It did the same here and we have heavy clay soil.

Cath

Starve it: this slows its exuberance. Sometimes I wonder how many rose gardeners treat their plants to a life of luxury and then complain about the rampant results.
Melissa

I don't know about Belle, but I've tried the tough approach on other gallicas, and it hasn't particularly helped. Planted in unamended soil, no extra water or fertilizer, the things still tried taking over the world.

Belle de Crécy is the second worst offender of my gallicas, Charles de Mills is the very worst. I have very heavy clay soil but all roses in my gallica bed of ten varieties got good planting holes with amended soil only in the hole. Belle is everywhere among the well-behaved plants. I can keep it from the lawn by mowing but not from its neighbours. All gallicas are grafted.

The result can be seen in the picture from the north side of the gallica bed. Belle de Crécy was planted on the south side but has colonised the back of the border. Gallica leaves are so similar that I didn't spot the rampant Belle before it was too late. Beautiful but not so good for the original roses on that side.

It may sucker, but Graham Thomas singled it out as one of the cultivars that originally inspired his enthusiasm for old roses when he came upon it in 1940. Of "the exquisitely fragrant Gallica Rose 'Belle de Crecy", he wrote:

"This perfectly shaped old-world rose, in its extraordinary mixture of cerise, violet, and lilac grey, happened to be planted near to the incomparable white hybrid Damask Rose 'Madame Hardy.' I lost my heart to them during their first flowering week, and have found no better types among the old roses since. It was my first real appreciation of these exquisite floral creations." (Old Shrub Roses, p. 20.

Later he writes that it was
"One of my favorites among the Gallicas, in fact I consider it supreme for its soft parma violet colorings--supreme among all old roses--and for fragrance it is hard to beat." (p. 142).

High praise. I feel that anyone who has the space to grow and display it is doing something to benefit mankind.

This post was edited by monarda on Tue, Dec 10, 13 at 3:12

I grow mine grafted from Pickering and so far, going into its third year, it hasn't spread. I am watching warily, though, expecting that if it goes own root it will start spreading. The blooms are very beautiful.

Don't forget to check the foundation of your house LOL. If the kitchen floor slants, then you will know where the suckers are. I forgot to mention that Belle Crecy's suckers go down deep, not like Charles de Mills which you can see where he pops up.

A suggestion. Own-root Gallicas can be planted in the following manner to limit the uncontrolled spread of suckers: Purchase one of those large 32 gallon plastic garbage buckets (cheap Home Despot type, usually under $20), and cut the bottom out of it. Don't just punch holes - cut the whole bottom out. Discard the lid; you don't need that. Dig a hole large enough to accommodate the plastic bucket so that only 3 inches of it remains above the soil line. The idea is that you will bury the bucket and refill it with soil and then plant your rose in it, effectively creating a deep root barrier. Suckers don't generally travel more than a foot below the soil line, so with three feet of plastic barrier below ground, you are almost guaranteed to keep the rose restricted to a defined perimeter. It is a highly-recommended practice when dealing with certain varieties of Gallica! (Including the aforementioned "Chuck-The-Aggressor", 'Belle de Crecy', and perhaps worse than Chuck, 'La Belle Sultane')

Fifteen years ago I planted 'Charles de Mills' in the garden and that plant now occupies dozens of square meters of space. Seriously....it has now spread to a diameter of approximately 24 X 30 feet and still spreading. Nothing will stop it now except a strong herbicide. Make no mistake, the Gallicas are still my favorite roses of all, but I do believe they are best kept on a short leash.

You've been warned!

Thanks to GW, I was mostly forewarned about suckering gallicas and have planted them where they can run to their hearts content. La Belle Sultane is the only one I misplanted and I am going to have to deal with/transplant her this year. The past two years, I've been filling in the back 40 with gallicas. They have all the room they want and since gallicas don't seem to care about soil (mine is mostly clay), they are a lovely low-maintenance solution to borderlands. Also, the deer don't eat them.

I love trospero's solution, tho fortunately I don't have a space problem.

Maybe it's the cold winters...or that I got the roses from Rogue Valley Roses...but my two Belle de Crecy roses have been beautiful and very well-behaved!

We have clay soil (but the nice kind) that grows everything, with a little aged horse manure added in. We're on the edge of the Palouse and almost all roses grow well here...if they can survive the winters.

Belle de Crecy is beautiful and I've had them for three years. I'm thinking about getting a few more, since they play well with the larger roses and are such a lovely color :)

Not my photo...I think ours are even prettier! {{gwi:327705}}From Lavender's Garden

I don't grow Belle de Crecy but have Charles and it was great the1st. 5 yrs. Then it sent out its 1st. sucker yr. 5 and a couple more yr 6.... Yr. 7 holy smokes 8 I think I counted. I have La belle Sultane and the Cardinal and no suckers yet and two more gallicas in pots. I'm afraid to plant them after reading this....I think I'll take Trospero advice....I do love Gallicas...I do find they have a short blooming season for me. My alba's bloom 5-6 wks and my Gallica's 2-3 wks...Charles does bloom alittle longer and still is my favorite...

Thanks, thorn grower; I suspected that it is just going to take a few more years for the suckering to take place for my gallicas.

Most of mine are grafted, so maybe a few more years than own root, but I suspect the suckering will eventually show up. I think Trospero's advice is good too. I might dig up my own root CdM as it is very young and try to corral him.

I love Belle, nice scent and the colors are just amazing. It does sucker in my clay soil too, but I dig them up every fall or spring and try to keep the bush contained in a 5x5 area and it works pretty well as long as stay on top of it.