@agnasia and @edhelka yes it great to see everything taking off, although starting early means finishing the first flush early too, so when yours are in their full glory mine will be resting!
Agnasia I think attaching wires to your sturdy pergola posts would be a good solution, rather than the fence. Owd has given you a masterclass for GG there, but one thing I have done with stiff-caned roses that I want to train horizontally is a kind of ‘pre-training’. As the canes are growing and still soft, I bend and tie them down to a stake in the ground, much lower than where I eventually want them to be. When the cane is untied it gently springs back up but has sort of adopted a gentle curve from low down which makes it easier to train it where you want. I even did this with MIP when it was still in a pot.
This was a shrub rose I wanted to train as a short climber, tied down low after planting and before I’d even put the fence in:
After they’ve been released, relaxed upwards and grown longer. I did the same with each new cane. They are all now much thicker and unbendable:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@agnasia, Yes, I'd agree that GG likes space to spread. DA list it's height as 4.50m but give no spread. The top section of my pergola is 2.50m wide and it's already wanting to get beyond those confines, which I am happy for it to do and want to encourage it to wander along the top of my middle section too if it will. I'd say my GG is now about 3m wide and still expanding. How wide is your structure?, for me I would want to plant GG in the centre to fan train each way. I don't think I would train it onto fence panels which will need replacing at some point which would be tricky to say the least. Wires stained between your uprights would work and be strong enough I would guess. I have also used this wire fencing mesh on other sections, which I like as it offers a broad sturdy support structure to tie into wherever the shoots may happen to need it i'm hoping...
Thank you to everyone for your advice on the Gertrude Jekyll.
The final decision was for it to be accessible for scent sniffing. Not in a confined space, re the prickles & as much sun as possible.
Therefore it went into the narrow bed next to the shed door (which is 10 ft from our back door) and south facing. Plenty compost and manure into the bed and in she went.
Also gave her some slow-release rose fertiliser and a mulch on top. Eventually I'll train her onto the trellis on the left and use @Mr. Vine Eye vine-eye method to train her up the right side and across the top of the shed door. (the white on the right is the door frame of the shed, with a lovely leaf green door that will set off the pink colouration). I'll get a portrait image so you can better see Gertie's situation re the boor and trellis.
Also today I noticed this lovely vignette of Tulip Cairo appearing in the Hot Border that I also started last year. Lovely colour - if you like oranges, which I know can divide opinion, but where else would you put oranges if you have a Hot Border.
@Nollie that’s such a clever idea, I can see how getting some shape it to the canes early on would be helpful before they get too stiff. I will definitely do this, thank you.
@owd potter the pergola from post to post is around 4 metres so it’s wide, it’s just not very deep. The centre point is over patio, so would mean getting someone in to cut a section out, so that’s not really an option unfortunately. I like the mesh idea as an alternative to wires. I think I’m also more comfortable using the pergola as a structure as I know it’s new(ish) and robust versus the fence.
@Nollie - could your pre-training pegging also work on a climbing Hydrangea? (its just a year in the ground and so I suspect it is about to enter Stage Creep in the Sleep| Creep | Leap Cycle)
Very busy at the moment so I haven’t been posting much, still checking regularly though. Lots of growth, lots of buds and even more aphids! Really pleased to see the birds back again. Almost the exact same time every year. End of April, early May. After a shirt spell of warm weather, the rain comes and immediately after that, the birds come to feast on the aphids. A few weeks and then we won’t see them again for another year but it’s very special while it lasts!
The pre-training idea came about by accident really, since the rose came before the fence! I guess in theory it would work with other stiffer caned climbers, but I don’t really know @PeterAberdeen, I thought climbing hydrangea had fairly flexible stems, but maybe not!
Catherine Guillot, second season - bought at the same time as Mme. de Sévigné as part of my bourbon trials. So far MdS is the more vigorous plant with bigger blooms and better fragrance, but CG is the first to bloom:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
It was your fragrant rating for Palais Biron that caught my attention @Nollie .. you say you would not strongly recommend, yet post such beautiful pics to tempt us I am looking forward to your Madame Isaac Pereire.. I too did something similar to Louise Odier.. It was easier to bend the canes as they naturally go wider than being upright, especially with the weight of blooms and rain.. so tied them down to stones and a long lateral it produced was bend down to produce more laterals.. not sure if you could clearly see it in the pic.. probably if you zoom out you could see the bend lateral has produced lateral with buds all along.. it was really due to lack of space I did that.. but liked the outcome..
Gorgeous bird pics @Mr. Vine Eye you have a knack for wildlife stills..
@PeterAberdeen I am too loving my Tulips as they are the only colour which I got.. not counting the recent supermarket purchases of annuals that I dotted around.. Angelique below...
Hello everyone and thank you for making my 11 hrs flight so much more enjoyable because I had so much to catch up with. I am at Amsterdam waiting for the last leg of my return trip from Botswana. I can honestly say that your pics and reports make me really eager to get home and have a thorough bud audit.
@Wams please, do not purchase Chandos Beauty as standard. It is a lovely rose with an outstanding scent, absolutely worth having. But it is also a very stiff and upright affair. I need to climb on a chair to sniff mine. Do not repeat my design mistake.
@Victoria_Sponge you asked about the true colour of Florence Delattre. I had or have it, not sure ahead of my inspection. I would call it mauve with a touch of morbid. Healthy, too. I do not recall a strong scent.
Posts
Agnasia I think attaching wires to your sturdy pergola posts would be a good solution, rather than the fence. Owd has given you a masterclass for GG there, but one thing I have done with stiff-caned roses that I want to train horizontally is a kind of ‘pre-training’. As the canes are growing and still soft, I bend and tie them down to a stake in the ground, much lower than where I eventually want them to be. When the cane is untied it gently springs back up but has sort of adopted a gentle curve from low down which makes it easier to train it where you want. I even did this with MIP when it was still in a pot.
This was a shrub rose I wanted to train as a short climber, tied down low after planting and before I’d even put the fence in:
After they’ve been released, relaxed upwards and grown longer. I did the same with each new cane. They are all now much thicker and unbendable:
Yes, I'd agree that GG likes space to spread. DA list it's height as 4.50m but give no spread. The top section of my pergola is 2.50m wide and it's already wanting to get beyond those confines, which I am happy for it to do and want to encourage it to wander along the top of my middle section too if it will.
I'd say my GG is now about 3m wide and still expanding.
How wide is your structure?, for me I would want to plant GG in the centre to fan train each way. I don't think I would train it onto fence panels which will need replacing at some point which would be tricky to say the least.
Wires stained between your uprights would work and be strong enough I would guess.
I have also used this wire fencing mesh on other sections, which I like as it offers a broad sturdy support structure to tie into wherever the shoots may happen to need it
i'm hoping...
Also gave her some slow-release rose fertiliser and a mulch on top. Eventually I'll train her onto the trellis on the left and use @Mr. Vine Eye vine-eye method to train her up the right side and across the top of the shed door. (the white on the right is the door frame of the shed, with a lovely leaf green door that will set off the pink colouration). I'll get a portrait image so you can better see Gertie's situation re the boor and trellis.
Also today I noticed this lovely vignette of Tulip Cairo appearing in the Hot Border that I also started last year. Lovely colour - if you like oranges, which I know can divide opinion, but where else would you put oranges if you have a Hot Border.
@owd potter the pergola from post to post is around 4 metres so it’s wide, it’s just not very deep. The centre point is over patio, so would mean getting someone in to cut a section out, so that’s not really an option unfortunately. I like the mesh idea as an alternative to wires. I think I’m also more comfortable using the pergola as a structure as I know it’s new(ish) and robust versus the fence.
@Nollie - could your pre-training pegging also work on a climbing Hydrangea? (its just a year in the ground and so I suspect it is about to enter Stage Creep in the Sleep| Creep | Leap Cycle)
Catherine Guillot, second season - bought at the same time as Mme. de Sévigné as part of my bourbon trials. So far MdS is the more vigorous plant with bigger blooms and better fragrance, but CG is the first to bloom:
I too did something similar to Louise Odier.. It was easier to bend the canes as they naturally go wider than being upright, especially with the weight of blooms and rain.. so tied them down to stones and a long lateral it produced was bend down to produce more laterals.. not sure if you could clearly see it in the pic.. probably if you zoom out you could see the bend lateral has produced lateral with buds all along.. it was really due to lack of space I did that.. but liked the outcome..
Gorgeous bird pics @Mr. Vine Eye you have a knack for wildlife stills..
@PeterAberdeen I am too loving my Tulips as they are the only colour which I got.. not counting the recent supermarket purchases of annuals that I dotted around..
Angelique below...
Helmar...