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Pretty Jessica Available at Heirloom

ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9

10 years ago

This rose has been almost impossible to obtain in the U.S. lately but Heirloom Roses is offering it now.

Another Austin rose that's supposed to be extremely tough, drought-resistant, fragrant and tolerant of poor soil is Wild Edric, of which I recently acquired two bands. With the lack of rain in some areas this might be a good rose to keep in mind. It looks beautiful on HMF and, having rugosa heritage, should also be very resistant to disease. My bands have the cleanest and greenest foliage I've ever seen on a rose and I can't wait to see at least one bloom.

Heirloom is offering a large variety of Austins for those who are looking for some more varieties to add to their gardens. This nursery has new owners and I was very happy with their service and the roses they're offering.

Ingrid

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Comments (7)

Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
10 years ago
Hi Ingrid,

Thank you for the post. I am so gun shy with this rose, as I ordered it from Heirloom and/or Rogue last summer only to have the orders canceled.
Also, from Heirloom, PJ would be the one thing I have certainly sworn off, "a band".

Unless I view the rose as SPECIAL, which to me, Pretty Jessica is not , I am done babying those little things. I have three that remain from the summer that I am likely to gift.

Again, thank you for supplying this information for those of us who have been frantically searching for this rose.

Lynn
jacqueline9CA
10 years ago
Pretty Jessica - hmmm - I seem to recall that lots of folks love it and it does well in CA, but was discontinued? Tempting - does anyone have a photo of a BUSH of it they could post? All of the pics on HMF are just of blooms - drat!
Also, it looks very very double. Does anyone have experience with it where the Spring might be wet? Does it ball, is my question - roses that ball are so depressing/frustrating that I try to keep them out of my garden.

Jackie
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Pretty Jessica and Wild Edric Available Again
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Comments (6)
I love Rogue Valley, but I'll add that I got an email from Heirloom roses about some varieties being restocked. One of them is their version of Blush Noisette which they claim is thornless. Their picture of it is very pretty, too. I wonder how it compares to all the other BNs out there. Anybody here grow that particular one? I'm very tempted to try it, but higher on my trial list for this year are Madame DorÃÂ© and Basye's Blueberry.
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Comments (10)
Christianson"s nursery in Mount Vernon has it listed on their rose list. You might call them to see if they still have some in stock. I didn't see it on the Raft Island rose list or the Antique Rose farm list. Can't think of who else carries an extensive stock of Austins, but call around, you never know...
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Q
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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Pretty Jessica
Q
Comments (19)
Heirloom Roses offers PRETTY JESSICA, although they are currently out of stock. I've been very frustrated with the David Austin people over this rose. They claim it is weak. I disagree. It is one of the better short English Roses for the Eastern United States. The plant is fully hardy in zone 5, is vigorous on its own roots (something that can't be said for many roses), repeats well, and has drop dead gorgeous flowers that are sinfully fragrant. Yes the foliage will get black spot here in black spot hell but so does every other English Rose. I remember reading somewhere that David Austin considers Wife of Bath as his best short pink. Well I guess so if you can put up with the obnoxious myrrh fragrance. Among the Old Garden Roses take a look at Souvenir de la Malmaison and its deeper pink sport Capitaine Dyel de Graville. Here is a link that might be useful: Pretty Jessica at Heirloom Roses
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zaphod42
10 years ago
Here's my Pretty Jessica early last year. I started her as a band from Heirloom the previous spring. She had BS issues end of summer last year. Looked great early on, but there must have been a tough strain of BS that popped up in the latter half. (It hammered a number of my plants that don't normally succumb.) Here, she's looking good though.

{{gwi:222790}}
Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
10 years ago
PJ is a beauty that I hope to receive; I have been trying to acquire this Austin rose for 6 months! I have only seen one bush shot of P.J. and would like to see a bush image of Pretty Jessica too.
Jay Peterson
10 years ago
I got Pretty Jessica from Pickering in Canada the last year they carried it - it is really beautiful. If you do an image search at google for Pretty Jessica, you will come up with bush photos, some of which had been posted to these forums.
It is small in stature and is a bloom machine
zone6-nj
10 years ago
WAS offering it.. No longer available! This rose is like gold nowadays. Luckily I bought 2 a few days ago before it ran out of stock. Is this rose known to be a slow grower? If so, is the fact that I'm getting it band size mean it won't get close to a decent size for like five years? Lol

Drew
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
Original Author
10 years ago
Drew, I can't speak for your zone, but here it's already a respectable size in its second year and had a few blooms the first year. I'm looking forward to a nice spring flush this year.

Ingrid

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