Looking for some advice here. I was clearing away part of the border that looks onto the new Rainbow Border. It has a touch of the dreaded couch grass, so the Azelea and the Hebe have been lifted, roots washed out, potted up and put into quarantine.
I'm going to wait till I have weedkiller out the couch grass before replanting. But it looks ideal for a rose right in the middle. It is right next to our seating area and so fragrance is top of the wish list - I do prefer myrrh and old rose to the fruitier ones.
Any suggestions for a good scented rose that repeat flowers well (or is continuous). Nothing too tall as we do not want to obscure the Rainbow - 3-4 feet is fine. Soil is good loam and ever so slightly acidic. This position is South facing in full sun and very sheltered, but has a habit of being a frost pocket in the depths of winter.
To the left is a lovely purple weeping Acer (we call this the Acer Border) and to the right are three small Festuca Glaucas
Colourwise we are thinking white to light/mid pink.
We are thinking on the following potentials:
Desdemona Sceptre'd Isle Princess Alexandra of Kent
Not totally set on it being a DA rose so other suggestions welcome.
Also, sorry for being so demanding, any suggestions of companion plants to go round the rose would be good as I prefer mixed planted borders to a rose bed i.e. alliums, geraniums etc - but not lavender, as it always dies in our winters.
No small ask, but if anyone can suggest a suitable rose, it's you lovely peeps.
p.s. do not worry @Marlorena I will be edging the grass!
Poets wife, first bloom for a while, love the scent usually but can't smell anything on this one. Golden Beauty, had to take another pic of this. Double delight, the cheap one i bought which needed tlc after lack of nursery care, it's got about 10 buds. DD in the front garden second pic, beautiful flower. Peace recovering well In the pot. Dhalias planted at the back of border by mistake,will be moving for next year.
I think it was my fault re: Blue for You, @purplerallim... I didn't water it enough and didn't get around to planting it out from its little pot until a few weeks ago. It's still performing brilliantly.
@PeterAberdeen 'Scepter'd Isle' would be a good choice for you, better than the other two if you want strong myrrh scent.. I had it for some years and it was a top performer once established.. You might want to try some Phlox paniculata types as companions.. they flower for a long time from mid June, maybe late June for you.. until late Sept or October in some cases. You might also like Lythrum 'Dropmore Purple' for your border.. These are all very hardy plants..
..this is Phlox 'Sweet Summer Lilac'.. deliciously scented too.. ..this is Lythrum 'Dropmore Purple'.. very long season of flowering from a late start..
@PeterAberdeen - all three are great roses from what I have experienced. PAoK gives the most stunning and enormous blooms. I have only had Desdemona and Scep. I this year but very impressed with them thus far. Repeat is very quick and they have been very healthy. Scent is great on both but very different. Desdemona is old rose with some sweet notes whereas Scept. I is a very strong Myrrh fragrance which doesn't appeal to all as it is not very floral (but I like it). I would probably rank them; Desdemona, Scept. I then PAoK last just because I find the health to be quite poor at times and the repeat is much slower than the other two. Good luck whichever you decide.
Dark Desire has repeated well in terms of quality and number of blooms.
Despite it not being a bee friendly rose, this bumble bee loves Desdemona as much as I do. Out of all my new roses this is probably the best for me....
@PeterAberdeen 'Scepter'd Isle' would be a good choice for you, better than the other two if you want strong myrrh scent.. I had it for some years and it was a top performer once established..
Thank you, @Marlorena , over dinner this evening I had the DA catalogue open and offered Mum the choice and she also picked Scepter'd Isle. I particularly liked its height too.
Phlox Paniculata is a very interesting companion, and again scented - so this is a a prime contender. Was also thinking of small oriental / double lilies dotted in 3s behind to help build the scent further. Hope the vicar doesn't have asthma.
The Lythrum is Loosestrife, is it not - had horrid problems with Loosestrife before, but it was the yellow one, found it really invasive.
@PeterAberdeen - all three are great roses from what I have experienced. PAoK gives the most stunning and enormous blooms. I have only had Desdemona and Scep. I this year but very impressed with them thus far. Repeat is very quick and they have been very healthy. Scent is great on both but very different. Desdemona is old rose with some sweet notes whereas Scept. I is a very strong Myrrh fragrance which doesn't appeal to all as it is not very floral (but I like it). I would probably rank them; Desdemona, Scept. I then PAoK last just because I find the health to be quite poor at times and the repeat is much slower than the other two. Good luck whichever you decide.
Thanks @Alfie_ very interesting to hear your thoughts and great pictures of the bee in Desdemona. As a lover of Myrrh (I even distill it into one of our Gins and it gives a lovely floral taste of violets and roses!, I kid you not) I think we will go with the Sceptre's Isle.
However, I have identified a space for Desdemona on a raised bed, south facing next to the Rainbow Border. This raised bed is a pain at the moment as it is infested with Winter Aconites - which take over in early Spring and die back disgracefully. So they will be spaded next year and then I can get Desdemona in.
Everyone on this thread who has Desdemona and posted such wonderful pictures of her and speak so highly of her, has seduced me and it is on the list!
@WAMS look forward to Brendas Beauty and Happy Couple pics!
--------- Im off to the David austin gardens tomorrow! Penelope on list but wondering what else I will fall for and just have to have.... any rumours of discontinuation of any more I might like and want to grab before I cant?
Omg this is soooo hard. Got penelope, sadly fairly recent but has buds, then torn between PAOK, Desdemona and Noble anthony which i dont know. Anyone familiar?
Posts
I'm going to wait till I have weedkiller out the couch grass before replanting. But it looks ideal for a rose right in the middle. It is right next to our seating area and so fragrance is top of the wish list - I do prefer myrrh and old rose to the fruitier ones.
We are thinking on the following potentials:
Desdemona
Sceptre'd Isle
Princess Alexandra of Kent
Not totally set on it being a DA rose so other suggestions welcome.
p.s. do not worry @Marlorena I will be edging the grass!
Golden Beauty, had to take another pic of this.
Double delight, the cheap one i bought which needed tlc after lack of nursery care, it's got about 10 buds. DD in the front garden second pic, beautiful flower.
Peace recovering well In the pot.
Dhalias planted at the back of border by mistake,will be moving for next year.
@Vh72 how impressive is your Golden Beauty?
'Scepter'd Isle' would be a good choice for you, better than the other two if you want strong myrrh scent.. I had it for some years and it was a top performer once established..
You might want to try some Phlox paniculata types as companions.. they flower for a long time from mid June, maybe late June for you.. until late Sept or October in some cases.
You might also like Lythrum 'Dropmore Purple' for your border..
These are all very hardy plants..
..this is Phlox 'Sweet Summer Lilac'.. deliciously scented too..
..this is Lythrum 'Dropmore Purple'.. very long season of flowering from a late start..
..just something to think about..
Dark Desire has repeated well in terms of quality and number of blooms.
Despite it not being a bee friendly rose, this bumble bee loves Desdemona as much as I do. Out of all my new roses this is probably the best for me....
Huge tongue.......
Phlox Paniculata is a very interesting companion, and again scented - so this is a a prime contender. Was also thinking of small oriental / double lilies dotted in 3s behind to help build the scent further. Hope the vicar doesn't have asthma.
The Lythrum is Loosestrife, is it not - had horrid problems with Loosestrife before, but it was the yellow one, found it really invasive.
Thanks @Alfie_ very interesting to hear your thoughts and great pictures of the bee in Desdemona. As a lover of Myrrh (I even distill it into one of our Gins and it gives a lovely floral taste of violets and roses!, I kid you not) I think we will go with the Sceptre's Isle.
Everyone on this thread who has Desdemona and posted such wonderful pictures of her and speak so highly of her, has seduced me and it is on the list!
---------
Im off to the David austin gardens tomorrow! Penelope on list but wondering what else I will fall for and just have to have.... any rumours of discontinuation of any more I might like and want to grab before I cant?