Crop rotation - I like that, especially since I'm going in that direction myself. My Enchantress is like yours, very underwhelming, and she'd better pull herself up by her bootstraps. Yves Piaget was a complete non-starter this year, with small flowers that shriveled almost immediately, a far cry from the first year I had him. My plan is to put the Austin The Dark Lady in his place and hope for the past. My Mme. Lambard reminds me of your Niles Cochet, minus the first flower. I decided to replace her with the more dependable Mrs. B.R. Cant.

I hope your new Austins will wow the socks off you. Being the possessor of a practically 0 humidity garden I can't give you any usable advice but do want to cheer you on. I strongly suspect, Sherry, that you and I would be bored out of our skulls if we couldn't inject some new blood into the garden scheme once in a while. All for a good cause too, to keep the specialist nurseries going. Just a win-win situation all around.

Ingrid

Even proof-reading doesn't work any more. Of course I meant "to hope for the best". Hoping for the best doesn't seem to work any more as I stagger off toward the "golden years".

Ingrid

Wow Sherry, it sounds like you've given this a lot of thought :) I'm just going to consider your garden my test garden and lazily wait for you to tell me what flowers work in our climate.

My Austin rose knowledge is limited because as you know they are not so easy to find around here. A few years ago I tried Teasing Georgia on Fortuniana. It had beautiful blooms, but developed long octopus canes with tons of blackspot. The kind that creates tiny dots on nearly every leaf, but the leaft doesn't fall off. I got rid of her.

A few months ago I got Heritage and Abraham Darby on Fortuniana. Heritage is having problems with some pest. Maybe rose midge? It is something I haven't seen before. I can really say anything about it yet. Abraham Darby is doing well, no blackspot yet. It has two new buds on it. It is in a very good location with morning sun only and excellent air flow.

I also got an Alnwick rose at the Heirloom sale. I'll let you know how it does.

Sophy's Rose is resistant unless you have the strain of blackspot that defoliates it within one growth cycle ;) Sorry to say Graham Thomas gets lots of blackspot and cercospora in my area. Teasing Georgia and Tess of the d'Urbervilles do pretty well. I've watched a plant of The Generous Gardener that has been BS-free for several years with no spray.

Ingrid, I hate to differ, but the "injection of new blood" in my garden is totally unplanned and would be resisted if anyone suggested that I do it. I love the status quo (works great for me now that I'm in my "declining" golden years.) I would almost kill for a static garden that was verging on the perfect, but reality bites and whims strike. That's where the new blood comes from - totally accidental, without thought and even resisted. This purchase was a real shocker for me since I thought I was done. I guess I'm an impulsive gardener at heart. I feel some guilt and haven't informed DH yet, but I did the deed. I am glad to have donated to "the cause".

Oh, Amberroses, I was looking at The Alnwick Rose. I hope she does really well for you. Keep me posted. I stay away from Fortuniana budded roses. I just hate the way Mrs B R Cant is so thick and bulky (perhaps she's naturally a thick and bulky rose??). I'm glad your Abe is healthy. You're more than welcome to tag along as I test things for you. LOL

Am I the only pioneer scouting out the Florida rose frontier? I'm beginning to think that's my lot in life. I never would have thought. Definitely runs counter to my weenie personality!

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Thanks, Michael. I guess GH will stay in a pot until he proves himself.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry, I would like a job following you around and picking up your rosy discards. Since I'm maybe two hours south of you, perhaps they might perform differently here. Just kidding. I am always interested to read how things perform for you compared to my garden. Incidentally, Mrs. BRC grows much differently here own-root than on Fortuniana. I have one on Fortuniana, one own-root in the ground, and a couple in pots. Canes on the own-root plants are much smaller and the plants slower to develop. Up until recently, the blooms were a lighter color, but seem to have darkened with age of the bush.

Floridarosez9, thank you for confirming my thoughts about MBRC own-root vs Fort. I'm sure roses would/could/should perform differently for you. They perform differently in a friend's garden a half hour from here. I'd love to see photos of your bushes for comparison. The last discard was Mlle Franziska Kruger because she proliferated (had veggie centers) constantly and was a very "sticky" bush without much foliage. I just couldn't figure her out. I should have thought of sending her to you. Next time. Seriously.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I guess what I meant, Sherry, was that, although I want the big picture to remain the same, I do like making the small changes that will improve the overall beauty of the garden, i.e. replacing roses that are not doing well. The only part I dislike about that is waiting for the new bands to get big enough so that they make an impact and also allow me to see that they really are improvements on what I had before. If I had to do a major overhaul I'd probably curl up into a ball and give up.

Ingrid

Actually, Sherry, now that you mention it, the own-root Mrs. BRC is more sparsely folliaged than the Fortuniana bush. Same with my Mrs. Dudley Cross. They both also receive more afternoon shade than most of my roses, which may have something to do with sparseness of the folliage. They are both also relatively young.

Wow Sherry, it sounds like you've given this a lot of thought :) I'm just going to consider your garden my test garden and lazily wait for you to tell me what flowers work in our climate.

Exactly what I thought upon reading :-)

A few years ago I tried Teasing Georgia on Fortuniana. It had beautiful blooms, but developed long octopus canes with tons of blackspot. The kind that creates tiny dots on nearly every leaf, but the leaft doesn't fall off. I got rid of her.

:-( Sad. After seeing gorgeous photos of mature TG she was on my short list.
And since I am south of you (if you are 2 hrs. S of Sherry I'm 1 hr S of you) that is bad news indeed.

My only DA is Abraham Darby (on Fort.) and what a gem he is. Today just 2 months after buying and planting he has 10 blooms and 5 buds. No other rose in the garden comes close in flower-power except Napoleon. Who wouldn't want more roses like this?

At the moment even giant sale cannot tempt me to plant more roses. Too hot and vacation looms which threatens me to reduce the pot ghetto to zero.
And I think I am convinced that I need Fort. grafts for future roses.

Sherry, I await your verdict next year on your new purchases. And photos, we need photos always.

Denise

Most Austins have not been happy here in Tulsa - no spray, but Lilian Austin and Cottage Rose have been very happy. Cottage Rose is quite old, but very reliable (except for this year when the weather has been so eratic.)

Sammy

here in the northwest, without spraying (and I don't) I rarely get a year without some blackspot.

However, one that came with the house that I beleive to be Golden Celebration has been a real champ. My sister has had success with Jude the Obscure

I just got Tea Clipper (yes, from Heirloom) but too early to tell on it yet.

Glamis Castle was a complete disaster.

Sammy, I was glad to see you mention Cottage Rose. It's been a very good rose for me with practically no disease and I think the flowers are quite pretty. It's also easy to keep trimmed and does quite well in the heat.

Vissara, I tossed Glamis Castle. It's a viciously thorny beast with no redeeming qualities that I could find.

Ingrid

Ingrid, your efforts to fine tune your garden really pay off. When I began, I desperately wanted the bushes to be big and didn't want to make changes that would slow that down unless I absolutely had to. And now they're big, so it will look silly to stick a band out there among them. I'm thinking I will keep them in pots until early next spring partly as a test ground and partly to let them gain some size.

Well, Floridarosez and Denise, I could be totally wrong about the Fortuniana, but for my garden it's too late to worry about it. The own-roots have done fine here, but I can see how Fort would be more crucial farther south. MBRC on fort is now 4+ years old and is finally well foliated. The leaves are thicker than other teas, dark green and never get old, yellow & BS'd. In the summer now she is in dead shade all day. I thought about taking her out and replacing her with an azalea or something, but what the heck. She is a fine evergreen bush with occasional big beautiful deep raspberry flowers. In the winter she'll get more sun, and she's very winter hardy. Of course, there will be photos, duh. :))

Denise, Abe sounds wonderful, but I know he's BIG which doesn't fit my garden. I really hope he continues well for you. I'm glad he's blooming already. I wish my Napoleon had some flower power.

Sammy, I take it that it's humid in Tulsa? I'm glad to hear about Lilian Austin. I'll have to keep The Cottage Rose in mind. And I don't know if I've ever seen her. Ew, HMF says she's susceptible to blackspot.

Vissara, I hope Tea Clipper does well for you. I think GC must prefer cool winters (just a guess) because it does well in GA & AL which means it can take the heat. Austin's breeding is always a question mark for me - how much old European rose blood do they have, and I don't have answers for that question. I noticed a few have the tea fragrance. Does that mean they have Tea blood? I think that makes a big difference in this sub-tropical climate - the combo of heat and not much winter.

I read once that glossy leaves indicate BS resistance. Anybody know if there's any truth to that? I also check to see if anyone in Florida grows them.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I could be totally wrong about the Fortuniana, but for my garden it's too late to worry about it.

Sherry

Your roses may not need Fort. because you keep them watered. I live in an arid place and cannot water enough when drought is on. The OGR's survive fine but I believe Fortuniana roots will allow less hardy roses to prosper.

This summer has been wonderful, rain finally. Reminds me of my childhood in Florida, rain, sunshine, rain, sunshine. Yesterday and today have been two-fers, two good drenches per day. Woohoo.

Denise

We missed out on rain yesterday and today after having a little over an inch since last Sunday in my garden. Three cheers for your rain!! It's a wonderful thing.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry, I live in Pearland, TX a neighbouring city of Houston. Its very humid here as we are very close to the gulf coast. I have bought some DA's this year. My first ones. I have to mention that I am reasonably new to gardening but these are my experiences. I got Abraham Darby, Pat Austin, Jude the Obscure, Heritage, Molineux, Mayflower, Golden celebration. They have taken of very well but the best so far is Molineux. The heat is not bothering it at all. So far, not seeing any thrips, blackspot or fungus on it(cross my fingers) but then again this is my first year. I posted some pictures in the gallery with the title July Blooms if you want to check out the molineux.

Sherry,

I just picked up David Austin's book at the library and it lists info about each rose in more detail. Here is a short blip about each of your new ones.

Mary Rose: It was one of the first popular English roses. It is a medium sized twiggy shrub and produces flowers with "more than usual continuity." Light fragrance, but much stronger in warm climates (Yes!.) It has some rosa rugosa in it and a tendency to sport. Good disease resistance. It is in Austin's old rose hybrid category.

Graham Thomas: Great famous scent. Growth is a bit too upright, so benefits from planting in groups of 3 or more or can be used as a climber. Attractive foliage of pale green. It is in Austin's english musk category.

Hyde Hall:It is stands alone as an English rose, but fits best in Austin's old rose hybrid category. It forms a very large shrub and has an exceptional ability to repeat flower. Austin is impressed by the combo of size and repeat flowering. Medium sized flowers with simple beauty. Excellence lies in its effect as a shrub rather than in the individual flowers. Very healthy. Light scent.

St Swithun: Its from crossing a noisette with an Austin old rose hybrid. Can be a tall climber. Strong myrrh fragrance. Can also be grown as a shrub.

Mr. Austin doesn't really know how they will do in our exact climate though. It is fun to try new things.

ibheri, glad your Austins are good so far. Yours and my climates are probably pretty similar since we're on the same latitude and humid. Keep us posted about their progress, and I'll do the same. Mine have been shipped!

Amber, thanks so much for doing my research for me! GT's being "a bit too upright" is a surprise, but I think I have a good spot for him. I was assuming being a climber his long canes would flop over, but I guess not. I can see another thread or two coming re how folks grow these roses.

I'd sure like to see bush shots of these roses. Hint, hint.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry, here the actual quote:

"The growth is perhaps less than perfect, being rather upright and unshapely, but this problem can be overcome by planting it in groups of three or more" ... 'Graham Thomas' is rather better as a climber than as a shrub; in fact it is one of the best English climbing roses."

I think he is saying it is too upright to make a nice shrub unless you plant three or else just grow it as a climber.

Incidentally, you should NOT get that book at your library unless you want a serious flare up of your rose addiction. It has glossy color photos of each rose. Sigh....

Yes, I can imagine. His catalogs are way over the top and ought to come with bibs. I drool all over myself.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...