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OLD & CLASSICAL ROSES

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  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Mine had got to about 4ft tall and wide but it hadn't finished growing. I think it gets to about 5 or 6 ft.

    I have a new rose, 3 in fact, from Meilland, Astronomia, big pale pink single flowers. I'm very pleased with them, but it isn't an old rose.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    Thank you for the recommendations everyone - I'll take a look. 
    Have to say I do love Kiftsgate but I don't have a suitable spot for such a big rose.
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I worked in a garden where there was an old cider apple tree. Kiftsgate covered the tree and then kept going.....
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Other plussses for Old Roses:

    History
    Sentiment
    Albas, blue-grey foliage
    For many, absence of  vicious thorns
    After July, I need a change
    Shrubs not spikey bushes.  Attractive out of season.
    Simple pruning
    Poor soil, shade.

     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited June 2023

    My complcata has black spot.  It might have to go.


    At a young age mine grew stems up to 8 ft.  Now they bend over and outwards. 10 ft if supported would be no problem.  And that's in poorest of poor Surrey sand with ivy groundcover running aroung its feet, no fertiliser or mulch and, as you can see, no shortage of other competition.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @bede I think we have to be accepting of black spot on roses. I mentioned on another thread that even the new resistant roses can be affected over time as the disease mutates.
    I agree roses are enjoyed for their sentimemt.
    As a child we had R Ena Harkness in our garden. I can remember the scent to this day.

    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    GardenerSuze said:
    @bede I think we have to be accepting of black spot on roses. I mentioned on another thread that even the new resistant roses can be affected over time as the disease mutates.
    I agree roses are enjoyed for their sentimemt.
    As a child we had R Ena Harkness in our garden. I can remember the scent to this day.


    Suze,  I am rather ashamed of my "sentiment".  It's a plus, but It's not me-the-scientist!  Perhaps "memory" is a better word.

    I also thought but deliberately didn't add "disease-free" to my list of plusses.  My albas and gallicas are untreated and disease free.  A touch of mildew last year on the gallicas. Many species are completely disease free, whilst the newer David Austen's and look-alikes claim it, the freedom doesn't last.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I have never known Alba Roses suffer from black spot but I might stand corrected.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Albas are not far removed from Rosa canina, our wild native.  Have you ever seen black spot on these?  I have tried to encourage wild rose in my garden, but so far the local ones all seem to be white - I am seeking pink.

    Much as I like white, I have enough.   

    A long walk down a very narrow garden, I come across this: It came with the garden, I call it Rambling Rector.


    Close up Rambling Rector.


    I once spent almost an hour at Chartwell (NT and Churchill), walking back and forth the 20m between 'Rambling Rector' and 'Seagull' trying to differentiate them.  I could see differences but none that might not have been due just to local soil/microclimate.

    The last time I looked, Peter Beales only stocked one, David Austin, two. 



     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @punkdoc Just found an old post Black Spot???? Someone had just received a rose from D Austin with black spot. @Marlorena seemed unconcerned. I think many rose growers just accept it, they don't get a choice.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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