All the waterbutts are full now. I'm really pleased that this setup actually works. No leaks and both of these have filled to near maximum capacity, overflowing back into the downpipe.
It was done with no real planning and all by eye so I'm very pleasantly surprised!
@poppyfield64 - yes I hope this will have topped up the pond on our plot as that was getting very low. Nearly down to the first shelf.
It disappears very quickly doesn't it @Mr. Vine Eye. I was wondering whether AquaSafe that we use in our fish tanks would work for the pond too at times like this.
If it had stayed dry I could have just topped up with water from the butts at the plot. It surprised me how low it was though, just goes to show how dry it’s been.
@jayne10b - I’ve not grown GJ but I’ve seen her. Pretty flowers and great scent, well deserved reputation for that. If I could get a cheap one from somewhere I’d find space.
Bathsheba also has pretty blooms but I don’t like the scent. However Bathsheba is a much more attractive plant in my view. Much nicer foliage. GJ’s foliage is quite shapeless and dull looking in comparison.
@Mr. Vine Eye I better hope not.. I’ve never had any success with cuttings.. I’ve probably had three goes now.. the latest being my early spring prunings.. They all look pretty dead to me now..
I’ve seen folks do all sorts of fancy stuff with hormone powder and bottles on top etc. But by far the easiest and most effective way to take a rose cutting is to wait until a bit snaps off, cut a couple of sections off just above and below a bud, stick them in a pot of soil, leave them in a shaded/sheltered spot outside and forget about them.
Best time is Autumn/winter but my Generous Gardener cutting took and that came off in June I think.
5 out of 7 for me with those.
When I’ve tried to do them any other way they’ve failed. That cutting I took from Royal Jubilee that rooted in water then just went brown and died, unfortunately.
Speaking of which, I posted a while ago saying that I’d spotted green growth on my Astrantia Gill Richardson, but that hasn’t changed at all since then. So maybe it wasn’t new growth after all. That was disappointing. Claire Austin only does a 6 month plant guarantee which seems a bit mean. Mine was clearly a bad specimen as it just sat there with the same three leaves it arrived with for the rest of the year and then died...
I’ll keep an eye out in the garden centres for another one, or maybe ‘Claret’ as that’s very similar.
From the point of view of rain...it's a case of 'be careful what you wish for', certainly up here in the north; because it is not unusual for it not to stop for a month once it starts.
Trying to catch up with some queries! Newcomers, if your question gets missed as the pages move on, don’t be afraid to ‘quote’ your own post, which will bump it up to the front where someone with the answer will hopefully see it.
@Ilikeplants, geraniums are classic rose companions, the key, I think, is not to plant them too close and choose a non-thuggish variety. Often when you see roses and geraniums looking as if they are intermingling, they are planted a reasonable distance away, so the roots of each are not competing too much for water and nutrients and each has space to grow into. It’s also a good idea to allow a young rose to get it’s roots established first, maybe 6 months to a year, before introducing companion planting.
@Oliya, my most strongly fragranced rose (that does not smell of rose) is La Rose de Molinard. It has a really intense grapefruit scent, kind of mouth-watering. It was new for me last year, a little slow to get going, but has strong, healthy canes and thick, glossy leaves. The erect blooms are large and full, they really glow in the sunshine as the outer petals are semi-transparent. The downside is those delicate outer petals can suffer a bit in heavy rain. It can be grown as a shrub in the open, but mine is on an obelisk.
Early in the season on a dull day:
On a very hot, sunny August day - the heat here can reduce petal count:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Ha, can be the same here @peteS, we don’t call it the monsoon season for nowt 😆
However, the sun is shining just now. Here’s a full shot of RdeM today, very upright growth, @Omori:
First bloom of Chartreuse de Parme still thinking about opening. Hope it grows out of the droopy, weak neck thing, had to sprawl on the ground to photograph:
Exquisite, tiny 1” bloom on Excellenz von Schubert, it’s said to be none/lightly scented, but it’s about the same strength as CdeP. Can’t wait to see EvS when all those huge clusters open..
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Jubilee celebration was delivered today
along with 2 others. I am posting this as this shipment was from Italy.
Wasn't sure if they would ship DAs from abroad and DA said JC will be
available only from November in UK.
I felt the responses for mail queries were prompt. Need to place a minimum of 3 for the delivery to happen.
Took
almost a month since the order was made but the delay was blamed on the
UPS services. 1 week to delivery from the time of dispatch, but the
roses seems to have done okay. Looks a bit battered but packaging was
good. A little watering and sunshine would help them I guess, not sure
about the freezing nights...
@Marlorena@pitter-patter as I mentioned above the delivery took a
week but UPS could deliver me the roses. The pot size is small so do not
expect a big rose. Do mail them before hand to check if they still
deliver to UK.
Posts
It was done with no real planning and all by eye so I'm very pleasantly surprised!
@poppyfield64 - yes I hope this will have topped up the pond on our plot as that was getting very low. Nearly down to the first shelf.
@jayne10b - I’ve not grown GJ but I’ve seen her. Pretty flowers and great scent, well deserved reputation for that. If I could get a cheap one from somewhere I’d find space.
Bathsheba also has pretty blooms but I don’t like the scent. However Bathsheba is a much more attractive plant in my view. Much nicer foliage. GJ’s foliage is quite shapeless and dull looking in comparison.
Best time is Autumn/winter but my Generous Gardener cutting took and that came off in June I think.
5 out of 7 for me with those.
When I’ve tried to do them any other way they’ve failed. That cutting I took from Royal Jubilee that rooted in water then just went brown and died, unfortunately.
Speaking of which, I posted a while ago saying that I’d spotted green growth on my Astrantia Gill Richardson, but that hasn’t changed at all since then. So maybe it wasn’t new growth after all. That was disappointing. Claire Austin only does a 6 month plant guarantee which seems a bit mean. Mine was clearly a bad specimen as it just sat there with the same three leaves it arrived with for the rest of the year and then died...
I’ll keep an eye out in the garden centres for another one, or maybe ‘Claret’ as that’s very similar.
@Oliya, my most strongly fragranced rose (that does not smell of rose) is La Rose de Molinard. It has a really intense grapefruit scent, kind of mouth-watering. It was new for me last year, a little slow to get going, but has strong, healthy canes and thick, glossy leaves. The erect blooms are large and full, they really glow in the sunshine as the outer petals are semi-transparent. The downside is those delicate outer petals can suffer a bit in heavy rain. It can be grown as a shrub in the open, but mine is on an obelisk.
Early in the season on a dull day:
However, the sun is shining just now. Here’s a full shot of RdeM today, very upright growth, @Omori:
Exquisite, tiny 1” bloom on Excellenz von Schubert, it’s said to be none/lightly scented, but it’s about the same strength as CdeP. Can’t wait to see EvS when all those huge clusters open..
@Marlorena @pitter-patter as I mentioned above the delivery took a week but UPS could deliver me the roses. The pot size is small so do not expect a big rose. Do mail them before hand to check if they still deliver to UK.