By the way, have you guys had any experience growing Pierre de Ronsard, or ‘Eden’ as called in America? I’ve come across this rose online quite a few times and it looks absolutely gorgeous.. and so very floriferous. It’s probably the only non scented rose that I’m considering getting just because it looks so incredible.. like little jewels of ruby.
Thinking about Gertrude Jekyll's unreliability (the second flush significantly less spectacular than the first flush), has anyone here with her bigger than mine (almost everyone) tried to cut her back a bit after the first flush? She has the tendency to push new wood after the first flowering and flower again on that but she doesn't do many short flowering shoots from the main framework. Maybe this would force her into producing more flowering shoots.
@edhelka, I hack my GJ back occasionally if a stray branch overhangs the path but not in a very structured way I'm afraid. Be interesting to know if a more severe prune results in more flowers in the 2nd flush. Thinking about that, I've got an apology to make, I think I said earlier that Penelope doesn't repeat, but my 2019 garden diary contradicts that, I noted more blooms in early October.
When I had Gertrude I got two distinct flushes of bloom, each as good as the other, but nothing in between... they were mid May-mid June.. and then mid August-mid Sept.. Effectively operating like a Damask Perpetual rose, with a Spring and late summer flush.. her parent, Comte de Chambord, blooms continuously in comparison.. David Austin shrub roses, whatever else they like to call them, are modern day updated versions of Hybrid or Damask Perpetual roses..
During that gap period she would throw out long canes, which I pruned right off at the base... otherwise I only deadheaded it, perhaps pruned back just a little but not much...
In this old photo I have here, you can see GJ on the right next to a white Iceberg rose... GJ was just starting her August flush.. photo taken on 9th August 2011.. and you can see I managed to keep it as a fairly neat upright bush... eventually I got tired of the process.. in my opinion, she had a superior at the time called 'Sir Walter Raleigh' but that one didn't make as much money for DA, so it was removed when the patent expired.. it was a much better rose in my view and equally scented..
@Marlorena. From your posts, I can see you aren't scared of digging up roses if they don't match your expectations etc, but are you ever affected by replant disease, of which I've read so much about?
Yes I have three Mme. Hardy @Marlorena - fell for it when I saw it on GW when Monty planted it in his Paradise Garden. Were meant to line my entrance but that ground proved impossible to dig. One is now planted in the new rose bed and I have two in small pots I don’t know what to do with. I am sure the scent was stronger last year, but perhaps I just got over-excited because I could smell it!
I do prune GJ fairly hard as it always sends up long octopus canes after the first flush, that I let flower then cut right back. The rest I will often prune back to the second or even third set of 5 leaves to keep it under control. Hasn’t helped in the rebloom stakes for me.
@Omori interesting what you say about floribundas. Rose de Molinard is a floribunda and the fragrance is really strong for me. Without choosing favourites, could you tell us which you have that have a strong fragrance?
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Claire Marshall is a small dark pink with a very strong fragrance. Harkness rates it a 9 which I would agree with. When it just had one bloom it was still wafting:
@Lizzie27 Thank you for your recommendation but sadly my local nursery had run out of that rose and also other DA roses like Generous Gardener and Lady of the Lake which I was also considering. So finally I bought Super Excelsa. It seems pretty floriferous and also pretty pliable so I'm hoping it'll do well on the arch.
..thanks @Nollie I thought you had 3.. hope they do well for you in time.. I've heard that 'Botzaris' is a better rose that you don't hear much about...
@peteS ...yes I get rose replant disease a lot, and any given time I probably have 4 or 5 roses suffering to some degree or other... they get over it eventually.. for some its brief, others take ages but some new roses I put in, will be well behind the same rose in another garden, because of it.. I hope no one else gets this problem.. I don't always take sufficient remedial action that I know I should, unfortunately, but a good alternative for me is to grow a new rose in a pot for a year, leave the ground to some annuals, and plant the rose the following year, by which time it should be better, and the rose will have a bigger root system by then too.. I don't do this as often as I should either..
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Thinking about that, I've got an apology to make, I think I said earlier that Penelope doesn't repeat, but my 2019 garden diary contradicts that, I noted more blooms in early October.
Effectively operating like a Damask Perpetual rose, with a Spring and late summer flush.. her parent, Comte de Chambord, blooms continuously in comparison.. David Austin shrub roses, whatever else they like to call them, are modern day updated versions of Hybrid or Damask Perpetual roses..
During that gap period she would throw out long canes, which I pruned right off at the base... otherwise I only deadheaded it, perhaps pruned back just a little but not much...
In this old photo I have here, you can see GJ on the right next to a white Iceberg rose... GJ was just starting her August flush.. photo taken on 9th August 2011.. and you can see I managed to keep it as a fairly neat upright bush... eventually I got tired of the process.. in my opinion, she had a superior at the time called 'Sir Walter Raleigh' but that one didn't make as much money for DA, so it was removed when the patent expired.. it was a much better rose in my view and equally scented..
@Omori interesting what you say about floribundas. Rose de Molinard is a floribunda and the fragrance is really strong for me. Without choosing favourites, could you tell us which you have that have a strong fragrance?
Claire Marshall is a small dark pink with a very strong fragrance. Harkness rates it a 9 which I would agree with. When it just had one bloom it was still wafting:
https://www.roses.co.uk/claire-marshall-pot-grown
Here’s another, a small white called White Fox:
https://www.roses.co.uk/white-fox-rose-pot-grown-1
A taller red called Fetzer Syrah, not sure how the red would do in your climate but it’s a really nice one:
https://www.roses.co.uk/fetzer-syrah-ros-bare-root
Similar size to Fetzer Syrah, this one is mostly yellow with a little bit of pink outer, called Well Being:
https://www.roses.co.uk/well-being-bare-root
Lastly, I don’t grow this but of course it’s highly rated so I probably should!
Margaret Merrill:
https://www.roses.co.uk/margaret-merril-pot-grown
I like the Harkness site because the scent ratings are accurate in my experience.
I thought you had 3.. hope they do well for you in time.. I've heard that 'Botzaris' is a better rose that you don't hear much about...
@peteS
...yes I get rose replant disease a lot, and any given time I probably have 4 or 5 roses suffering to some degree or other... they get over it eventually.. for some its brief, others take ages but some new roses I put in, will be well behind the same rose in another garden, because of it.. I hope no one else gets this problem.. I don't always take sufficient remedial action that I know I should, unfortunately, but a good alternative for me is to grow a new rose in a pot for a year, leave the ground to some annuals, and plant the rose the following year, by which time it should be better, and the rose will have a bigger root system by then too.. I don't do this as often as I should either..