Will the Comte de Chambord work for me?
Tiffany Marshall
9 years ago
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9 years agoKippy
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Comte de Chambord size
Comments (4)I'm near Toronto so our weather will be different ... However, for me it is larger than 3x2. Mine is 4 years old and around 5 x 3-4. The base isn't that wide though but this rose takes up more horizontal space because it sprawls. The canes are thinner and sort of tangle together a bit. So the top half of the rose is long, thinner canes that sort of go sideways (at least some of them do). I just plant lower plants underneath the sprawling canes in the air and let it do it's thing! I think it turns out nicely and the fragrance is wonderful. I agree that is balls in wet weather. Mine is very hardy here over the winter, barely any cane damage in the Spring ... but that might be very different than your winters? I underplant mine with daylilies, spring bulbs, salvia, dianthus ... all of which go well in a perennial bed anyways!...See MoreWhy can't I grow Comte de Chambord?
Comments (5)If you think it's your soil, and you're willing to try again, perhaps this will help. First, don't plant the band directly into your soil -- baby it from Spring in a pot. For potting soil, consider my modified "Mel's Mix" from Square Foot Gardening. The original mix was equal parts peat moss, vermiculite, and compost. I looked at this and broke it down to functional components -- 1/3 nutrient-poor organic base, 1/3 nutrient-poor inorganic base, 1/3 nutrient-rich organic base. My modification was using 2 parts peat moss, 1 part shredded mulch, 2 parts vermiculite, 1 part perlite, 2 parts Bovung dehydrated manure, 1 part used coffee grounds (I don't have any compost working here yet). Into this, I mixed 1 cup Jobe's Organic Knock-Out Rose Plant Food (or whatever organic dry mix you prefer) per 2-gal container. Once you see it starting to put out a good amount of new growth, feed it "weakly, weekly" with half-strength fish emulsion -- with seaweed, if you can find that kind of mix. Make sure the pot doesn't dry out, and keep it where it gets a good amount of sun until the heat of Summer arrives -- then move it to where it gets morning sun and afternoon "bright shade." When the main heat of Summer has passed, get ready to put it in the ground. If you have really bad clay, try to make a hole twice the size of the pot, and set the native soil aside. Make some more of the potting mix, and mix it about 50-50 with the native soil from the hole. Use this to backfill the hole after putting the rose in the ground. You'll have extra soil -- so use this to form a sort of "doughnut" around the newly planted rose to catch extra rain and irrigation. You can level it out with mulch on top -- you'll still have a sort of "pool" around the rose for catching extra water for its first year, being as the mulch will have more air space between the particles than the soil mix below. If you keep doing this sort of thing whenever you plant in the bed (be it for roses, perennials, annuals, etc.), you'll be putting pockets of better-draining soil into the ground, which will break up the clay faster than simply laying materials on top. Also, the vermiculite and perlite is inorganic, so it won't break down over time. It's still good to keep adding organics on top, and I'm noticing that in my bed, it is slowly making its way down into the native soil, but doing this will help a new baby band get going faster. :-) ~Christopher...See MoreYolande d’Aragon vs. Comte de Chambord
Comments (25)Vaporvac, my soil is loamy clay and pretty good even before amendments. We don't have heavy clay, but we're pretty alkaline. Part of the difference between Ohio and here may be rainfall. We're in the dry central prairies, not as dry as the farther west desert areas of course, but we need to be diligent about making sure roses are well hydrated going into the winter. Dave you're a zone warmer than I am and not quite as dry, so I think YdA has a good shot with you. I'm surprised by the zone 4 rating too but it definitely hasn't held true for me. Still, there are plenty of roses I'm "supposed" to be able to grow that I can't, and fortunately plenty more that aren't "supposed" to grow for me that do fine. That's part of the fun in this challenge I think. Cynthia...See MoreOpinions on comte de chambord rose
Comments (38)@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14) - CdC rebloomed a little more for me than GJ, although GJ received a little less sun. I’m surprised that DA’s catalog and website say ”best for flowering” - I did get 3 flushes each season but the 2nd and 3rd were fairly meager. Both have an amazing fragrance but I did prefer GJ a bit over CdC. The blooms lasted about as long - 3-4 days? I received tiny GJ’s in 2 quart pots from DA last fall for my new garden and was able to order CdC to ship this spring - I think they’re both worth growing IMO....See Morenastarana
9 years agoTiffany Marshall
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