season with me and some are just coming up for second blooming so my list may be different next month depending on how they do. In no particular order:
1. A White Shade of Pale....new this season but is rarely without buds or blooms. Has a lovely strong fragrance and clean foliage. As a cut flower it has lasted around 5-6 days.
2. R. Favori....a B&Q buy. No fragrance but produces a mass of blooms that last a good time. Clean foliage. A bit nibbled by the sawfly but otherwise is lovely and bushy.
3. Desdemona....new this season and coming into another flush. Has grown loads and is covered in new buds at the moment and the fragrance is amazing. Foliage clean so far.
4. Rhapsody in Blue....only had a very short time but I just love it. Colour, fragrance and bloom form just really do it for me.
5. Graham Thomas....around 6 years old. Blooms pretty much continuously since May. Flowers last a good time and has thrown up 2 new canes this season. The downside is it's plagued with BS but despite that I still love it and would never bin it.
My reserve would be For Your Eyes Only...again very clean foliage and although the blooms don't last long there are plenty of them.
Pretty things from today. Easy does it, Ebb Tide and Odyssey, new last week from C&KJones
I have a question for you please. My TGG has one major cane that I bent very horizontal last year (orange dot, second pic below)). I had to cut it off at 5ft (or thought I did because it was invading Claire Austin). I have another major cane that came off it about half way which went straight up, well over the 7ft trellis so after it flowered on top I cut some of that off and bent the cane down to 45deg (blue dot). Now near the base but still on the first main cane I have these 3 growing fast.
As you can see TGG wants Claire Austin's trellis, can I let them coexist (I don't mind), do I let all 3 grow bending all of them (staggered) the other way? This would leave everything basically off one cane, should I or could I get a new basal growth not off the one cane?
I do have Ghislaine de Feligonde and Malvern Hills. @newbie77
Is it a large space? If I’ve got what you’re meaning correctly in my head, then I’d say possibly out of those two Ghislaine might be better.
I have limited experience which which to advise on this but I know Marlorena got rid of Malvern Hills because it was a lot of work keeping it maintained as it is very vigorous and can grow huge. I think she had it trained across a fence.
I think Ghislaine is much more restrained, and if you’re just leaving it at the back to do its own thing that might work better.
Because I’m training Malvern Hills and keeping it to fairly strict lines on a structure where it’s going up rather than out, I think hopefully it should be easier to manage.
But I’ve also seen a photo of Malvern Hills planted at the back of someone’s garden and just left to do its own thing, forming a huge bush, and that looks great so long as there’s enough space for it!
@Mr. Vine Eye, thank you. The space i have would suit Ghislaine better. I have more rose in front of it so i won't be able to reach it once these front roses grow big. My other option was to plant Winter Honeysuckle there.
Posts
My favourite newbies: Souvenir de St. Anne's, Gabriel Oak, The Prince, Empereur Charles IV., Reine des Violettes
Good do-ers (both old and new): Olivia RA, Purple Skyliner, Super Excelsa, Joie de Vivre, Claire Jolly
😉
Rosa Remembrance is absolutely rubbish and is destined for the bin. I think I might move Arthur Bell out of its pot and plant it in the ground at my allotment to give it a fair chance. But that's also performed very poorly.
2) Scarborough Fair
3) Souvenir de st. Anne's
4) Gabriel Oak
5) Empereur Charles IV.
@Nollie may be i should move Grafin Diana to a sunnier location. I love its blooms.
@edhelka, yes it is hard to catagorize. Some of my fav roses whose flowers i love aren't doing that great health and repeat bloomwise.
It's a difficult one for me as most are in their first season with me and some are just coming up for second blooming so my list may be different next month depending on how they do. In no particular order:
1. A White Shade of Pale....new this season but is rarely without buds or blooms. Has a lovely strong fragrance and clean foliage. As a cut flower it has lasted around 5-6 days.
2. R. Favori....a B&Q buy. No fragrance but produces a mass of blooms that last a good time. Clean foliage. A bit nibbled by the sawfly but otherwise is lovely and bushy.
3. Desdemona....new this season and coming into another flush. Has grown loads and is covered in new buds at the moment and the fragrance is amazing. Foliage clean so far.
4. Rhapsody in Blue....only had a very short time but I just love it. Colour, fragrance and bloom form just really do it for me.
5. Graham Thomas....around 6 years old. Blooms pretty much continuously since May. Flowers last a good time and has thrown up 2 new canes this season. The downside is it's plagued with BS but despite that I still love it and would never bin it.
My reserve would be For Your Eyes Only...again very clean foliage and although the blooms don't last long there are plenty of them.
Is it a large space? If I’ve got what you’re meaning correctly in my head, then I’d say possibly out of those two Ghislaine might be better.
I think Ghislaine is much more restrained, and if you’re just leaving it at the back to do its own thing that might work better.
But I’ve also seen a photo of Malvern Hills planted at the back of someone’s garden and just left to do its own thing, forming a huge bush, and that looks great so long as there’s enough space for it!
My other option was to plant Winter Honeysuckle there.