My name is Wood, Munstead Wood (and a few more Austins)

13 years ago

I can just see someone introducing himself in the manner of agent 007, James Bond with a line like that, but until that happens, here is a preliminary picture of Munstead Wood in a pot with its first flowers:

I was out in a thunderstorm trying to photograph this first bloom on St. Cecilia before it could get rain-trashed:

This is one off my grafted Happy Child. It actually tries to make it. My own-root one can't seem to get over about 5 inches tall even after about 5 years.

In a true heroic effort to come back after that horrid Easter freeze of '07, Swan began to put out some nice sprays looking like this:

I hope you like these. Let me know what you think.

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Comments (18)

Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
13 years ago
I well remember the freeze of 07. So nice to see your rose is recovering. Munstead Wood is on my long list. Great to see a picture of it. I hope info on it keeps coming as to bush growth habit (no octopus arms I hope), disease resistance etc.
monarda_gw
13 years ago
Beautiful.
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Mom planted 2 roses in the abbreviated garden of the home we moved to when I was 7. Still remember her & my grandma cutting the tin can pots they came in with big tin-snippers. One was Peace & the other Crimson Glory. Peace showed pretty flowers, but Crimson Glory was strait from Heaven. Still homesick for the mature acre of garden we'd left on the East Coast in our move to the Midwest, that one rose consoled & inspired me, becoming a nearly angelic beloved friend. When we were moving back East 5 years later, my folks promised another Crimson Glory in the new garden (and a horse, too, lol), but that didn't come to pass. Yet I kept the rose in my heart. By the time I was grown & beginning my own garden, discovered Mom had forgotten its name. Don't think I'd ever known it - simply The Rose to me. Searched nurseries for years trying to find The Rose. Though I grew & enjoyed many roses along the way, the one that began it all proved elusive. Twenty-five years into the quest, I found her again, waiting patiently for me amid rows of roses, my long lost friend - recognized by her unique song & familiar perfume - Crimson Glory! Yet she didn't thrive in my gardens, and faded away over time. Ordered her bare root when no longer locally available, only to face the same decline. Twice more, from different sources, same result. In that long ago Illinois garden, she grew well. Perhaps these later versions suffered from virus that sapped their strength? This year determined to try again, looking to find her both bush & climbing virus indexed/VID. But when I saw own root CG in the K & M sale for such an enticing price, went ahead & ordered. Not finding any info at K & M on virus indexing, assuming their roses are not. Anyone know? Sue
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Now I do feel a bit dim :) Thanks Nick, Jackie and Ingrid for pointing out the 7 leaflets issue- I was so sure it was a weirdo octopus cane ( in my defense, it really is coming straight from the graft , and the general thorniness and leaf size is the same as the rest of it) that I didn't even think to count the leaves. But no matter how many times I do, there's still seven of em on this particular cane and only 5 on the rest of the bush. grr. So I think that's a positive for rootstock. I could wait for it to flower, but as that probably wont be til next spring ( there's no signs of bud formation yet) and the odds aren't good it is MW, I think Id rather just ditch it, rather than wait.. The nice fresh green cane in the middle to the right of the crappy worn out one and to the left of the still serviceable but older green cane is the monster- Actually, its almost growing out on top/to the side of the older green cane...so much so I'm worried about damaging the still good cane if I rip out the rootstock one... I know that the preferred removal method is just to rip it out/break it away, ( and I have done it before for suckers coming up below the graft) but can you get away with a really close prune? And thank you all again for the help and advice -you guys are great :)
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Plugging the hole and asking for a replacement are two separate non mutually exclusive issues. Such cavities should be plugged in order to not allow insect access. I would inject some pesticide also before plugging but that's me. I have a large grown up lemon tree grafted on sour orange that was damaged during a freeze more than 15 years ago. I had not noticed the damage due to the tree being unskirted until only three years ago when I saw the tree deteriorating. There was a hole and lots of old damage just above the grafting point where the tree was branching out which had become the dormitory of ants and god knows what else. I sawed away as much dead material as I could, injected and painted a mix of undiluted dormant oil, organophosphorous insecticide and copper, repeated that after a couple of weeks and then plugged and covered the old wound with pruning paste. It took lots of it to plug and cover the whole area. The tree recovered and has been growing nicely since.
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My 3 year old bush is about 3 x 3. I am in zone 6, but in the midwest. As for placement, I can tell you mine receives almost all day sun, and in Kansas, that late afternoon sun is VERY HOT. MW doesn't seem to be overly bothered by that. I would tend to avoid a somewhat shady planting unless you receive feedback indicating its was OK in a number of gardens. It grows so well in the sun that I'm guessing part-shade would not be its favorite place to grow. Kate
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dove_song
13 years ago
Lol, The Bustopher, I like your clever introduction - it gave me quite a pleasant giggle! Love your Munstead Wood and all the others. Boy, I miss my St. Cecilia! Got addicted to it's scent and lovely blooms. :P

Thanks, and have a great day! :)
Debbie
markiz37
13 years ago
Gorgeous! Thank you.
zeffyrose
13 years ago
Great roses but I do love Munstead Wood----what a beauty

Florence
bethnorcal9
13 years ago
Nice. MUNSTEAD WOOD is fast becoming one of my favorite DAs. Hard to capture the exact color. It's soo intensely dark plum-purple. You really have to see it in person to truly appreciate it. I like your SWAN. It's lovely!
jumbojimmy
13 years ago
the_bustopher -

Could you tell me if your St Cecilia bloom profusely or sporadically? Judging by your first photo, Munstead Wood appears to bloom better than St.Cecilia.

Thanks
bethnorcal9
13 years ago
All beautiful... but that SWAN... Oweeeeeee!! Gorgeous!
the_bustopher z6 MO
Original Author
13 years ago
Last year both varieties were first-year plants. Both bloomed reasonably well all growing season once they got going. I have two Munstead Woods. One started in the pot as shown, and the other went in the ground. Both did about equally well although the one in the pot did a little better. This will be their second growing season with all three plants in the ground. I am hoping they will do at least as well or better and that the flowers will be a little larger.
kathy9norcal
13 years ago
How exciting to see spring roses again. Love that MW. All of them look great, though.
canadian_rose
13 years ago
Wow!! Munstead Wood is gorgeous. I have to get that rose!! How is it for fragrance?

I love all of your roses - but Munstead Wood is in a class by itself - love the color and shape!!!

Carol
the_bustopher z6 MO
Original Author
13 years ago
Munstead Wood has a good, solid fragrance. The pictures I have of it do not do it justice. There is some seasonal color variation. This is another picture of it late in the fall.

Again, the pictures from my camera do not do either this rose or other dark reds to purples justice, but you can get a general idea. The color on this year's David Austin catalog cover showing Munstead Wood is pretty close to actual. I am hoping this year will have some better flowers.
jumbojimmy
13 years ago
Does Munstead Wood reveal its yellow 'thing' (can't think of the word) at the center?

So many Austins. Hard to choose: Princess Alexandra of kent or Munstead wood or claire Austin.
the_bustopher z6 MO
Original Author
13 years ago
Whether or not Munstead Wood reveals its yellow pistil at the center depends on its petal count, and that can vary some with the temperature during the flower's formation. I need a better look at my plants before venturing a better answer on this matter.

As to the other Austins on you r list, I can say that Claire Austin has nice, white flowers, but the stems are rather thin. I am not growing Princess Alexandra of Kent at this time.
iris_gal
13 years ago
Swan is soo tempting.
katefisher
13 years ago
I have not ordered or purchased even one rose yet this but Munstead Wood really catches my fancy. How have you found the rebloom to be? Thank you.

Kate
the_bustopher z6 MO
Original Author
13 years ago
My first year Munstead Woods both repeated fairly regularly. If the weather is hot, the flowers do not last a long time, but it continues to bloom. I have good hopes for this variety.
katefisher
13 years ago
Thank you for the feedback. This winter was so seemingly endless that it wasn't until yesterday that I was able to really get out and evaluate some of the roses and do some trimming. I have a couple of casualties out there for sure and a few more than are still alive but maybe just not tough enough to keep trying with. And I just love the images of this rose. Gorgeous. Amazing but true, I also still have a pile of snow in the yard:)

Kate

Kate

My name is Wood, Munstead Wood (and a few more Austins)

Comments (18)

Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)

monarda_gw

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My name is Wood, Munstead Wood (and a few more Austins)

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