OOC and nearly OOC Austin roses
We all know the bad, for many of us, news. Which is that many of the earlier English roses with we fell in love all those many years ago are not only no longer to be found, but their cultivation is being actively discouraged by their own "parent". Reminds me of Chronos swallowing his own children!
I propose an informal survey of our most and least favorite off patent and OOC or nearly OOC roses from DA. Which do you like and which do you not like?
I am fond of:
Charmain: lovely flowers of a bright, saturated dark pink. The plant resembles, as the VG description said, a Bourbon in growth habit. One of the few DA roses I have grown which did not fade in color, even in hot CA sun. Major drawback is that it is a very slow grower on its' own roots.
Symphony and English Garden: both of similar habit, except that EG was about 8-9" taller than Symphony. Both grow rather like a HT, with flat, many petalled flowers of lovely soft yellow and cream/apricot color. They grow somewhat like zinnias, 2-21/2' stalks with a wide, flat bloom on top. Very good selections for a small garden.
English Elegance: a large shrub or small climber, with rather flexible canes, as I recall, and loose, pretty flowers of an apricot shade. Also non-fading, if I remember right.
Bow Bells: a small shrub, like a 50s era floribunda in growth habit. Flowers are pink and cup shaped, rather like bells, in fact. It did seem to me that there was too little leaf for the amount of blooms, and that maybe some judicious debudding would yield a stronger plant.
Othello and Falstaff, both have gorgeous dark red, many petalled flowers and strong fragrance. Othello was famous for fragrance in its' day. I rather like the thorny growth habits of both of these roses, which. I thought, helped rescue my planting from insipidity.
Radio Times: one of the most beautiful roses DA ever introduced, IMHO. The darling does catch every disease that passes by and is another that throws out the long canes. I think it has been grown as a climber. OTOH, the color does not fade even in CA sun and repeat was rapid, even in triple digit July weather. Seemed to me to need much less water that some of the other DA roses.
DA roses which did NOT work for me:
Lilac Rose: Nice flowers, but the buds are too close together, so the flowers in a cluster don't open all the way.
Glamis Castle: mildew magnet
Geoff Hamilton: in CA, never bloomed
Sceptered Isle is yuuuge, and, for me, the flowers were nothing special, not enough so to justify the space SI wanted.
Katherine Morley: also no bloom. Might be better suited to a colder climate.
I think it is fair to say that DA introduced too many roses too soon. I suppose he had his reasons according to his own business plans and I understand that he had some difficulty in breaking into the nursery fraternity in England. Maybe, once he started making money, he was anxious to make up for lost time. He has, needless to say, every right to administer his business just as he pleases, but we also have the right to like whatever we like, and to do what we can to preserve our own favorites.
I add that I love the discreet charm and soft, moonglow color of The Nun. I wish The Prioress were also still around.
Comments (5)
jerijen
seil zone 6b MI
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