'Kew Gardens' [Austin,
UK 2009] … English Rose/Hybrid Musk group, 5' x 5' average..
When a rose person is
asked to name their favourite rose, the stock answer should always
be ''the last one I looked at''...
This nicely evades what
is an impossible question to answer. However, if I have to lay my
cards on the table, and as I favour a single flower with a
yellow/white mix, throw in its thornless nature, floriferous and
continuous bloom performance, and healthy foliage, then I feel I have
my winner.
Because it's thornless,
'Kew Gardens' should be considered a flowering shrub of the top rank, along with Lavatera x clementii 'Rosea', for
continuous floral beauty. It has a light musky scent. My rose sets few hips.
When I see this rose in
full bloom, swarming with hoverflies in midsummer, I feel vindicated
in my assessment but not everyone would like it.. It's also not the quickest rose off the
blocks and can take a little time to get going. Patience is
rewarded..
I find the Spring
foliage beautiful, and it is early into leaf. Suitable for pot, if
kept pruned,.. hedge, or as I grow it, to around 7-8 feet by as much
across, semi climbing and allowed to mingle with other roses. Photos below from various seasons.
@Marlorena Your Kew Gardens looks amazing! I’ve got one bare root last spring and then had to dig it up and move twice in the summer… so I feel it doesn’t look as good as it could have. But it’s still alive! Hopefully it’ll settle nicely this summer:) Your photos of it look even better than the ones in DA’s handbook!
I’ve long admired your Kew Gardens, Marlorena, it’s spectacular. Sadly mine can’t take the heat here, even with afternoon shade. I get one modest flush in Spring if I’m lucky. Classic example of wrong rose, wrong place, I guess. I do more careful research now.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Oh dear @Marlorena This has caused me a bit of a dilemma. I have been eyeing up Penelope (if you'll pardon my expression), which seems to be very similar, also being a hybrid musk, white / yellow, large fragrant shrub with autumn hips. So far as I can see the differences appear to be colour; lemon cast (KG) vs pink cast (P), single flower (KG) vs semi double (P), light fragrance (KG) vs medium strong fragrance (P) Is it the lack of thorns that make KG your favourite or are there other factors to consider also. Would you care to give your thoughts on the comparison of these ?
@owd potter ... thanks for the question. Let me tell you the difference as I found it in my garden, it may vary for others... I know @Lizzie27 has 'Penelope' so I'm hoping to bring her in on this. Yes 'KG' is thornless which helps my decision, but my garden is timed for roses to look their best from mid May to mid July, 8 weeks, and most of my perennial plantings go along with this... what happens after July I'm not too bothered about to be honest, and that's why I take little notice of disease issues which tend to occur more then...
'Penelope' which I've had here, puts on a reasonable first flush, not great, then dribs and drabs after that, but really explodes in the autumn with huge trusses of blooms followed by gorgeous pinkish hips... another hybrid musk 'Vanity' behaves in a similar way. It's also wide spreading and needs more space than I could give it. It sulks after hard pruning and destroys its character totally.
That's no good for me, roses that look their best in Sept/Oct, or can't take a hard prune are out, I'm not interested.
So don't let this put you off 'Penelope', it has a strong scent and gorgeous flowers, it just didn't show me its best side until too late..
@owd potter I like Penelope. I had one in my old French garden and I have one in OH's garden in Norfolk. I planted the one in France in 1991. They flower on and off all summer. I grew the French one as a shrub and the Norfolk one as a small climber on the fence.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
@owd potter, as Marlorena says, I have had 'Penvelope' for a number of years and treat it as a climber on a south-facing wall in a large raised bed. It's now about 8 ft wide x 6-7 ft tall. I would say it's more a pinky apricot colour with beautiful numerous apricot hips in the autumn. It flowers well for me but as I appear to be losing my sense of smell somewhat, can't say how strong the perfume is. I can't get near enough to shove my nose in it! It was recommended to me by Helen Yemm from the Daily Telegraph. I love it.
Posts
'Kew Gardens' [Austin, UK 2009] … English Rose/Hybrid Musk group, 5' x 5' average..
When a rose person is asked to name their favourite rose, the stock answer should always be ''the last one I looked at''...
This nicely evades what is an impossible question to answer. However, if I have to lay my cards on the table, and as I favour a single flower with a yellow/white mix, throw in its thornless nature, floriferous and continuous bloom performance, and healthy foliage, then I feel I have my winner.
Because it's thornless, 'Kew Gardens' should be considered a flowering shrub of the top rank, along with Lavatera x clementii 'Rosea', for continuous floral beauty. It has a light musky scent. My rose sets few hips.
When I see this rose in full bloom, swarming with hoverflies in midsummer, I feel vindicated in my assessment but not everyone would like it.. It's also not the quickest rose off the blocks and can take a little time to get going. Patience is rewarded..
I find the Spring foliage beautiful, and it is early into leaf. Suitable for pot, if kept pruned,.. hedge, or as I grow it, to around 7-8 feet by as much across, semi climbing and allowed to mingle with other roses. Photos below from various seasons.
… tomorrow.. 'Koenigin von Danemark'..
Your Kew Gardens looks amazing! I’ve got one bare root last spring and then had to dig it up and move twice in the summer… so I feel it doesn’t look as good as it could have. But it’s still alive! Hopefully it’ll settle nicely this summer:)
Your photos of it look even better than the ones in DA’s handbook!
..thank you !.. here's hoping yours gets going very soon..
This has caused me a bit of a dilemma.
I have been eyeing up Penelope (if you'll pardon my expression), which seems to be very similar, also being a hybrid musk, white / yellow, large fragrant shrub with autumn hips.
So far as I can see the differences appear to be colour; lemon cast (KG) vs pink cast (P), single flower (KG) vs semi double (P), light fragrance (KG) vs medium strong fragrance (P)
Is it the lack of thorns that make KG your favourite or are there other factors to consider also.
Would you care to give your thoughts on the comparison of these ?
... thanks for the question. Let me tell you the difference as I found it in my garden, it may vary for others... I know @Lizzie27 has 'Penelope' so I'm hoping to bring her in on this.
Yes 'KG' is thornless which helps my decision, but my garden is timed for roses to look their best from mid May to mid July, 8 weeks, and most of my perennial plantings go along with this... what happens after July I'm not too bothered about to be honest, and that's why I take little notice of disease issues which tend to occur more then...
'Penelope' which I've had here, puts on a reasonable first flush, not great, then dribs and drabs after that, but really explodes in the autumn with huge trusses of blooms followed by gorgeous pinkish hips... another hybrid musk 'Vanity' behaves in a similar way. It's also wide spreading and needs more space than I could give it. It sulks after hard pruning and destroys its character totally.
That's no good for me, roses that look their best in Sept/Oct, or can't take a hard prune are out, I'm not interested.
So don't let this put you off 'Penelope', it has a strong scent and gorgeous flowers, it just didn't show me its best side until too late..
Many thanks for your comments.
Your explanation has fomented a decision for me.
I love it.