'Pretty Jessica' - An ideal rose for Small Garden

14 years ago

Check this one out, if you have a small garden.

My favorite of the three David Austin English roses that I grow (and I like the other two very, very much).

This one has everything I look for in a rose for my small garden ... fragrance, health, mannerly growth, rich-yet-soft color that thrips don't bother, bloom size, form, & nearly thornless.

Randy

'Pretty Jessica'.

The first two pics taken yesterday, before the rain started last night.

The other four pics taken today in the non-stop drizzle.

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Featured Answer

Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN)

2 years ago

I found this rose at long ago roses!

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Comments (19)

zeffyrose
14 years ago
She is so pretty------I always check out which roses you have because I'm trying to only buy thornless---
Last year I asked my son for Queen of Denmark----I had no idea it had so many thorns----LOL but she is pretty---
gnabonnand
Original Author
14 years ago
Florence, that was good of your son to get you a 'Queen of Denmark'. I've heard that is a great looking rose. Alba's are rarely, if ever, seen around here, so I've not seen that one "in person".

Randy
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Ingrid, I want to say thank you for your advice several days ago on a separate thread. I'm a new gardener, and you were so thoughtful and helpful, like many others (including Carol). Just to offer a different perspective, I like this forum particularly because of all the differing opinions that harmoniously exist together. I read your posts with pleasure and enjoy the humor with which you express your pleasure and displeasure in your garden. If your posts were malicious or mean-spirited, then I might think criticism was called for. However, disliking red roses does no harm to anyone, and I find it quirky and funny. If we all censored ourselves all the time so as not to hurt others' feelings in however trivial a manner, no one would say anything at all. Forgive me for reviving the serious tone this post adopted at some point, but I felt compelled to give my humble opinion. I have a friend who always amazes me with her ability to express what I know to be a negative opinion about something in the most positive, non-hurtful, and usually funny way. I often wish more people expressed themselves this way, myself included. Please don't stop posting, and please continue to post as your unique and endearing self! That said, Pretty Jessica sounds like the perfect candidate for my tiny garden. Perhaps the upside to all this is that a rose trade recycling program can be started! One man's trash is another man's treasure.
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Oh wow! You got some nice roses!!! Going to Sam's is always dangerous for me. This year I went to get a big bag of fertilizer (which is awesome btw) and came back with 4 roses. Were people picking strawberries yet? I've had my Quadra for a couple of years now. It was purchased as a band so it started out really small. My only complaint about this rose is that it does take some time to really get going. I believe I've heard the same thing on these forums as well. Someone posted a goregous pic of Quadra trained up an arbor on Help Me Find. I think you'll really like this one. You should keep Fantin Latour. Of course the fact that I've had it on my wish list for years has nothing to do with it... But really, you got 3 absolutely outstanding once bloomers and 3 repeat bloomers. And if you go back down there you risk bringing home more roses. But if you do go look for Dakota's Song. It's one of my absolute favorites out of many, many roses in my garden. So much so that I now have 3. Helloooooo gorgeous.... Dakota's Song Here is a link that might be useful: Quadra on HMF
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Comments (33)
SHARIFA ASMA is a fantastic rose (IMHO David Austin's best pink) that can be grown over a wider climatic range, but her flowers do look different. Sharifa is lighter and the pink is warmer in tone. The flower form is also not as "tight". In my Mid-Atlantic garden AUSjess, which I've nicknamed "Free Jessica" because David Austin holds the rights ON THE NAME, has deeply cupped to globular flowers that are lilac to lavender on the outer petals, blushed a deeper cherry pink in the middle. I have Sharifa on the west side of my house, which is dominated by bright, Easter-egg-like pastels. FREE JESSICA is in a flower bed in the front (North-East), which has a cool color theme (lilac-pinks, lavender, blue, ivory, glistening white, and silvery gray). Sharifa is also a bigger rose in my Temperate zone 6b climate. In M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D. a well cared for Sharifa Asma is capable of reaching 4-5 feet in all directions. Don't believe me? Just ask Olga. She has pictures. FREE JESSICA stays put at approximately two feet. Paul, I'm sorry AUSjess was such a dog in your Pacific Northwest garden. For East-coast rosarians in zones 4/5/6, she is a very beautiful and much appreciated rose. In my garden her only fault is a propensity for blackspot, which IS controllable with spraying. Patrick
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blackcatgirl
14 years ago
Randy -I have those exact same bird statues! She's lovely and she does look like my RDV mystery. Who I looked carefully at and compared to my 6 month old Reine Victoria....pondered a bit...and thought with a similar name, I think my RDV is actually a vigorous Reine Victoria. It is NOT Pie IX, at all. So I have two Reine Victoria's now, I think. That's ok. She pegged great and is now sending up all manner of new canes.

Rained all day yesterday here, almost 2" at my house. Yay. Send more.
michaelg
14 years ago
I'm envious. My young Jess was completely defoliated by rabbits and then disturbed by a mole, so there's not a single bud for the first flush.
gnabonnand
Original Author
14 years ago
Patty, I really like those birds. We have 5 of them in the back patio planting areas and 3 in the front on a little bench.
Two Reine Victoria's is not a bad thing at all.
Sounds like we've both been blessed with a lot of rain lately. I need to mow the grass really badly.

Michael, sorry the critters are chomping on your little Jess. I'd be really ticked off about that :-)

Randy
oldblush
14 years ago
Those are some great pictures Randy. Hum, looks and sounds like the perfect rose!
michaelg
14 years ago
Well, with cool rain almost every day for three weeks, she may have balled anyway. But today she finally has a tiny bud.
carolfm
14 years ago
Mine is doing well too, Randy. She really is a pretty thing.

Carol
gnabonnand
Original Author
14 years ago
Hamp, I'm really pleased so far.

Michael, she's doesn't seem to be a "baller". It's been very rainly lately, and it hasn't fazed her blooms.

Carol ... Rose Unlimited too?
She's hard to find. I tried to get a second Jessica from Vintage. They were holding it for me until it got bigger, but they said it "perished", which is how I got 'Comtesse du Cayla' :-)

Randy
vanessa91
13 years ago
Purchased a PJessica from Herritage nursery would like to know if it can be grown in a 19"terracota pot or needs a larger pot size? Your advice is greatly appreciated.
User
13 years ago
Can't wait she is way behind everyone this year all the other roses have completed the first flush and pretty jessica just has buds now. She is a great litel rose detractors aside for a small garden. Another little gem that I hace to get for a small garden is Sister ELizabeth.
kstrong
13 years ago
Just noticed that Pretty Jessica is included in the "final sale of the season" at Heirloom. If any of you are still looking for it, this is as good a price as you will ever see, most probably. $12.95 plus shipping. No minimum order.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pretty Jessica on sale
Molineux
13 years ago
I love PRETTY JESSICA very much. This petite beauty belongs in the front of a flower bed or gracing a big, fancy pot. Mine has topped out at perhaps 2 feet, which is just fine with me. She has everything that I'm looking for: beautiful color (lilac outer petals blushed rich cherry pink in the middle), perfect OGR flower form, good strong stems, long vase life, intense fragrance, reliable repeat bloom, and nice shapely shrub. Her only fault is that the foliage needs some spraying, but by no means is she a blackspot disaster. Mine has lovely foliage and I only spray her about once every three weeks.

Practically perfect in every way. At least in my Maryland zone 6b climate.
htracyn79 PNW-8B
3 years ago
I happened to see Pretty Jessica rose here and I am totally in love with it. I tried to contact a couple nurseries which used to carry it. However, they all said they don’t offer this rose anymore :( Is anyone interested in exchanging cuttings with me? Thanks so much.
Tony Kopari Z4b So MN
2 years ago
Hi htracyn79!

I have two Pretty Jessica plants, but they are taking forever to get established.....go figure Z4b MN. If they take off this year I would be willing to share or trade cuttings. I have a few other people who have been waiting for cuttings from me also, though. Message me and we'll set up a trade if my plants are cooperative.

Tony
htracyn79 PNW-8B
2 years ago
@Tony Kopari Z4b So MN thanks Tony. After searching for a while, I finally have Pretty Jessica now. My plants are small now, hopefully they will take off soon.
Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN)
2 years ago
Where did you end up buying her from if you don’t mind me asking?
htracyn79 PNW-8B
2 years ago
I traded it with another rose lover on Facebook.

'Pretty Jessica' - An ideal rose for Small Garden

Sarena Altman (7a Middle TN)

Comments (19)

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'Pretty Jessica' - An ideal rose for Small Garden

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