I label all my roses using a Brother labelling machine which prints out onto adhesive tape. It works well for me. It's not cheap but they last longer than anything written on a plastic/wood label does. I put the name on one side and the year I planted it on the other. Saves no end of confusion.
Needs space and outgrew my small border after some 10 years, but what a tremendous rose, especially suited to a drier garden in full sun.. very early to flower and always blooming.. Photos from different years.. Spring foliage..
..pruning out excess growth kept it manageable for a long time..
In my top 5 roses, and if I had the room, no doubt it would be back here..
Ah, once in the ground I’m sure MD will romp away and climb Oliya.
Woodchip Mulch:
Doing the recycling earlier I found a planting guide in the Lens box with a bit about using fresh woodchips as a mulch. It’s controversial as some say it does roses no harm at all, others that it does. The concern I have mostly seen expressed is that it leaches nitrogen from the soil. That’s only temporary as it decays though and adding a new layer each year is fine as the lower level acts as a buffer. However, Lens say:
“Do not use fresh woodchips as a ground cover [mulch] after planting. These contain tannic acids that slow down the rooting of the roses. Better to add a layer of compost. After the rooting process [a year? two?] it is possible to add any ground cover”
I’ve never considered the tannic acid angle before. The same presumably applies to pine needle mulch since that also contains tannins. I have a large bag of each I was planning to use on a new rose bed, but they’ve been aged for 2 years so should be fine to use.
Anyone who has applied fresh chips to their roses notice any laggards?
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@WhereAreMySecateurs I’ve just searched my emails and I’ve bought Peach Melba directly from Kordes in October 2020. It was beautiful the first season. During the second season it’s grown very long canes with a few flowers at the top late in the autumn. Hopefully it will get better next year. (It doesn’t really matter, but I’m a he.)
I’ve had a go at growing sweet peas with my Lilac Bouquet roses this year. While I really enjoyed the combination, I couldn’t pick the sweet peas to enjoy inside as they were full of pollen beetles. Are there any other climbing annuals I could grow with roses? Thunbergia were very good last year, but they take ages to get going.
@Nollie Yes I noticed some laggards and I would generally agree with Lens as far as new plantings are concerned, I doubt it matters to established roses.
I once planted up a 1/6th acre rose garden with new bare root roses, and covered with thick fresh bark mulch which I had delivered in large bags. We tipped it all out one weekend, as we both rented and worked away from home then, so the mulch was essential for us - no weeding the weekends we returned, just mowed the lawn and tied things up.. it was a godsend... yes looking back I noticed a few didn't seem to put on the growth, but most grew the way I would have hoped.. so mixed results but I didn't understand the reasons then..
In this garden I tried it one year on new roses and I wasn't impressed, despite feeding before applying the mulch, my new roses that summer were the worst since I've been here, so I stopped the practice on new plantings.
@pitter-patter thanks for sharing your experience with Peach Melba. I think I’ll give it a miss this year:) keep us posted on how it does for you next summer.
You’re welcome, @Oliya. As I said before, it’s not planted in an ideal position, as there isn’t much space to train it horizontally and it doesn’t get much sun either. It’s probably capable of doing much better in more suitable conditions.
Posts
Needs space and outgrew my small border after some 10 years, but what a tremendous rose, especially suited to a drier garden in full sun.. very early to flower and always blooming..
Photos from different years..
Spring foliage..
..pruning out excess growth kept it manageable for a long time..
In my top 5 roses, and if I had the room, no doubt it would be back here..
Woodchip Mulch:
Doing the recycling earlier I found a planting guide in the Lens box with a bit about using fresh woodchips as a mulch. It’s controversial as some say it does roses no harm at all, others that it does. The concern I have mostly seen expressed is that it leaches nitrogen from the soil. That’s only temporary as it decays though and adding a new layer each year is fine as the lower level acts as a buffer. However, Lens say:
“Do not use fresh woodchips as a ground cover [mulch] after planting. These contain tannic acids that slow down the rooting of the roses. Better to add a layer of compost. After the rooting process [a year? two?] it is possible to add any ground cover”
I’ve never considered the tannic acid angle before. The same presumably applies to pine needle mulch since that also contains tannins. I have a large bag of each I was planning to use on a new rose bed, but they’ve been aged for 2 years so should be fine to use.
Anyone who has applied fresh chips to their roses notice any laggards?
Yes I noticed some laggards and I would generally agree with Lens as far as new plantings are concerned, I doubt it matters to established roses.
I once planted up a 1/6th acre rose garden with new bare root roses, and covered with thick fresh bark mulch which I had delivered in large bags. We tipped it all out one weekend, as we both rented and worked away from home then, so the mulch was essential for us - no weeding the weekends we returned, just mowed the lawn and tied things up.. it was a godsend... yes looking back I noticed a few didn't seem to put on the growth, but most grew the way I would have hoped.. so mixed results but I didn't understand the reasons then..
In this garden I tried it one year on new roses and I wasn't impressed, despite feeding before applying the mulch, my new roses that summer were the worst since I've been here, so I stopped the practice on new plantings.
So compost all the way for me..