Peter Beales Awakening rambler: how disease resistant is it?

Posts

• AnniD Posts: 12,585

  May 2020

  Just bumping up your question, in the hope that a rose expert may be able to help 

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• edhelka Posts: 2,351

  May 2020

  I know we talked about this a bit in the rose thread but not much. I don't remember anyone here having it but maybe someone has and haven't mentioned it.

  For other recommendations, how big do you want it to be? Does it need to be a rambler or would a climber be OK too (I assume yes)? And I assume you want repeat flowering? Any preferred colour? Is the disease resistance your number 1 priority or would you be OK with some blackspot?

  I believe we have similar challenges (close to mountains, acidic/sandy/poor soil, wind and rain) and I would grow Awakening but I don't mind blackspot on climbers as much as on shrub roses, shrub roses are ugly when defoliated, climbers are usually less visible.
  

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• Katsa Posts: 278

  May 2020

  Hi @edhelka, thanks for your questions. I've answered them below: 
  
  The aim is to train the rose to cover a fence and provide colour/interested on an easy facing wall. Im not at all good at pruning so I thought a rambler would be easier to manage. 
  
  I definitely want a repeat flowering rose. I will be looking at the rose everyone I do the washing up!
  
  However the situation isn't that great. It's on an easy facing wall, close to the house. So it doesn't get that much sun. Our house is north/south facing and this rose would be planted on the north facing side. 
  
  I don't mind too much blackspot but would prefer excellent disease resistance. I'm still tempted by awakening, but if there's a better suited rose, do let me know. 
  
  

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• edhelka Posts: 2,351

  May 2020

  Thanks for the additional info.

  Both a climber and a rambler would need to be trained. Nothing too complicated, just tying it to horizontal wires or other support.

  The question of the size is what length of a wall do you need to cover. For example, Kiss me Kate, mentioned on the rose thread, is a small climber and would cover one fence panel or 2m of a wall but not much more. On the other hand, some vigorous roses would be able to cover 10m of a wall.

  The shade situation makes it more complicated. You may need to compromise a bit or take some risks (like less than excellent disease resistance, fragrance).

  'Awakening' is often recommended for a north-facing wall so it could be a good option. I read that it can ball in wet weather which can be another problem with many very double roses. Quite often, single and semi-double roses are better for shady and/or wet or otherwise challenging location. But it's a very pretty rose worth growing.

  I would recommend considering these:

  'The Generous Gardener' - 100% healthy in my garden and will tolerate some shade. Very fragrant.

  Hybrid musks - they are often shade tolerant and relatively easy to grow. 'Ghislaine de Feligonde' comes to mind but isn't fragrant. Some of the larger shrubs could be trained as climbers - 'Cornelia', 'Penelope', 'Prosperity' or 'Moonlight'. Or a modern hybrid musk - 'Guirlande d'Amour', which would probably be my personal choice.

  I would also consider noisettes. 'Blush Noisette' or if your space is big 'Aimeé Vibert' or 'Mme. Alfred Carriere'.
  

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• Katsa Posts: 278

  May 2020

  Thank you for your suggestions @edhelka.
  
  I like the sound of Penelope (mainly as our cat is also called Penelope) and Cornelia or Blush noisette look intriguing. I'm gong to have a browse and see what's available. Not much point going outside today as the weather is so rubbish.

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