Not much here either, just a sprinkling... I put a tennis ball in my pond to stop it freezing totally and it worked ..
A bright rose for a dull day... 'Vanessa Bell'.. one of the nicer Austin's I think, away from all the pinks and reds.. ... about 4.5 x 4.5 feet at best, a nice rounded or triangular shrub, with no lanky canes so unsuitable for training as short climber, but continuous flowering if watered and fed once a week after first flush..
..still in full flush August.. ..very suitable for the cottage style garden I think..
In September I decided I wanted a yellow rose for my garden. Vanessa Bell was on the short list, but I ended up with The Country Parson as it was the only one available potted from Austins at the time.
Having seen the prickles on TCP (those initials make me laugh) I think I may have made the wrong choice. I didn't realise that feisty in rose grower speak meant covered in prickles!
I would say that I can't change it as my daughter bought it as a birthday present, but TBH she probably wouldn't notice if I put a monkey puzzle tree in instead!
Re. The Country Parson.. Such is the nature of that type of rose, but out of harms way, i.e. away from narrow paths etc. it's a stunning rose with continuous bloom performance, one of the best I know of in this respect. The yellow doesn't last long, more creamy white, citrus scented.. but like you say, difficult to handle..
Thanks @Marlorena, I'll see how it goes. One of the problems may be that there is a clematis behind it which will need pruning. However, the clematis is very resilient. I had a new fence this year and thought that I had lost it but it sprouted from underground and put on a good show. I could probably just grab it from the other side of the fence and give it a good yank to prune it if necessary.
Does anyone have a rose that reliably flowers in December and January in the UK? Or is it more to do with having a sheltered position and clement weather etc?
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Does anyone have a rose that reliably flowers in December and January in the UK? Or is it more to do with having a sheltered position and clement weather etc?
Jan Feb in the UK is too cold for roses to produce flowers. This is mainly because of low light levels and frosts. So no, no variety likely to flower. There are spring and early flowering varieties, some can flower in April semi-reliably in warmer parts of U.K.
@clematisdorset As for roses flowering in winter, well strangely there are one or two.. in fact I find Austin's usually produce some blooms especially 'Lady of Shalott' which never wants to give up and the flowers are of reasonable quality. It's all in the genes and how much they are influenced by China rose ancestry. One such is a peculiar rose called 'Bengal Crimson', which may have originated from southern China.. It's capable of flowering all year and will produce buds in December, which in warmer southern areas will open in January. On the south coast I had it in full flush smothered with blooms in mid January, -5C and covered in snow too.. if December is mild it will produce a mass of fresh buds.. but here in East Anglia it never managed to do this. I understand it flowers well in winter at Eccleston Square London, where there is a large bush of it. Shown here as a cutting in a pot, flowering in August..
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A bright rose for a dull day...
'Vanessa Bell'.. one of the nicer Austin's I think, away from all the pinks and reds..
... about 4.5 x 4.5 feet at best, a nice rounded or triangular shrub, with no lanky canes so unsuitable for training as short climber, but continuous flowering if watered and fed once a week after first flush..
..still in full flush August..
..very suitable for the cottage style garden I think..
In September I decided I wanted a yellow rose for my garden. Vanessa Bell was on the short list, but I ended up with The Country Parson as it was the only one available potted from Austins at the time.
Having seen the prickles on TCP (those initials make me laugh) I think I may have made the wrong choice. I didn't realise that feisty in rose grower speak meant covered in prickles!
I would say that I can't change it as my daughter bought it as a birthday present, but TBH she probably wouldn't notice if I put a monkey puzzle tree in instead!
Not especially thorny, no, just average I would say.. which makes a pleasant change..
As for roses flowering in winter, well strangely there are one or two.. in fact I find Austin's usually produce some blooms especially 'Lady of Shalott' which never wants to give up and the flowers are of reasonable quality.
It's all in the genes and how much they are influenced by China rose ancestry. One such is a peculiar rose called 'Bengal Crimson', which may have originated from southern China..
It's capable of flowering all year and will produce buds in December, which in warmer southern areas will open in January. On the south coast I had it in full flush smothered with blooms in mid January, -5C and covered in snow too.. if December is mild it will produce a mass of fresh buds.. but here in East Anglia it never managed to do this.
I understand it flowers well in winter at Eccleston Square London, where there is a large bush of it.
Shown here as a cutting in a pot, flowering in August..