Morning everyone... heavy rain overnight, somewhat torrential, making up for dry summer..
Yes Alfie, I have lots of obelisks, 7 in total plus other metal enclosures and frames. I find it's a great way to grow roses as there is more space up in the air than on the ground. Do make use of the vertical, we can train them in a narrower fashion where a wide spreader takes up too much room..
As for top Austins, this is just personal taste, everybody will say different according to what we all like.. most people tend to prefer those with large double blooms, I prefer singles and semi doubles - these are not always popular.. Just because somebody on youtube or wherever says these are the best, doesn't mean you're going to like them as much.. I recently looked at one who said 'Mill on the Floss' is his 2nd favourite.. well, that was a dud in my garden and I gave it 3 full years... rust, tall lanky, not many blooms although they were pretty and scented, but I found the rose a total waste of effort. Freestanding it also flops and grows wide.. so it's all according..
The ones I like best.. 'Kew Gardens' everybody here must be tired of me going on about it. 'Tottering by Gently'.. I love this unusual single flowered yellow.. 'Scepter'd Isle' stunning, highly scented, continuous, upright, what more can I say.. 'Vanessa Bell' treated generously, which takes time.. 'Lady of Shalott' I just love the colour, vigour and continuity of bloom.. 'Gertrude Jekyll'... two sensational flushes, but a huge gap in between for me.. 'The Ancient Mariner'.. takes time but worth it.. beautiful Spring foliage. 'Bathsheba'.. as seen.. 'Scarborough Fair'.. so pretty and gentle, great for hot dry gardens.. 'Desdemona' a rose I couldn't be without.. scented, floriferous, continuous, great foliage, nice growth, shrubby.. 'The Poet's Wife' the best yellow, and one of the best yellows of any type.. lemon scented, beats almost everything on continuity of bloom..
..lots of others.. can't do 5.. if you want a recommendation for an obelisk, I'd go with 'Scepter'd Isle'.. it has everything and the obelisk only needs to be 5 feet [1.5m] above ground. Photos later..
..why I get tired of the same old, same old from Austins.. these are 4 different roses but I can hardly tell which is which,.. you could throw in PAOK which isn't there, Lady of Megginch, Tam O'Shanter, and probably one or two others, and it would still be hard to decipher.. they produce the same type each year because they know it's what people want.. ..in this collage are Princess Anne, James L Austin, Gabriel Oak and England's Rose.. 'Scepter'd Isle' tied back to metal obelisk [1.5m above ground.. plus 30cm in ground.. obelisk 1.8m in total]
'Kew Gardens' very much my type of rose.. thornless..
@Marlorena that SI on the obelisk is incredible. Thanks for the tips - I will definitely give this a try with SI when I next order. From what I have read online is the idea to weave the canes in an S shape up the obelisk so that the cane is continually at 45 degrees all the way up causing maximum buds to grow?
How much is there between Poet’s Wife and Ab Fab in your opinion? I’ve heard a lot of good things about both.
I’m fairly new to rose growing so don’t have enough established Austins to make a top 5 but in terms of just the blooms themselves for this summer I would go for GJ, Abe D and GT. I was lucky enough to inherit a good number of well established Austin’s when we recently moved here and those three produced the most amazing scented blooms for me this summer.
Abe with huge blooms and the most amazing scent:
Gertrude J. Like you say, great flushes and the scent is awesome:
And GT with lovely cluster blooms and very nice scent which I found much stronger than what DA list on their website for its scent:
In terms of all the new Austins I bought at the start of this summer I am most impressed with PAOK. Huge blooms that are just stunning:
And although the second flush had smaller blooms it was still impressive given it was bought early June as a small potted rose:
You’ve definitely confirmed a few Austins I’ve been keen to get; Desdemona and SI. Apparently Desdemona was one of the stars at their stand for Chelsea this year. I first saw Desdemona on Darren H’s channel. It has so many blooms on it you can’t even see any foliage
I was away from home for a week and so pleased to see that the trio of buds I left behind were blooming when I returned. 'Scepter'd Isle'.
It rained last night so the blooms probably shattered already. I've been too nervous to prune it so it's partially my fault it's so spindly, though I've read most Austins are like that anyway.
^very nice, I believe it's popular in the States too.. well deserved reputation..
@Alfie_ .. you already have some fabulous Austins, I can see why PAOK is so popular, and your GJ is a sight to behold.. however if your other one, the 'GT' rose is meant to be 'Graham Thomas' ? it doesn't look like it to me, I think you may have been sent the wrong one there.. never seen it that pale.. GT is a rich butter yellow and the foliage doesn't look quite right. If the rose is fruity scented, like grapefruit, it may be 'Jude The Obscure'..
Oh, Abraham Darby, what a winner! I saw it in the garden centre few years ago and almost came home with it, huge! blooms and delicious.. don't know why I left it on the shelf... yours is great..
@Marlorena - yeh I see what you mean after looking it up - they are pale. I’ve only ever seen mine so was none the wiser. The Austins were inherited in the garden are about 10 years old and they all had tags on the base and this one definitely has a Graham Thomas tag. Could only find one more photo and that is also pale:
The hazel tree behind it is very large so it is in a lot of shade (I plan to move it) so maybe that could that make them paler? If not, previous owners must have been sent the wrong one
@Alfie_ .. weaving canes around an obelisk can be tiresome [a p.i.t.a?] unless the canes are really bendy, and not too thorny, otherwise don't bother.. plant outside the frame and tie back as it grows, leaning it into the support..
.. AB FAB vs The Poet's Wife.. The PW had a marginally more continuous bloom and lemony scent, really lovely and rich colour, but the foliage on Ab Fab is better and it's a more imposing, statuesque rose when established.. really dominates ..
..that isn't Graham Thomas, the bloom shape is all wrong too.. I'm now thinking what you have there is 'Comte de Champagne'.. I've not grown it but looking at pics it's very similar... see what you think.. the foliage looks right for this rose too..
Posts
I have Bathsheba in a pot awaiting planting out and will put it somewhere sunny on your advice, Marlorena. Beautiful colours in your pics.
@Alfie_ I got PAoK potted this summer and it's gorgeous but had zero scent in its first year for me. Doubt it is your nostrils.
Morning everyone... heavy rain overnight, somewhat torrential, making up for dry summer..
Yes Alfie, I have lots of obelisks, 7 in total plus other metal enclosures and frames. I find it's a great way to grow roses as there is more space up in the air than on the ground. Do make use of the vertical, we can train them in a narrower fashion where a wide spreader takes up too much room..
As for top Austins, this is just personal taste, everybody will say different according to what we all like.. most people tend to prefer those with large double blooms, I prefer singles and semi doubles - these are not always popular.. Just because somebody on youtube or wherever says these are the best, doesn't mean you're going to like them as much..
I recently looked at one who said 'Mill on the Floss' is his 2nd favourite.. well, that was a dud in my garden and I gave it 3 full years... rust, tall lanky, not many blooms although they were pretty and scented, but I found the rose a total waste of effort. Freestanding it also flops and grows wide.. so it's all according..
The ones I like best..
'Kew Gardens' everybody here must be tired of me going on about it.
'Tottering by Gently'.. I love this unusual single flowered yellow..
'Scepter'd Isle' stunning, highly scented, continuous, upright, what more can I say..
'Vanessa Bell' treated generously, which takes time..
'Lady of Shalott' I just love the colour, vigour and continuity of bloom..
'Gertrude Jekyll'... two sensational flushes, but a huge gap in between for me..
'The Ancient Mariner'.. takes time but worth it.. beautiful Spring foliage.
'Bathsheba'.. as seen..
'Scarborough Fair'.. so pretty and gentle, great for hot dry gardens..
'Desdemona' a rose I couldn't be without.. scented, floriferous, continuous, great foliage, nice growth, shrubby..
'The Poet's Wife' the best yellow, and one of the best yellows of any type.. lemon scented, beats almost everything on continuity of bloom..
..lots of others.. can't do 5.. if you want a recommendation for an obelisk, I'd go with 'Scepter'd Isle'.. it has everything and the obelisk only needs to be 5 feet [1.5m] above ground. Photos later..
..in this collage are Princess Anne, James L Austin, Gabriel Oak and England's Rose..
'Scepter'd Isle' tied back to metal obelisk [1.5m above ground.. plus 30cm in ground.. obelisk 1.8m in total]
'Kew Gardens' very much my type of rose.. thornless..
Abe with huge blooms and the most amazing scent:
It rained last night so the blooms probably shattered already. I've been too nervous to prune it so it's partially my fault it's so spindly, though I've read most Austins are like that anyway.
@Alfie_
.. you already have some fabulous Austins, I can see why PAOK is so popular, and your GJ is a sight to behold.. however if your other one, the 'GT' rose is meant to be 'Graham Thomas' ? it doesn't look like it to me, I think you may have been sent the wrong one there.. never seen it that pale.. GT is a rich butter yellow and the foliage doesn't look quite right.
If the rose is fruity scented, like grapefruit, it may be 'Jude The Obscure'..
Oh, Abraham Darby, what a winner! I saw it in the garden centre few years ago and almost came home with it, huge! blooms and delicious.. don't know why I left it on the shelf... yours is great..
.. weaving canes around an obelisk can be tiresome [a p.i.t.a?] unless the canes are really bendy, and not too thorny, otherwise don't bother.. plant outside the frame and tie back as it grows, leaning it into the support..
.. AB FAB vs The Poet's Wife.. The PW had a marginally more continuous bloom and lemony scent, really lovely and rich colour, but the foliage on Ab Fab is better and it's a more imposing, statuesque rose when established.. really dominates ..
'The Poet's Wife'..