@Marlorena I've got in my basket: Sweet Syrie, Ab Fab, Old Port, Belle de Jour, Lovely Perfuma, Pure Poetry, Chandos Beauty, and Starlight Symphony. I think I need to trim this list a bit
I have Lilac Bouquet @pitterpatter, (I think I might have called it Lilac Beauty by mistake if I've mentioned it before). It's nice and bendy and I hadn't noticed until just now but mine is completely thornless. I don't have a great sense of smell and would describe the scent as faint. Mines just going into it's 3rd growing season in the garden and is still quite small. It has taken ages to get going but I recently noticed the soil is quite compacted about a foot down, might not have improved it sufficiently at the time. Repeating I don't quite recall, I feel like it was always flowering on and off, I snipped unopened buds off it last month so think it tried to keep going through winter.
Loved your garden photos over the page by the way, so much colour!
@Victoria Sponge Thank you so much for replying. I’m glad to hear that it’s a well behaved rose. It’s a pity it doesn’t smell, but you have to sacrifice on something I guess.
Yes, I wouldn't grow it for scent. I think it is a healthy rose too, it still has last year's leaves on (I'm not much of a tidier) and they are not especially blemished.
@Nollie, I think you enquired a while back about experiences of Mme Alfred Carriere. I'm sorry to be late replying, had to read back my last ten years of garden diaries to find the answer! I appear to have planted mine around 2011 but don't know whether it was potted or bare root, possibly from Crocus. Reputed to reach 20 ft. It flowered a bit in 2012 and had to be cut down several times then. It was at the top of a 3 ft bank, at the back of which was a 4 ft wall, with a 6ft fence on top. We fixed diagonal trellis to the wall so I could tie it in as it grew. It was very vigorous, too much so for me and the area, with numerous thin whippy canes. It was so top heavy that during a gale, it was blown over loosening the trellis screws as it did so. As I couldn't reach the higher fence to wire the rose to it (and our westerly winds had a habit of blowing down the fence anyway), I very reluctantly got rid of it maybe 2-3 years later. A great pity as the flowers and perfume were exquisite with hardly any blackspot on the leaves either.
A classic case of right plant, wrong place. I just hadn't appreciated just how quickly it would grow. Hope this helps.
Posts
Hope you're feeling better soon!
I've done this today, shuffled slabs, broke up the mortar and mixed in soil improver.
Soil not too bad though actually. Looked better than my garden soil!!
@omori... naughty you.. I was wanting Belle du Jour but Nollie's experience put me off.. let me see how it does in your garden..
@Camelliad
... best of luck with Mermaid.. oh those talons !.. thanks for reminding me..
Loved your garden photos over the page by the way, so much colour!
@Nollie, I think you enquired a while back about experiences of Mme Alfred Carriere. I'm sorry to be late replying, had to read back my last ten years of garden diaries to find the answer! I appear to have planted mine around 2011 but don't know whether it was potted or bare root, possibly from Crocus. Reputed to reach 20 ft. It flowered a bit in 2012 and had to be cut down several times then. It was at the top of a 3 ft bank, at the back of which was a 4 ft wall, with a 6ft fence on top. We fixed diagonal trellis to the wall so I could tie it in as it grew. It was very vigorous, too much so for me and the area, with numerous thin whippy canes. It was so top heavy that during a gale, it was blown over loosening the trellis screws as it did so. As I couldn't reach the higher fence to wire the rose to it (and our westerly winds had a habit of blowing down the fence anyway), I very reluctantly got rid of it maybe 2-3 years later. A great pity as the flowers and perfume were exquisite with hardly any blackspot on the leaves either.
A classic case of right plant, wrong place. I just hadn't appreciated just how quickly it would grow. Hope this helps.