Hi Folks Somewhat related to this thread I am from N Ireland and have young children (3yo and 1yo) so not easy for us to get over to the mainland or travel larger distances. We are having a family trip to the lake district in July and wondering if its worth making the journey down to David Austin Roses About a 3 hour drive?
I haven't been to DA garden either, though I would love to visit some day.
I also felt little one wont enjoy it much so not worth driving and giving it a whole day of trip. You could plan to visit nearby garden with kids.
@newbie77 We visited when we went to Shropshire. Went to RAF Cosford first as it’s 5 minutes away for the boys, then I got to visit the gardens briefly afterwards.
They still wouldn’t let me have a proper look though! That was when they were much younger.
It is lovely there, but since we have so many lovely gardens to visit that are much closer, and have more to entertain the children as well, I don’t think I would go especially again.
We had a new front door fitted today. It’s needed doing since we moved in really. Looks much smarter.
But unfortunately Lady of the Lake took a battering!
Despite me clearing the drive so there was plenty of space, they decided to plonk the old door right on top of her.
I don’t think she’s fared too badly, quite a few of those nice new shoots came off, but no major structural damage.
I was horrified when I first realised what they’d done!
As much respect for the Lady of the Lake as the constitutional peasant. "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords..." 😉
Hope she recovers fully! She looks tough!
ETA: have been thinking about this one, Lady of the Lake, for a while. Bareroots are now £22.50 but the basic potted price is still £30, which the discount code brings down to about £25.50. Hmm. Would a potted one bought now be a bareroot just recently plunked in a pot or would it have been growing there awhile?
@WAMS, I would hope that the potted ones have been in for a good while rather than recently potted, as otherwise why go to the bother? Don't know for sure though but expect Marlorena would likely know.
By a coincidence we went to a talk on DA roses last night and saw slides of the gardens, staggeringly beautiful in full season, including one ginormous Graham Thomas! It does gets very busy then as you would expect. We hope to go later this year. They plant approx 340,000 plants to start with, then gradually grade them out to approx 240,000 which are grown on for nine years after which they select the very best to go on sale. A very labour intensive business indeed. It's most impressive that most of their staff have been with them a very long time. They also design and supply the retail outlets with their benches and sales boards.
I was told by the speaker, when I raised the question, how they dealt with blackspot but apparently they don't get it at all. I was astounded! The speaker also told me that if you have blackspot in your garden, then you will always have it which is a bit of a blow.
He also said that they have been aware of the problem of drooping flowerheads for some time and are trying to breed shorter roses to alleviate that problem. For potted roses the pots must be at least 2ft x 2ft.
@WAMS I recently bought a potted Lady Of The Lake from DA and when I took it out of the pot to plant it it was fully rooted. Not a recently planted bare root.
@WAMS I recently bought a potted Lady Of The Lake from DA and when I took it out of the pot to plant it it was fully rooted. Not a recently planted bare root.
@NewnorthernIrishgardener I've been to David Austin's garden as we were on holiday in Shropshire. It was June 2014 and the roses were at their peak. Shame it wasn't a sunny day. I think in July the roses may be past their best and a 3 hour drive in each direction would be too much with your children. OK if it was 1 1/2 each way perhaps. The Lake District is beautiful so I make the most of your time there.
Here are some of my photos of David Austin's garden.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Posts
I also felt little one wont enjoy it much so not worth driving and giving it a whole day of trip. You could plan to visit nearby garden with kids.
It is lovely there, but since we have so many lovely gardens to visit that are much closer, and have more to entertain the children as well, I don’t think I would go especially again.
We had a new front door fitted today. It’s needed doing since we moved in really. Looks much smarter.
But unfortunately Lady of the Lake took a battering!
Despite me clearing the drive so there was plenty of space, they decided to plonk the old door right on top of her.
I don’t think she’s fared too badly, quite a few of those nice new shoots came off, but no major structural damage.
I was horrified when I first realised what they’d done!
I am sure Lady of the Lake was main factor on deciding which door to choose
Hope she recovers fully! She looks tough!
ETA: have been thinking about this one, Lady of the Lake, for a while. Bareroots are now £22.50 but the basic potted price is still £30, which the discount code brings down to about £25.50. Hmm. Would a potted one bought now be a bareroot just recently plunked in a pot or would it have been growing there awhile?
By a coincidence we went to a talk on DA roses last night and saw slides of the gardens, staggeringly beautiful in full season, including one ginormous Graham Thomas! It does gets very busy then as you would expect. We hope to go later this year.
They plant approx 340,000 plants to start with, then gradually grade them out to approx 240,000 which are grown on for nine years after which they select the very best to go on sale. A very labour intensive business indeed. It's most impressive that most of their staff have been with them a very long time. They also design and supply the retail outlets with their benches and sales boards.
I was told by the speaker, when I raised the question, how they dealt with blackspot but apparently they don't get it at all. I was astounded! The speaker also told me that if you have blackspot in your garden, then you will always have it which is a bit of a blow.
He also said that they have been aware of the problem of drooping flowerheads for some time and are trying to breed shorter roses to alleviate that problem. For potted roses the pots must be at least 2ft x 2ft.
A very interesting talk.
Are Jacksons Nursery any good, does anyone know?
Here are some of my photos of David Austin's garden.