I don't know where they get their numbers...Lady Emma H, which is planted next to MW, is only supposed to be 3', while MW is supposed to be 3.5'. Meanwhile in reality MW is 2' and LEH is 4'
@Nollie Fingers crossed. Good luck with the pyracantha, sounds painful
I saw mass planting of DA roses and some other roses in Kew Gardens. All rose beds were full, except mustead wood. In all beds roses were growing into each other and like a tall green block. And mustead wood bed looked so ridiculous among those. There were small and oddly growing 1-2 ft size mustead woods with lots of gap/soil in between them. I had a good laugh. I wish I had taken a photo.
Well I managed about 3m of the pyracantha hedge before I got rained off. Suited and booted I managed to avoid being spiked, @Omori, so here I am again. One can always tell when OH is away working as my forum presence suddenly increases 😆
Hmm, well I thought it was just my climate, but the evidence is mounting regarding the true height of Munstead Wood. I was accidentally prescient and planted my threesome near the front of the border and I am actually thrilled with their performance this year. Especially since many DAs are stingy bloomers in my summer heat and have declined rather than improved with age. Those ones have an imminent date with the shovel. It makes me laugh when DA say Lady of Shallot is suitable for pot growing as it’s huge, oh and having two separate entries of GJ as both shrub and climber, when it’s exactly the same rose, same climbing tendencies and the same breeder’s code.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@Nollie, I didn't know that about GJ and am now wondering what to do with mine. It's in rather a tight spot (only abt a metre wide) between a dwarf box hedge (to hide it's legs) and in front of a 6-7 ft tall euronymus hedge fronting the side road. I've always just pruned off the very tall canes as spoiling the overall shape as I just didn't know it was in fact a climber. That's rather misleading from DA and I probably wouldn't have planted it in that spot if I'd known. It must be about ten years old now and I don't really want to move it, chiefly because of the strong fragrance as you walk past. Do you know how high it's predicted to get as a climber? What would you do?
I agree it is misleading @Lizzie27, there is only one Gertrude Jekyll with the breeder’s code ‘Ausbord’. I guess their justification would be that you can choose to prune it hard to grow as a shrub or allow it to climb - to around 2.5m/8ft.
I think if you want, you can keep yours as a shrub, as it’s 10yrs old you have clearly been successful at doing that and I doubt it will get much bigger for you now if you keep on top of the pruning. Mine, on the other hand...
I bought a ‘4ft x 3ft GJ shrub rose suitable for a pot’ 3 years ago before I knew it was really a climber. I prune it back to size after each flush and by half in winter, but it just keeps growing right back up and up and up... plus throwing out lots of new canes so it’s now a tangled thicket and needs major thinning. I love it, but am losing the battle to keep it as a shrub and it’s bursting out of it’s large pot. I need to identify a place to move it to where it can left to climb. My warmer climate probably encourages this rampant growth.
I have posted this before, but above the blue line is approx. 1 month’s new growth following pruning back to size after a flush. For scale, the fence is 3.5ft high:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Thanks for the heads up @Omori I'm beginning to wonder whether this is the rose for me after all, but then there is the colour. Anyway, I do like a challenge.
Thanks for that @Nollie. That's more or less what mine does but I guess that it's roots are restricted by the nearby hedging. I am in fact surprised it's survived and does well in the position it's in. I'll keep cutting it back then.
@Lizzie27@owd potter I wonder if this might give a little more insight, from David Austin’s book. Some different information than is listed on the website for MW & GJ :
Posts
Right, really must go and chop back that pyracantha hedge, I can’t get up the steps to the terrace without being flayed alive!
@Nollie Fingers crossed. Good luck with the pyracantha, sounds painful
Hmm, well I thought it was just my climate, but the evidence is mounting regarding the true height of Munstead Wood. I was accidentally prescient and planted my threesome near the front of the border and I am actually thrilled with their performance this year. Especially since many DAs are stingy bloomers in my summer heat and have declined rather than improved with age. Those ones have an imminent date with the shovel. It makes me laugh when DA say Lady of Shallot is suitable for pot growing as it’s huge, oh and having two separate entries of GJ as both shrub and climber, when it’s exactly the same rose, same climbing tendencies and the same breeder’s code.
I think if you want, you can keep yours as a shrub, as it’s 10yrs old you have clearly been successful at doing that and I doubt it will get much bigger for you now if you keep on top of the pruning. Mine, on the other hand...
I bought a ‘4ft x 3ft GJ shrub rose suitable for a pot’ 3 years ago before I knew it was really a climber. I prune it back to size after each flush and by half in winter, but it just keeps growing right back up and up and up... plus throwing out lots of new canes so it’s now a tangled thicket and needs major thinning. I love it, but am losing the battle to keep it as a shrub and it’s bursting out of it’s large pot. I need to identify a place to move it to where it can left to climb. My warmer climate probably encourages this rampant growth.
I have posted this before, but above the blue line is approx. 1 month’s new growth following pruning back to size after a flush. For scale, the fence is 3.5ft high:
I'm beginning to wonder whether this is the rose for me after all, but then there is the colour.
Anyway, I do like a challenge.