Earthkind Rose of the Year: Mme. Antoine Mari

15 years ago

I was tickled pink to see a rose that I've loved since seeing it in Luannes garden in Richmond.

"Mme. Antoine Mari" has not only made it onto the Earthkind list, but has been designated as its' Rose of the Year for 2008.

There are only 17 roses that have received this designation and they are grown for years under harsh conditions in Texas.

They were grown own-root, and though they were mulched,

-the soil had no amendments dug in and no fertilizers or sprays, either fungicidal or insecticidal, were used during the years of the trial period.

- in the first trials in the 1990s, after the first year they were planted, the original 11 cultivars of trial rosebushes receive NO suplemental water, and survived 67 continuous days of drought, in Texas.

Earthkind roses include: "Perle d'Or", "Marie Daly" Climbing "Pinkie", and "New Dawn"

-Presently there are ongoing trials done by volunteers in their home gardens, and "Lamarque" is now being studied, as well as "Reve d'Or". Well, I'm excited about this.

Earthkind roses are a great boon, for gardeners who have similar climatic conditions to the Texas rose trial gardens.

Lux.

My one caveat concerning Earthkind roses, is that they were tested in one climate only. In cool coastal regions, where powdery mildew is a common problem, two roses that won the Earthkind designation "Ducher" and "Georgetown Tea"

defoliated by 85%, and 70%, in my organic garden near San Francisco, California, and with so few leaves, a rosebush cannot photosynthesize well, or produce roses.

Featured Answer

rosefolly

15 years ago

To their credit, I don't think the Earthkind people make any claims for the performance of their roses in climates different from their own. One of their earliest selections, Belinda's Dream, does abysmally here for me. But that is not their fault.

It is a fine idea to have regional lists. I am pleased to learn about the Valley Stars program. I understand that there is a group working in Pennsylvania to figure out a similar list. I'm sorry to say that I forget who they are. No doubt there are others.

It is unfortunate that here in the west climate is so variable over a just few miles that "region" is not as useful as it might be. I am a little over 100 miles from UC Davis in the Central Valley but my climate is quite different due to a mild marine influence and the presence of the foothills. The rose selections would not be the same. Good friends who garden about 60 miles from me report that different roses do well in their gardens than in mine. In fact, different roses do well in their two gardens, and they are only about 10 miles apart!

This is not to deny that such programs are valuable, and useful as a good starting point in rose selection. I have been willing to audition a number of roses in my garden and select for keeping those that did well for me here (and also that I liked). The rest I gave away -- or if they were very bad, tossed. The average gardener would not be willing to do that.

It has been a long and enjoyable experiment. I buy one or two or maybe three roses a year now, and sometimes none.

(Lately I've been planting fruit trees.)

Rosefolly

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Comments (12)

sherryocala
15 years ago
Well, Mme Antoine Mari doesn't seem to mind humidity either. I planted her in May, I think, and she's got a nice round shape like a mound and flushes all over! I think I'm really going to love her.

Sherry
jerijen
15 years ago
Lux mentions my only problem with the Earthkind program (which in general I admire).
They test for only their conditions.
The business of no supplemental water won't work in our part of the country,
or the desert areas, where pretty much ALL water is "supplemental."
But it's a great start!

(I think U.C. Davis tests for the Central Valley area, and designates "Valley Stars.")

Jeri
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Hi, Jo - Haven't heard from you for a while. Glad to see you posting here, but sorry that you're having a problem with one of my favorite roses. Some roses outgrow the balling problem. Only laziness kept me from taking out Souv de la Malmaison, which finally stopped balling after it was at least six years old. Definitely avoid the Cochet roses. Those big egg-shaped blooms will ball and rot for you, I'm afraid. I think it's likely that Mons Tillier would do ok for you. I share Jeri's thought that Lady Hillingdon might be good. Le Vesuve might be ok, too. Comtesse du Cayla, which sometimes seems like a tea to me, and sometimes like a china, would probably love your climate. Definitely avoid anything that mildews, like Duchesse de Brabant and Mme Lombard. You don't get hot enough to drive the mildew to dormancy. Anita
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Hi, Laura - Hope you make it to the cemetery next Wed (Sep 3). I'll be up in Seattle for a week so won't be in the cemetery the following weekend or Sep 10. Yes, I can show you how new tea roses send up those alarmingly tall canes as they start to mature - there's a Mlle de Sombreuil at the front of the rose garden (next to the arch with Sombreuil) that is doing that right now. People come to me and ask, "Is that rose going to be a climber???" The answer is, no, it's just showing how tall the overall plant will be, once the rest of the growth catches up. Our Mme. Antoine Mari is relatively compact, though. It's up in the Broadway Bed in plot 9. Hope to see you next week. I'll be in the cemetery all morning tomorrow, too - Aug 30. Anita
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Anita - you know, I have been quite worried about that. I don't think any of my roses are getting enough sun. We moved into this apartment in July, and I could see that the sun situation was less than ideal: The balcony faces west, and therefore gets afternoon sun, which, in July, was a bit too much for some of these young plants. I moved the more sensitive ones at that time to a more filtered-sun spot. In fact, a relative gave me one of those "wheelie" things, and I keep moving ALL of the roses around, in search of perfect sun! (I suppose I should have had better sense than to buy even more roses to add to the ones that moved up here with me from Merced - I just couldn't help myself.) There are also trees -lovely huge things that give delicious cool greenery, but which also shade parts of the balcony. Of course, in another month they won't have any leaves. And fortunately, it's a LONG balcony. I think I need more wheelies. I've decided not to stress over it too much. By Spring, I should have a pretty good idea of where the sun hits (and when). If some of my roses are too unhappy, I will just have to find good homes for them. That would be sad, but it would be sadder to have them pine and die. I hope to be able to come and help out at the cemetery soon - my problem is the reverse of the roses'! There's still too much sun around for me - c'mon rain!!! Laura
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'Mrs. Oakley Fisher' does not get much mention, despite having one of the handsomest bushes of any hybrid tea (shapely, well-clothed, red stems) and being a good bloomer. Perhaps because it is a single? But the blooms are enchanting! And scented. (That's her in my icon to the left and another below). 'Souvenir de Pierre Notting' blooms are very full, yellow in cool weather and pink in warm weather. The photos below were taken during a very hot July, with many days over 100F, so it can also be noted that his heat resistance is superb. SdPN is a very nice tea, good bloomer, too. 'Mrs. Oakley Fisher', June 26, 2013: 'Souvenir de Pierre Notting', July 4, 2013 'Souvenir de Pierre Notting', July 29, 2013 (yes, still in bloom)
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olga_6b
15 years ago
In my part of the country (MD), Earthkind list roses are not so earthkind. Practically all of them will defoliate completely from BS if grown no spray. Each area ideally should have its own list of suitable easy roses. But this of course is not real, so the best way is to try to figure it out for yourself what is good in your area. This is also a lot of fun :)
Olga
carolfm
15 years ago
I agree with Olga, the Earthkinds aren't always so Earthkind here but I have had a lot of fun figuring out what works in my garden :-) I always say if a rose appeals to you, try it for yourself, it might do well in your garden. If it doesn't, there are always other roses that will. I do have a new MAM and I am anxious to see how she likes it here. Perle d'Or is fairly new here too but so far, so good.

Carol
duchesse_nalabama
15 years ago
My MAM is newly planted early this spring in my humid north Alabama yard, but she is growing well and has bloomed some lovely pink blooms. She's stayed clean so far, but it's early yet.
duchesse_nalabama
15 years ago
I agree with Olga and Carol - the fun really is in figuring out what will work in your own yard. There aren't any guarantees of anything, but it's nice to hear how others garden and what their results are. I love lists of roses that others grow successfully. I enjoy the forums for these reasons.

Otherwise I'd be talking to myself all the time.
gnabonnand
15 years ago
I'd say Madame Antoine Mari probably deserves that title. It's a winner, based upon the ones I've seen growing here.

The EarthKind Roses are all solid gold performers here. You can pick any from the list and they will thrive in this climate, when given reasonable care. Other areas of the country can voice their concerns about the list, but this was a very thorough testing process for our conditions, and those of us in this particular climate are very grateful beneficiaries of the research. The program might better be thought of as the Texas EarthKind list.

Randy
jerijen
15 years ago
The program might better be thought of as the Texas EarthKind list. Randy

*** You're right.
And U.C. Davis has its "Valley Star" List.
And it would be nice if other areas had similar programs, wouldn't it?

Jeri
gnabonnand
15 years ago
Yep, the trend has hopefully begun for other areas to develop their region-specific lists, with similar research.

Randy
Molineux
15 years ago
Sadly, only two repeating blooming roses (Darlow's Enigma and Knockout) can be grown completely no spray in Olga's part of Maryland without getting significant amounts of black spot. I've tried a couple of Earthkind Roses (Belinda's Dream and Marie Daly) in my MIL's garden, and each have been star performers. Yes they get black spot but the fungal disease hits later than with other roses (it didn't show up until July) and a single application of a fungicide is enough to check the disease for 3-4 weeks. Trust me, that is a truly rare thing here in Black Spot Hell. My MIL is thrilled with these two choices.

EARTHKIND is a wonderful program but I agree rosarians could greatly benefit from a national program conducted by universities and divided into regions.
oldblush
15 years ago
I'm very fortunate that we have an EarthKind test garden here in central Mississippi less than 20 miles from my home. I get to see how the roses are doing there before I conduct my own "trials" (LOL).
As to Madame Antoine Mari, it is a flawless (as far as flawless goes) rose in central MS, the black spot capital of the whole world I think. Not only is it clean but the growth habit is more civilized than some of the teas. Another plus, MAM is seemingly immune to thrips while the other light colored teas are covered with the little pests in the spring.
And did I mention she blooms almost constantly?

Earthkind Rose of the Year: Mme. Antoine Mari

rosefolly

Comments (12)

sherryocala

jerijen

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