Munstead Wood certainly has a way of making everyone fall in love with her, doesn't she!

Yes, rebloom is quite good on MW. Right off hand, I don't think I remember the plant ever having no blooms--or not for more that a day or two.

Kate

My MW is really a wimp. I'm hoping it will get better since it was a bareroot last summer.

Vaporvac - your MWs are lovely!! And you have so many blooms for such a young plant!!! Good going!!

Carol

Second year for mine, and it's new growth after the first flush is very exuberant. It is a grafted MW from DA. Very speedy repeat.

Sheila's garden. · More Info

I Agree MW is one of the most free flowering DA roses. Although for me Happy Child is even more impressive as far as floriferousness is concerned.

For me, my best Austin bloomers are quite random from year to year. This year, Brother Cadfael is my best bloomer. Last year, he didn't bloom so much and the blooms all balled--I was ready to shovel prune him. My second best bloomer is a year old Evelyn, complete with RMV and a bad case of thrips. Looks like a pimply teenager, but talk about a bloom machine. My Munstead Wood is resting right now, and has maybe, one bloom. The big spring flush began in the first week of May, so things are not going crazy with blooming for the most part. Our second heat wave will hit soon, so it's not prime time for roses. Diane

My roses will all be in bloom in the next week or two. I'm really excited!! My John Davis is pumping out blooms like crazy and has expanded this year to 4 X 4!! I'll see if I get the energy to take a picture later. :)

CArol

Hi Carol. I'm glad to hear your roses are starting to bloom. You've had a long wait and you deserve some great looking blooms. I can't wait to see those photos. You can sit back and enjoy your roses while the rest of us swelter.

I forgot to mention in my first post that Princess Alexandra of Kent is a bloom machine, too, but now is nap time, and she has just a few flowers. The biggest bloom machine of all, though, is not an Austin, but Julia Child. she never quits, that's for sure. Diane

OT, here's Julia a few weeks ago.

Thanks for the encouragement Diane. :)

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that PAOK is a great bloomer!!! I think I'm going to love my new PAOK!!!

But your Julia is unbelievable!!!!! I just can't understand how you can get so many blooms!! :)

Carol

Vaporvac, I apologize for not mentioning that I think you have done a wonderful job with your new MWs. For as young as those roses are, you have brought them a long way. I don't remember my MW blooming that well. Your compost must be something--I have to buy mine, and I'm sure it's not as good as the homemade stuff. And that stonework in the background of the photos looks intriguing. Can we see more?

Diane

PS--Thanks, Carol. I think your PAOK will like like your cooler climate better that my PAOK likes it here in the heat.

nanadoll: Is that JC photo just 1 bush?

Your roses look beautiful. I too have received great roses from DA. Best of luck with any new additions. Judy

wow, your plants all look lovely:) gahh middle of winter here, mine are mostly all sad naked looking sticks- I'm lucky to have leaves, let alone flowers! one of the few fully clothed ones is Munstead Woods...

Yours is great Vaporvac, mine took awhile to kick off, and it was at least a year old before I got more than one or two blooms at a time

You guys are really nice. I don't think I did anything special; they were healthy plants and compost is the bomb! AT least I get something back from all the effort of raking my endless supply of leaves. It's more worms than soil when I dig it out and I think the mix of wood and leaves gives it a little something extra. That's my story anyway.) I put leaf mold on as a top dressing. One plant still has a few buds to bloom and the other is busy adding new growth. They exhaust me just thinking of all the energy that must take.

Those pics all look beautiful. I love the PAOK, but worry she'd be to tall. The colour is dreamy. Brother Cadfael is great if only for the memories of watching that show and reading the books. I loved that series. Nanadoll, your JC looks better that those at a public garden I recently visited. Rosecanadian, you live in Canada; I used to live in Montreal. Any rose that's making it up there deserves a break! :) I think next year will be its year. Imagine finally hitting your stride and having to hibernate. I would think it's quite tricky to grow anything up there, much less DA roses!

I'm off to look up Happy Child. I like the name anyway. Thanks all for the encouragement! Now I'm waiting for my Viking Queen to bloom, but something gnawed on her two biggest buds. :(

Thank you, vaporvac. I'm glad you have put your leaves to good use. We don't have many leaves here, and the dry air means they are "forever" and don't break down well.

Rifis, that is one Julia, but you you can just see the edge of a second Julia that grows across the sidewalk from it. Here's a photo of the two with some Young Lycidas in the foreground.

Vaporvac - my roses are grown in pots, so they get a nice comfy above freezing stay in the garage. :) I live in Alberta, zone 3. Bad critters, bad!!! Chomping on your two best buds.

Diane - Your front yard always blows me away. I can't imagine having that many flowers!!!!

Carol

nanadoll, wow your Julia Child is big and beautiful! What is the dark purple/burgundy that's behind her? I am looking for a rose in that color to add some depth in my garden of gold and yellows :)

Liakawak, thanks so much. Are you asking about Ascot across the way from Julia? It's a Tantau rose, available from Palatine roses. It grows huge here, and I love it (have two Ascots). Diane

Ascot

Looking over Ascot toward the climber Colette

My second Ascot in the back year is 10 feet tall.

@nanadoll - your roses are very impressive. I too love your front yard colour combination. And those ascots are beautiful. I wish my husband could get a job transfer to a zone 7 area just so I could have ginormous roses!

Munstead wood & ascot are on my spring wish list order!

Ye gods and fishes, now I want a M.Wood! Such beautiful flowers!

Amazing!!!! I was thinking of getting Ascot this year from Palantine. I didn't. Of course, it would never get that big for me...but wow!!! How is the fragrance?

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

Diane's roses are out of this world, and always induce a heavy doze of rose envy in me. Given the right climate, it is truly amazing what a rose can do.

I have seen Julia in quite a few places on the east coast. Nothing I have seen compare even remotely to Diane's, not even those in the botanical gardens. what a feast to the eyes!

Wow nanadoll, your ascots are gorgeous, I might order one from Palatines! Thank you for the pictures!

Just incredibly gorgeous. If Ascot was fragrant, I could fill my garden with those. I may have to try it if I can get my hands on one. For this year, I'm trying Munstead Wood, and so far seems like a rose that is happy to grow.

I agree, noseometer - if only it were fragrant!!

Carol

Munstead Wood has been on my wish list for some time, but now it looks like I need to add Ascot as well - what a fabulous rose! Do either of them need anything in the way of support?

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone. Farmerduck, you are too kind--I don't deserve such compliments. We all grow beautiful roses and love them and put up with them, baby them, even when they aren't nice to us.

Laurie, Ascot needs no support at all. Carol, I agree that fragrance would put Ascot over the top. Munstead Wood really wins in the fragrance department. I wish mine bloomed more. It rests a lot in the heat, and some new blooms opened today that were instantly burned around the petal edges, so maybe it's best MW does rest a lot when it's hot. It's been so windy, and is always dry here. Diane

Doesn't Ascot have any fragrance at all? Between my mom and myself, we have 20+ roses, and I don't think any of them are completely fragrance free. I can detect a very slight fragrance even from Blue Bajou.