Munstead Wood first impressions
So far pleasantly surprised by Munstead Wood the blooms are at least 5 inches in diameter and last over two weeks on the bush. The flowers remind me of Othello, the color is like Intrigue, and the fragrance is similar to Mr. Lincoln. The plant is a serious water hog though, needs to be watered daily or more or will drop leaves. Other Austins nearby, in the pot ghetto, only need water every other day.
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My name is Wood, Munstead Wood (and a few more Austins)
Comments (18)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....See Morewhat more could you want? - Munstead Wood
Comments (23)Adam, I grew Prospero for a number of years. It was nicely pretty here but not fabulous, and eventually I replaced it with something I liked better. I think I replaced it with some asters to make the bees happy. I like the bees to be happy and do a lot in my garden for them. As a consequence, there are a multitude of bees in my garden every year. Next to having lots of birds, I like lots of bees best. Note that I do not like hornets, wasps, and rattlesnakes. Just keeping the record straight! Roses that waft exceptionally well for me include Marie Pavie and Rosa moschata, the true Musk Rose, both favorites of mine. So too did Darlow's Enigma when I grew it, wafting far and wide almost as well as Rosa multiflora. I find R multiflora to be one of the very sweetest of rose scents, piercingly beautiful with overlays of honey, but alas a frequent host of the dread rose rosette disease. My Darlow's Engima had powdery mildew, perhaps because I pushed the partial shade a bit too hard. I eventually gave up trying to find a rose that was really happy in that particular spot. Rosefolly...See MoreMunstead Wood: A Blooming Machine!!!
Comments (30)Thanks, everyone. Just wanted to mention again that Ascot seems very cold hardy, and shows no problem with heat, even the blooms. They don't fry in the heat and dry air we have, surprisingly. I think Ascot would be smaller in colder zones. For warm zones like Joe, a forum member whose user name is hoov has had problems with her Ascot blooming in her So Cal location. She thought perhaps this rose needs some chill to bloom best. Any California Ascot growers out there want to weigh in on Ascot's blooming in little winter chill places? Ascot has very faint scent. It was better in May, but now the hot dry air and windy days have reduced all my roses scent. Darn it. Diane...See MoreQuestions re Munstead Wood in hot, dry climates
Comments (50)Thanks for that helpful bit of info, vaporvac. I hope I'll retain it in my computer challenged senior brain. All of fragrancnutter's roses are just incredible, including her Young Lycidas. My YL is several years old, and until this year was pretty floppy, but I didn't mind, because he sort of fit in with the roses around him, leaning on them a bit without getting thuggish. Now, he's getting some muscle and doesn't need to lean so much. My YL isn't quite purple, but isn't hot pink, either. It's a slightly odd but beautiful color with a lighter colored outer border of petals--and there are lots of petals. His scent is luscious. Mine could bloom a little more, and there's resting between bloom periods. Here are a few photos of varying color. Diane YL leaning on Colette This shows the lighter outer petals which are often, but not always present....See More
Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoromogen thanked Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
dublinbay z6 (KS)
8 years agoI enjoyed your pics, imogen
Munstead Wood is my favorite also. Yes, big blooms, though mine tend to be much darker than those of some posters--gorgeous dark color!
The bush itself isn't that great looking but I have lots of things growing around it so most viewers see the bloom, not the bush. See here.
The bush seems to be getting a bit taller than I anticipated, but that is all right. A touch of BS occasionally, but no real problem at all. Mine is about 3 years old now.
As for its water needs, I haven't noticed anything more than my other roses, but maybe I should keep a closer watch on it this year to see if it would like more water
It is definitely one of those roses that make my heart to pitter-pat!
romogen thanked dublinbay z6 (KS)
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
8 years agoromogen thanked sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
rosecanadian
8 years agosultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
8 years agoromogen thanked sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)rosecanadian
8 years ago
Rachel Cross- Harder
8 years ago
mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
8 years agorosecanadian
8 years agoromogen
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRachel Cross: 'Happy Child'
...but if you can't find it, 'Gina Lollobrigida,' Charles Darwin' and 'Golden Celebration' are similar.
Thanks for the comments everyone!
So the flowers last longer than I initially posted. From opening bud with unfurling petals to final petal drop, it is a little over three weeks for me. The flowers are self-cleaning, I deadhead to get more blooms but should leave some next time to see if they form hips. My daytime temps have been in the 60-75 range this month, but quickly warming up! Summers reach a high of 98 for about one week.
I'm thinking it needs lots of water because the flowers are the size of cheese danishes and there are so many of them. I will gladly provide water when each flower lasts three weeks.
The inner petals are dark velvet crimson with the outer guard petals fading to mauve and lilac pink. Good fragrance from beginning to end. I'm hoping the bush itself will improve -- rather straggly looking.
I had initially planted half my new bareroot roses in the ground until they got attacked by gophers. Now I have to dig up the rare ones and rebury them in cages. Most of my Austins are in pots now for protection and until I can observe their colors, research their eventual heights, and figure out their permanent locations. I bought a bunch of new varieties this year that I'm unfamiliar with, as well as old favorites; about 30 different Austins.
Today's MW color corrected pics (the inner petals are actually much darker blackish red, like Tradescant or Papa Meilland):
fragrancenutter