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An Austin/shrub recommendation, please

15 years ago

Hi. I'm a little rusty and need to be enabled! : )

(I used to be quite the regular on these forums, but I started grad school 1.5 years ago and sadly can only pop in occassionally now.)

I have space for one rose and this rose must be spectacular as the space is prime.

Of course, it may be impossible to find a rose that meets all my criteria but ideally, this rose would be:

1. Fragrant - with a damask/rose scent - not a tea scent

2. Fairly BS resistant, although I do spray regularly

3. A full, upright shrub about 4x4 or 5x5

4. A deeper color in the deep pink/red/purple family, but please not yellow or coral

5. Good repeat is essential, too.

Aside from the fragrance requirement Knockout or Pink Knockout would work, but I'd like something else.

The rose would be in a hedge w/:

Lyda Rose (lavender/white)

X New rose here

Escapade (Lavender/pink)

Enchantresse (deep purple/orchid)

Cymbeline (dove gray/pink)

Thanks so much for your help!

Jennifer

Ps I ordered Red Radiance to go in the spot, but the band died over the winter (my fault) so I thought I'd see if others had recommendations before I reordered Red Radiance.

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Comments (9)

olga_6b
15 years ago
Earth Song will fill all your requirements in my opinion.
The only one that potentially can be problematic is 5x5 requrement. It is more like 6x6 to me.
Very good repeat
great fragrance
Good resistance (not more then 30% leaf loss)
Full upright shrub form
Olga
rosyjennifer
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for your suggestion, Olga. I checked HMF and it does indeed look perfect. I have several Buck roses: Distant Drums, Winter Sunset, Dorcas and one other I can't recall and I am happy w/ all.

Still interested in other suggestions...in case I can squeeze in another rose elsewhere!
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The shrubs suggested will all work fine in that location. While the statement "nothing really ever stops growing at some magical height ... " is more true than not with trees, it is not entirely accurate with shrubs. There are dozens of shrubs that will literally stop putting on any significant growth once they have reached their projected mature size and others that will continue to develop in height, attaining almost tree-like proportions. The ones listed all fit into the first category :-)) No direct sun is a different situation than full shade. Unless there is a wide overhang from the house or garage roof and no close by large trees casting shade, the north side of a structure typically offers bright but indirect light. That should increase your choices. I am going to take a wild guess from your screen name that you are located in Oklahoma? All I know about gardening in OK I've gathered by watching an old HGTV program, Gardening by the Yard, with Paul James. Paul lived and gardened in Tulsa and most of the show was filmed in his personal garden. IIRC, he could grow a very wide range of plants, almost what I could here in my warmer, northwest coastal climate. The only thing I don't recall clearly was soil pH -- not sure how well he could do the acid loving Ericaceous stuff like rhodies and azaleas or pieris. If available in local garden centers, then it must be okay! And if you are not located in OK, then ignore this :-) Other small shrubs you could consider are the above mentiooned evergreen azaleas, dwarf rhodies and pieris, Leucothoe 'Scarletta', 'Gold Mops' or 'Golden Charm' threadleaf cypress, Viburnum davidii, even some of the more compact hydrangeas, like the Endless Summer series. And if your planned boxwood is indeed 'Wintergreen', it is not a Buxus microphylla (Japanese boxwood) but Buxus sinica var. insularis, or Korean boxwood. The big difference as far as you are concerned is that Korean boxwood is hardier and also much more compact. Although relatively slow growing, Japanese boxwood can get big! btw, rejuvenation pruning is seldom applied to broadleaf evergreen shrubs - this is a technique that is most appropriate to deciduous flowering shrubs, especially "caning" shrubs or those that produce multiple stems from the root crown.
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jbfoodie
15 years ago
The first rose that came to mind when I read your criteria was Therese Bugnet. This rose has very unique leaves that look like other rugosas only softer. In contrast, the new growth is red and very striking against the forest green leaves. The blooms are pinkish-lavender and have a distinct damask scent when first opened. It is currently about 4 to 5 feet tall and I would expect with pruning, it could remain so.
roserobin_gw
15 years ago
I reccommend William Shakespeare 2000 if you want a deep colour with big fragrant blooms. The first year it was slow to establish, but this year (it's second in my garden) it is covered with amazing huge fragrant deep wine red blooms very lush and sensuous looking. I don't spray and it seems pretty healthy. About 4x4 so far in my garden.
rosyjennifer
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you all for your recommendations!
cannabisgrower
15 years ago
Benjamin Britten is a very special recent DA creation.
I've got one, and I even absent mindedly violated the patent by growing a few cuttings. It has a lovely fragrance intensely fruity with aspects of wine and pear drops, mainly red, with just a slight touch of orange, but to my eye it just looks red, but it is an unusual color. It seems to be quite healthy and I think it is one of his finer red roses - I really like it. Sativa.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
15 years ago
Bishop's Delight is a deeper pink, very fragrant Austin that doesn't have octopus arms and should fit your size criterion. Mine is still young but so far I like it quite a bit. Others have also given a favorable review of this rose.

Good luck with your final choice.

Ingrid
dublinbay z6 (KS)
15 years ago
I second William Shakespeare 2000--wonderful bloom. But you might also consider an Austin descendent bred by Clements called Braveheart--gorgeous red that never fades to purple like Shakespeare 2000. Braveheart is available at Heirloom Roses as a small band and at Roses Unlimited (where I got mine) in a much larger pot. If you use the search function above, you can probably find the pics of it that I posted several times before.

Kate
Krista_5NY
15 years ago
I love Bishop's Castle, outstanding fragrance and lovely dark pink blooms. It's fairly new to the garden, but shows signs of good repeating.

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