Does Anyone Grow Austin's Potter and Moore?

13 years ago

I ordered this rose on the basis of a pretty picture on the Rogue Valley web site and would love to know a little more about it, since a pretty face does not always a good garden plant make. I'm assuming it's one of the smaller ones (or at least hoping it is) and also hoping it does well in a hot and dry climate. Thank you for any information you can give me.

Ingrid

Featured Answer

john_ca

13 years ago

Ingrid,

I rooted a cutting of Potter and Moore and grew it in my garden a number of years ago. It grew as a rather short (3 feet or so) well-branched tidy plant that had an average reblooming cycle. I did not have disease problems with it, but few roses suffered from any diseases in my non-spray garden. I also rooted a cutting for a friend and it did well in her garden as well.

I think that this is one of the many releases from David Austin that was not promoted very much (or patented) that are very good. I had a collection of these unknown gems in my garden when I lived in the Santa Clara Valley. I think that his breeding program is so diverse and productive that it produces perhaps too many roses each year that can be effectively marketed and promoted; consequently there are many treasures that have slipped between the cracks over many years. Some others in that I enjoyed but have fallen into obscurity are Cressida, English Garden, and Bredon. I find it very satisfying to find these hidden treasures and include them in my garden.

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Comments (6)

mendocino_rose
13 years ago
I love Potter and Moore. My climate is a little cooler than yours. Here it is one of the freer blooming roses in the summer. It's also a nicely formed shrub and not too big. Mine is own root. I hope you are as happy with it as I am.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
Original Author
13 years ago
That sounds very promising Pam, thank you. It sounds as though it might do very well for me, since I was looking for a pretty smaller rose with a nice shape (who isn't?)

Ingrid
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I'll be posting this on the Antique Rose forum also since this seems to be such a little-known rose, and I'd like to reach as many rose growers as possible. I really liked the picture posted on the Rogue Valley web site and decided to try a rose that's completely unknown to me. I'd feel more comfortable if someone who grows this rose could tell me about it, good points and bad. I presume it's not the very best rose since no one is singing its praises, but just maybe it might like my garden. Ingrid
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ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you for your input John. I also favor some of the less well-known Austins in my no-spray garden. Vintage at the moment has some available. I really like Queen Nefertiti, which I got from them earlier, and I see it's available again. It has really lovely blooms and seems happy in the heat. Cottage Garden is another rose I like which not too many people have or talk about any more. It also does well in the heat. I'll be getting Sophy's Rose in the fall, but I think that one is still more readily available. I was hoping that Potter and Moore would be a bloom machine, but the blooming cycle on HMFR was described as being merely good, not excellent. However, I don't think you ever really know until you try a rose in your own garden.

Ingrid
john_ca
13 years ago
Chablees Roses in Tyler, TX carries around 40 different Austin roses, including some of the forgotten ones; they have Cottage Rose, The Prince, Sophy's Rose, and Tradescent, all of which have done well for me in my garden. They are own rooted and come in 1 gallon pots. Two out of three pots have more than one plant in them (Ambridge Rose had one with FIVE plants in a one gallon pots, so I have an entire bed of this one) and are a bargain at $12-shipping to CA is around $4 per pot, so its $16 out the door, still a good price.

Another favorite vendor is Pickering Nurseries in Canada. Their roses are grafted on to seed-grown Rosa multiflora plants (almost a zero chance of rose mosaic virus). They carry around 80 or so Austins at $14 or less per plant (2009 price); they have some of the old forgotten gems, like Prospero. Shipping works out to be around $2-$3 per rose if you get a few. I have ordered some from the David Austin headquarters in Tyler, but the cost of the roses with the shipping and handling, was prohibitively high (unless you take advantage of some of their special group offers). I enjoyed the original William Shakespeare although it was declared to be inferior by the company and St. Cecilia, which is the most fragrant Austin of all in my garden. What are some of your favorite lesser known Austins?
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
Original Author
13 years ago
I really like Chamblee's and that's where I'm getting Sophy's Rose from. I had previously gotten Charles Darwin there, and I really prefer the Austins own-root. I had also planned on getting Anne Boleyn but changed my mind after hearing that it had rather fragile flowers that shattered quickly. Chamblee's is also where I got my two Cottage Rose bushes in 2006. They were among the very first roses I planted in this garden. Wife of Bath is another one of the older ones that blooms very well for me as a rather small plant that I bought as a band less than a year ago.

I've also ordered from David Austin in Tyler and found them to be very expensive. None of them lasted for me. The only one of the new ones I'm interested in at all is Young Lycidas. I've heard that Prospero is very good but was afraid a dark rose would fry here in the heat. One Austin that isn't really all that old but a favorite of mine is Sister Elizabeth. I just recently transplanted it from a very sunny spot to one with afternoon shade. It has a rich lavender pink color and is quite fragrant to my nose. Overall I can't profess to be a huge Austin fan but I do like some of the smaller ones. The ones with the octopus arms really are not by cup of tea, although I loved the beautiful flowers of Abraham Darby, which however did not love my heat.