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Lady of Shalott and Gertrude Jekyll

8 years ago

Wondered if you could help me figure out what to do with Lady of Shalott. She was planted bare root in Feb or early March this year and has grown to about 4 feet x 3 feet with long legs (arms?). One of the long arms broke off a couple days ago, I don't think she's strong enough to support them and on the 4th floor roof deck it gets a bit windy. I put up a bit of support this week for the longest arms. They are getting what I think are called laterals. I saw pictures before I bought her that were very bush like.

Now I also planted a Gertrude Jekyll at the same time and planted her with a trellis. Now my other Austins have not had this kind of growth even though they were planted with trellises. I pruned them pretty hard so between the pots and the pruning they haven't gone very tall but plenty of flowers.

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Comments (5)

DandyLioness (CA 9, SZ 14)
8 years ago
I put in a Lady of Shallot last year and this year she sent up quite a few long, thick canes for me. I have mine near a fence and am training it as a climber which I think works well for her. But one of those canes snapped off for me as well. They don't seem to bend too well..but the ones that I did attach to the fence seem to be doing really well. I can't imagine this one ever working as a bush.
User thanked DandyLioness (CA 9, SZ 14)
seil zone 6b MI
8 years ago
Some roses don't have stiff, upright canes. They grow more like a fountain, up then curving downward on supple canes. If you want to trellis the Lady you can but I think you'll get less bloom. Your deck is gorgeous, by the way!
User thanked seil zone 6b MI
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User
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for responding DandyLioness. The growth on Lady of Shallot was a real surprise to me in 3 months. So glad to know I wasn't alone to face the broken branch. Do you happen to have a picture of your Lady of Shalott? The ones I googled in containers looked like tidy bushes, especially the picture from David Auston Ltd. I think it would take some hard pruning to shape them. Maybe I'll just let her grow and see what happens. Rose growing is such a learning experience. Trial and error.

Seil, thanks for the information, it is growing like a fountain and glad you like the deck. It is a community deck for the building but nobody seems to mind that I put a few flowers out there.

Yeah, I know I don't get the blooms on my Austins as if I were planting them in the ground and they had room but, man, I enjoy the fragrance and they have been blooming all month. Each bloom lasts quite awhile. Evelyn's and Abraham Darby's first blooms were six inches across.
jjpeace (zone 5b Canada)
8 years ago
Looks like a balcony or roof garden to me. It is beautiful! Well my garden is a bit different than yours but I usually use peony rings and recently started bamboo canes for staking. If this was my garden, I would let it spill over the railings as it would look heavenly cascading down. Then again I don't know how windy your garden is so that may not be an option.
User thanked jjpeace (zone 5b Canada)
User
Original Author
8 years ago
Good idea jjpeace. It does get really windy and I think some support would be good. I like the fountain shape of the Lady, just didn't know it would be that way in three months. It has blooms now. I think I am going to like this rose.

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