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drooping rose

paanpaan Posts: 34
in Problem solving
hi i gave lady of shallot david austin rose in container. its flowers all droop from bud stage onwsrds but are upright in pictures at david austins. does snyone knie why?
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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Many DA roses take a few years to mature and develop the strength to hold their heads up.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • paanpaan Posts: 34
    oh ok thats great!  
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
     Glad to help :) 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    ..that is due to a lack of watering, or a transplant issue if recently potted... Lady of Shalott does not droop like that otherwise..   I suspect it's bone dry at the roots..
    East Anglia, England
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    @Marlorena is much more experienced than I am regarding roses ... I would go with her suggestion, especially as she knows this particular rose.  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • paanpaan Posts: 34
    Hi Marlorena, thanks for your response but honestly it is well watered.  This was a gift last year and has always been in a container and has always had drooping flowers .  - I thought it was not getting enough sun as it was originally  at the front of house which gets up to max  4 hours sun per day in the morning( the brochure said it could cope with this ) .  So this year I have put it at the back of the house - south west  facing garden full sun all day - it has stayed the same i.e. with drooping flowers.  if anything I feel I have watered too much as it has a mushroom growing in the container ( peat free compost) is there anything else it could be?  I could get any DA rose food so used tomato food when flowering I could send more picture but the flowers all hang like little lanterns unfortunately 
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    @paan
    Hello..
    Here are some alternative reasons if you're sure it's been watered sufficiently. It's possibly a drainage issue depending on what compost you've used, especially as there are mushrooms in the pot.. it could be the compost is airless and the roots cannot function properly... potting compost for roses should contain a 50/50 mix of John innes No. 2 or no. 3 and a good multi purpose [peat free or not]..  it's never a good idea to use a single type of potting compost for roses...  what size pot is it in?..

    The leaves on your rose are quite small, they should be larger than that considering the time you've had it...  reasons why this could be are... insects in the pot, such as ants or grubs causing air pockets which is detrimental to a rose..
    ... death of the rootstock during cultivation, which means the rose has had to grow its own roots to survive..  If the graft is above soil level then you can discount this as a reason..

    I'm puzzled why it's taken so long to report this issue if you've had it since last year and it's been like this throughout.. have you not contacted DA about it at all?  if so what was their advice?..  if it was mine I would have taken it out of the pot to inspect the rootball, which is something you should consider doing..

    ..this is what a first year 'Lady of Shalott' should look like.. you will note the larger leaves and upright stalks ..

    ..and what it becomes... 

    East Anglia, England
  • paanpaan Posts: 34
    well yours is lovely!  It was a gift and so I haven't contacted DA I just assumed I was doing something wrong and tried full sun this year.  I have taken your advice and looked at the root ball - its fibrous.  However the pot is only 35 diameter and this tapers and is under 30cm at the bottom.  So  this is too small yes? shall I leave it till next year  to repot? or do this now? - Also it is very windy here today nad it is clearly rocking in its pot  - I think I have planted it too high  - see picture ( I am not sure if this is a bud union that people refer to our a graft ) so where to go form here?
  • paanpaan Posts: 34

  • paanpaan Posts: 34

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