@Fire - online it says the average lifespan of a rose is 35 years. But that they can live much longer.
I think yes, with the climbing roses, you just replace the ‘branches’ as they start to become old and less productive. Think you start doing it after a few years and do a cane or two at a time.
I can see how easy it would be to do, as all of my climbers are producing new strong growth that could easily replace existing tiers. I’ve got some better placed bits on The Generous Gardener which I could use to replace some short awkward sections from the last two years.
I think my Malvern Hills will be the awkward one, because I’ve had to train it fairly precisely to cover the awkward corner and it’s all off two main strong canes. If I cut either of these two out then it takes off half of the plant! However it’s producing lots of fresh growth a metre up which could replace other sections. Wonder how long I can get away with using just these two basal canes to support everything else without losing vigour.
All part of the fun and learning process 😊
Gorgeous wisteria at Calke Abbey when we were away, smelled amazing in there.
@Mr. Vine Eye You should do a tutorial on how to root rose cuttings.. like how you prep them, what time of the year, root hormone or not?
Like many others I’ve had zero success so far.. one of the canes on my LoS snapped in some freak gust yesterday (ok I’m not going dwell on the fact that I lost five fat buds from that cane) - I just skipped it into two bits and looked them in one of my spare pots. I’m going to have no expectation so I won’t get disappointed again this time.
Love how you have trained your roses over ropes @AlliumPurpleSensation, looks very effective.
Interesting, @Jemula, my LD Braithwaite also declined rather fast, but others seem to go from strength to strength. I have read of people having austins for over 30 years and still going strong, obviously the earlier varieties, but that was on a US site so they are likely to be have been own-root.
I took three cuttings of Munstead Wood last autumn, they were too small to start with really as there were no decent long canes to cut. One has made it! Still small, but it had really good roots and I have recently potted it on:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
My technique - in autumn, winter but also in July worked with GG!
Step 1 - cut a decent length of this year's growth, snap it off while trying to train it or pick up one that the wind has cut for you!
Step 2 - Cut it into a few sections 20-30cm, cut just below a bud at the bottom and just above a bud at the top. Angle cut at the top so you know top from bottom.
Step 3 - fill a 2l pot with soil, anything you have available, just make sure it can drain.
Step 4 - poke the cane sections into the pot with gaps between. You want them to be well buried but they need some soil at the bottom - Try not to stick them right through the drainage holes! Mine end up roughly half in, half out.
Step 5 - water them well to settle the soil
Step 6 - place the pots in a sheltered North facing spot so they're not wind blasted or subjected to strong sun.
Step 7 - forget about them, just watering if it ends up being dry, but in winter that's not an issue
Step 8 - check for roots at the bottom of the pot in spring. Then carefully tip out and repot the successful ones.
My GG went into its own individual larger pot straight away, so I've just left that in there. No need to repot. But the benefit of doing them all in a smaller pot is that it's easier to see when they've rooted and you can discard the failed ones without taking up a lot of space or soil for no reason.
With Bathsheba and Kew, I did three cuttings in a pot and two out of each lot of three were successful. With GG I just got one in a pot and it was a success. So that's not a bad rate! 5/7
Regarding longevity of some Austin roses, I should also say that my first two - Mary Rose and Graham Thomas planted around 1989/90 - were still doing well when I moved away last year.
Just got these from Aldi - they're glazed effect plastic but they actually feel really quite solid and weighty, I was surprised. The larger ones are 38cm which is a bit small for roses, but you might get away with a small rose for a few years in it. Anyway I got them for other things.
They should drain well - Proper solid base at the bottom, raised up to a reasonable height with channels for drainage.
Also I just had a look at my Bathsheba cutting again while watering and spotted this! A basal shoot! On a 6 month old cutting! 👌
There was no rain predicted for days. I spent 2 hrs watering everything yesterday and now its raining and supposed to rain all day!
I am in love with Evelyn. I know I will be frustrated to see the plant getting blackspots and loosing leaves. Flowers are so beautiful, big and fragrant, I could burry my face in it all day like a bee.
Beautiful gardens everyone, and stunning roses. I'm still waiting for buds to open 😐 . I had an early birthday present delivered last week, The Shepherdess, it looks lovely on the label 😊
I have several first blooms but not sure they’re photo worthy just yet, namely Thomas a Becket, Dame Judi Dench, Olivia RA, Mayflower, and Gertrude Jekyll.
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I think yes, with the climbing roses, you just replace the ‘branches’ as they start to become old and less productive. Think you start doing it after a few years and do a cane or two at a time.
I think my Malvern Hills will be the awkward one, because I’ve had to train it fairly precisely to cover the awkward corner and it’s all off two main strong canes. If I cut either of these two out then it takes off half of the plant! However it’s producing lots of fresh growth a metre up which could replace other sections. Wonder how long I can get away with using just these two basal canes to support everything else without losing vigour.
All part of the fun and learning process 😊
Gorgeous wisteria at Calke Abbey when we were away, smelled amazing in there.
Interesting, @Jemula, my LD Braithwaite also declined rather fast, but others seem to go from strength to strength. I have read of people having austins for over 30 years and still going strong, obviously the earlier varieties, but that was on a US site so they are likely to be have been own-root.
I took three cuttings of Munstead Wood last autumn, they were too small to start with really as there were no decent long canes to cut. One has made it! Still small, but it had really good roots and I have recently potted it on:
My technique - in autumn, winter but also in July worked with GG!
Step 1 - cut a decent length of this year's growth, snap it off while trying to train it or pick up one that the wind has cut for you!
Step 2 - Cut it into a few sections 20-30cm, cut just below a bud at the bottom and just above a bud at the top. Angle cut at the top so you know top from bottom.
Step 3 - fill a 2l pot with soil, anything you have available, just make sure it can drain.
Step 4 - poke the cane sections into the pot with gaps between. You want them to be well buried but they need some soil at the bottom - Try not to stick them right through the drainage holes! Mine end up roughly half in, half out.
Step 5 - water them well to settle the soil
Step 6 - place the pots in a sheltered North facing spot so they're not wind blasted or subjected to strong sun.
Step 7 - forget about them, just watering if it ends up being dry, but in winter that's not an issue
Step 8 - check for roots at the bottom of the pot in spring. Then carefully tip out and repot the successful ones.
My GG went into its own individual larger pot straight away, so I've just left that in there. No need to repot. But the benefit of doing them all in a smaller pot is that it's easier to see when they've rooted and you can discard the failed ones without taking up a lot of space or soil for no reason.
With Bathsheba and Kew, I did three cuttings in a pot and two out of each lot of three were successful. With GG I just got one in a pot and it was a success. So that's not a bad rate! 5/7
Just got these from Aldi - they're glazed effect plastic but they actually feel really quite solid and weighty, I was surprised. The larger ones are 38cm which is a bit small for roses, but you might get away with a small rose for a few years in it. Anyway I got them for other things.
They should drain well - Proper solid base at the bottom, raised up to a reasonable height with channels for drainage.
Also I just had a look at my Bathsheba cutting again while watering and spotted this! A basal shoot! On a 6 month old cutting! 👌
I am in love with Evelyn. I know I will be frustrated to see the plant getting blackspots and loosing leaves. Flowers are so beautiful, big and fragrant, I could burry my face in it all day like a bee.
I have several first blooms but not sure they’re photo worthy just yet, namely Thomas a Becket, Dame Judi Dench, Olivia RA, Mayflower, and Gertrude Jekyll.