I have planted 3 new David Austin roses this year, Grace, Sceptered Isle and Desdemona. They have beautiful tightly packed blooms but the stems are so thin the blooms just hang. How and when do I prune them to get thicker and taller stems.
'Sally Holmes'.. 'Wild Rover'.. 'Champagne Moment'.. recovering after a move.. 'Wilhelm'.. like so many hybrid musks, puts on a great show in late summer.. 'Sweet Siluetta'.. I'm already fond of this mini rambler.. 'Mrs. John Laing'... an old Hybrid Perpetual that is more like an old Hybrid Tea.. the breeder was known for his early HT introductions along with this one.. Sidalcea candida... Crocosmia 'Carmine Brilliant'..
@Vh72 Impossible to say with any certainty... I might have guessed 'Alec's Red' but that wasn't introduced until 1970, so maybe too late... in the 60's 'E.H. Morse' was popular, a red hybrid tea.. in the 50's there were quite a few, looking at old catalogues of the time.. one would need to know the year the rose was bought, if only to rule others out..
@Marlorena my dad doesn't know how long his grandad had it. Be interesting to know what it is but I understand how difficult rose identification can be.
@joella.cottingham, l came in to have a look at the photos and saw your query.
I think it might have something to do with DA roses being "designed" to grow more as shrubs, ie not heavily pruned each year. I'm sure l read that somewhere. I have "Bring me Sunshine" and "Sir John Betjeman" and the flowers are floppy but they were only planted this year, so l'm not too concerned.
I'm sure @Marlorena or someone on this thread can confirm, in the meantime l found this old thread
@joella.cottingham Most of DA roses have thin whippy octopus canes in the first year. Some of these canes will thicken if you do the regular winter pruning. Queen of Sweden, Darcey Bussell and Charlotte are the upright DA roses in my garden.
Oxford. The City of Dreaming Spires.
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils (roses). Taking a bit of liberty with Wordsworth
@joella.cottingham from what I’ve seen with my DAs and also read on here, DA roses take a while — maybe three or so years? — to get to their full potential and create thicker stems. Some do always tend to have weak necks because they’ve been bred to produce such large flowers, but it should improve over time.
I think everyone does pruning a little differently. Apologies if you already know all this but thought I’d share how I do mine. I have Vanessa Bell, Olivia Rose Austin and Roald Dahl, and here’s what I do with them:
1. In late December I cut off all leaves that remain on the roses and pick every leaf up from the ground/pot, so as not to leave them lying on the ground to be a source of blackspot/disease.
The usual things apply: to remove dead brown canes, diseased canes, very thin canes, canes that cross each other, canes growing toward the centre of the plant.
In the first year, I cut the canes down to a foot high. Now I tend to end up with how the “moderate” example looks below (about half the height of the plant), with about three or four of only the strongest, thickest canes left sticking outwards — as if you could rest a large ball in the centre of the plant.
I’m in Cambridgeshire so winters are generally mild and late February works for me in terms of timing. Basically I prune when it feels like winter temperatures are about to start rising. Sometimes there are already red swollen buds on the stems.
3. After pruning, I scatter some rose food (with micronutrients, such as Empathy or the DA rose food) around the base of each rose and mulch deeply with manure compost.
I only have a few roses so I do try to take the time to follow the typical pruning approach below, but it seems it’s fine not to stress too much about where and how to make cuts. I must admit that I can’t tell very well early on in the year where the outward facing buds are!
Posts
'Wild Rover'..
'Champagne Moment'.. recovering after a move..
'Wilhelm'.. like so many hybrid musks, puts on a great show in late summer..
'Sweet Siluetta'.. I'm already fond of this mini rambler..
'Mrs. John Laing'... an old Hybrid Perpetual that is more like an old Hybrid Tea.. the breeder was known for his early HT introductions along with this one..
Sidalcea candida...
Crocosmia 'Carmine Brilliant'..
Impossible to say with any certainty... I might have guessed 'Alec's Red' but that wasn't introduced until 1970, so maybe too late... in the 60's 'E.H. Morse' was popular, a red hybrid tea.. in the 50's there were quite a few, looking at old catalogues of the time.. one would need to know the year the rose was bought, if only to rule others out..
PAoK
Chandos B. Nothing I have so far rivals it for scent..........
Spartacus vs largest PAoK bloom.....
With disbudding this and Show N Tell are pushing 30cm......
@salo.daria I got Scepterd' I this year (Marlorena's recommendation) and I too find this rose incredible.
Does anyone have Queen of Denmark? It is growing fast with long canes so wondered if it would do well going up an obelisk?
I think it might have something to do with DA roses being "designed" to grow more as shrubs, ie not heavily pruned each year. I'm sure l read that somewhere.
I have "Bring me Sunshine" and "Sir John Betjeman" and the flowers are floppy but they were only planted this year, so l'm not too concerned.
I'm sure @Marlorena or someone on this thread can confirm, in the meantime l found this old thread
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1001384/davidaustin-roses-floppy-shrub-roses
I think everyone does pruning a little differently. Apologies if you already know all this but thought I’d share how I do mine. I have Vanessa Bell, Olivia Rose Austin and Roald Dahl, and here’s what I do with them:
1. In late December I cut off all leaves that remain on the roses and pick every leaf up from the ground/pot, so as not to leave them lying on the ground to be a source of blackspot/disease.
2. In late February, I prune them; generally following the DA website advice: https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/blogs/news/pruning-an-english-shrub-rose
The usual things apply: to remove dead brown canes, diseased canes, very thin canes, canes that cross each other, canes growing toward the centre of the plant.
I’m in Cambridgeshire so winters are generally mild and late February works for me in terms of timing. Basically I prune when it feels like winter temperatures are about to start rising. Sometimes there are already red swollen buds on the stems.
3. After pruning, I scatter some rose food (with micronutrients, such as Empathy or the DA rose food) around the base of each rose and mulch deeply with manure compost.