Hate to tell those short of rain but we’ve had yet another fierce downpour and more to come all next week. We have friends arriving on Friday expecting to lounge by the pool and soak up some rays, but instead may be sheltering indoors!
Didn’t quite hit 30 here yesterday. Fascinating to hear what’s crisping and what’s not in different areas, only MIP is doing that here, so far. It’s the ‘scattered bloom between flushes’ stage here though, so not much to weather test.
A few dark blooms - Ebb Tide, William Shakespeare 2000 and Munstead Wood:
Warm Welcome back in continuous flowering mode after severe dieback:
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
..great roses today.. everybody loves 'Blue For You'..
@Fran IOM Do you know the names of yours? I'd especially like to know the 2nd one Fran, thank you.. the last one looks like a wild one?..
I've taken lots of pics today, will post later, but one I'd like to highlight is this, if you're looking for a rose that is no fuss, disease resistant, has a goodish sweet scent, not overly powerful, and importantly for now, does not crisp in the heat.. my rose is in full on sun, all day.. it was 86F yesterday.. it doesn't even need watering really.. Needless to say, it was bred in California..
'Lady of Shalott'.. another in fullest sun and the worst soil.. 'Desdemona'.. 'Bring Me Sunshine'... I adore this rose.. ..climbing with Clematis 'Burma Star'.. 'Forever Royal'.. I can't be without..
Does anyone else find RHS rose advice out of step with modern practices or just plain weird?
Not only do they still insist you should plant the graft above ground but in an article on roses in The Sunday Times this morning, their chief horticulturalist says you can plant bare roots in Spring but ‘the soil must be dry’. No mention of watering in. OK, not sodden and flooded but moist soil is surely better?
He also recommends Graham Thomas as a ‘good shrub rose for beginners’. Well, not only is it discontinued by DA (not necessarily a reflection of how good or otherwise a rose is, admittedly) but does anyone successfully grow this rose without support? I would think there are far easier and healthier roses for a beginner to grow, what do you all think?
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Well it official I've lost it! The two cuttings that are now two years old and have just planted in the ground have flowered. Not only are they NOT the roses I thought I had taken cuttings from, but I don't remember taking any from this rose! The buds came out yellow with red edges, so I thought Celebration, no, they have opened to reveal Sheila's Perfumed!🤦♀️🤣
@WAMS I see your white rose on BfY, I had some last year for the first time.
@cooldoc my second year Dannahue definitely smells better than it did last summer. In this warm weather and a few flowers opened, I can smell it from about a meter away (or a bit further if the scent travels on a breeze). The flowers, unfortunately, don’t last very long, just a few days, and petals do get fried on the full sun.
@Nollie I think the RHS website is worse than useless... I still go there occasionally but it's the last resort... As far as roses are concerned, I rarely take a lot of notice of these RHS experts/garden designers.. in my opinion, they are not true rosarians.. we've lost most of those..
As for 'Graham Thomas'.. well it used to be a shrub.. I've probably shown these photos before, from circa 1990, when it was still well behaved and hadn't turned itself into the climber type we know today.. although I admit, I do think it's quite a sensation when grown on a red brick wall..
..this faded photo is actually 'Graham Thomas'.. behind my lost beloved.. .. a better photo at the same time.. as you can see on the left.. incidentally, you may notice a red rose top of photo, centre in the background.. that's 'Marie Nabonnand', which was sold to me then under the wrong i.d. of 'Monsieur Tillier'..
Posts
A few dark blooms - Ebb Tide, William Shakespeare 2000 and Munstead Wood:
Warm Welcome back in continuous flowering mode after severe dieback:
@Fran IOM
Do you know the names of yours? I'd especially like to know the 2nd one Fran, thank you.. the last one looks like a wild one?..
I've taken lots of pics today, will post later, but one I'd like to highlight is this, if you're looking for a rose that is no fuss, disease resistant, has a goodish sweet scent, not overly powerful, and importantly for now, does not crisp in the heat.. my rose is in full on sun, all day.. it was 86F yesterday.. it doesn't even need watering really..
Needless to say, it was bred in California..
'Wild Blue Yonder'..
'Lady of Shalott'.. another in fullest sun and the worst soil..
'Desdemona'..
'Bring Me Sunshine'... I adore this rose..
..climbing with Clematis 'Burma Star'..
'Forever Royal'.. I can't be without..
Not only do they still insist you should plant the graft above ground but in an article on roses in The Sunday Times this morning, their chief horticulturalist says you can plant bare roots in Spring but ‘the soil must be dry’. No mention of watering in. OK, not sodden and flooded but moist soil is surely better?
He also recommends Graham Thomas as a ‘good shrub rose for beginners’. Well, not only is it discontinued by DA (not necessarily a reflection of how good or otherwise a rose is, admittedly) but does anyone successfully grow this rose without support? I would think there are far easier and healthier roses for a beginner to grow, what do you all think?
The two cuttings that are now two years old and have just planted in the ground have flowered. Not only are they NOT the roses I thought I had taken cuttings from, but I don't remember taking any from this rose! The buds came out yellow with red edges, so I thought Celebration, no, they have opened to reveal Sheila's Perfumed!🤦♀️🤣
@WAMS I see your white rose on BfY, I had some last year for the first time.
The flowers, unfortunately, don’t last very long, just a few days, and petals do get fried on the full sun.
I too, noticed small white buds on my BfY yesterday, the first I've seen on this rose.
Isaphan
Eglantine
Silver Jubilee
Strawberry Hill, first bloom
Claire Austin
@purplerallim
A pleasant surprise, I think it's always nice when that happens..
I think the RHS website is worse than useless... I still go there occasionally but it's the last resort...
As far as roses are concerned, I rarely take a lot of notice of these RHS experts/garden designers.. in my opinion, they are not true rosarians.. we've lost most of those..
As for 'Graham Thomas'.. well it used to be a shrub.. I've probably shown these photos before, from circa 1990, when it was still well behaved and hadn't turned itself into the climber type we know today.. although I admit, I do think it's quite a sensation when grown on a red brick wall..
..this faded photo is actually 'Graham Thomas'.. behind my lost beloved..
.. a better photo at the same time.. as you can see on the left.. incidentally, you may notice a red rose top of photo, centre in the background.. that's 'Marie Nabonnand', which was sold to me then under the wrong i.d. of 'Monsieur Tillier'..