Is my Gertrude Jekyll dying?
Gertrude Jekyll has been growing with no fertilizing or spraying since she was put in in the spring of 2019. She grows in full sun and in great soil that has been enriched with compost over the 17 years that we’ve lived here in southern CT.
When we purchased GJ, the worker at the garden center said to trim her stems after GJ flowers if we wanted her to remain bushy. She also said that when she cuts the stems back, she hits the ends with a drop of crazy glue to seal them. I’ve never heard of that technique! Do any of you do that? I didn’t. We wanted to see what she would do on her own.
Some of you may recall that I asked for advice when her canes became so long last year … as tall as I am. The suggestions were to peg her along the fence. I did that early this year when the canes could reach the fence behind her. This year GJ started out beautifully in the the warm weather with canes full of green leaves and buds all along them. Both her flowers and leaves were luxurious in early June.
But suddenly GJ started looking awful! The leaves are yellowing and have holes in them.
Some of the new flower buds have just collapsed and fallen over at the ends of their stems, like the middle of the next photo.
Many of the longer canes are bare of leaves and/or all yellow at the ends. Some of canes have browned and died completely, mostly the ones inside.
Any suggestions as to what went wrong? I want to save this beautiful rose.
Thanks,
Molie
Comments (12)
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Comments (31)As for Gertrude Jeckyll, younger plants of GT tend to be pretty much once bloomers. However as they mature they are more likely to repeat. They will never be continuous bloomers, or anything like that, but you will get some repeat after several years. It is true that I live in a gentler climate than Lisa does, but if I recall accurately, Niels also had some repeat, and Lisa lives in a gentler climate than he does. Well, maybe not. I was thinking Ohio, but Lisa lives in Oklahoma. The deep midwest has an extreme climate, as I understand. I've never lived there myself. I've had other roses that behaved this way -- Pierre de Ronsard (Cl Eden) being one. As young plants they are essentially once bloomers. As time goes on they develop some remontancy. Rosefolly...See MoreGertrude Jekyll has finally won my heart
Comments (11)I agree with you Boncrow, you never know if a rose will do well in your garden until you try it. The microclimate in the spot it is grown can make a huge difference. Carol yes GJ's blooms are prettier than I have expected as well, and they were much larger than last year's blooms. They are not very lasting cut flowers but 2 days of heavenly fragrance per bloom is good enough for me. There are so many buds I have a constant supply of fresh ones to replace the old ones in the house....See MoreGertrud Jekyll: did she roses n Lavender?
Comments (6)Hi there @ Campanula: thanks for checking in "Roses for English gardens" personally I think La& Ro is a very bad companion combo, but the best garden lore ever, as every lanscaper looks shell shocked if I point out that it is a bad combination (for the Lavender or the rose...) and combining the more civilized Polyantha hybrids is tricky, still fiddeling and testing... (and too little space for species roses) @ mad gallica: thanks or the story about those potpourrie, who`d have thought, this stuff has certainly come a long way, but sadly, no resemblence with the present day perfume-scented artificial stuff, those real rose petals and LAvender. Perhaps a good christmas gift for 2019. I did do a quick Amazon search, and while I avoid ordering stuff from them (with the bad employment conditions and stress in those ware houses) I do buy ebooks. and lo and behold, they stock some old Jekyll-books, the optics are like that of a very cheap and bad paper back, but the text is ok, and I won`t complain if a volume costs less than 2 bucks. So, a new direction to search into, thanks again, bye, Lin...See MoreHelp with Gertrude Jekyll rose
Comments (21)Stephanie, I loved this from the link you provided about wasabi-sabi : "Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs." I try to have my gardens look as if they belong the place where I put them because ... as it also says in the article ... "nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." Sometimes I like to imagine what our property looked like 100 years ago and what it will be 100 years in the future. Although, since we live along a river that leads to the Long Island Sound, I'm thinking this land will eventually be shoreline....See More
moliep
3 years agomoliep
3 years ago
dianela7analabama
3 years agoMolie try pruning off any canes that are actually dead and after making sure she is getting a good drink of water. Then try
Specially if you don’t have hundreds of roses spraying that one shouldn’t take too much time/work and you will love the results. Most older Austins need regular spraying in the type of black spot pressure you have and none of the “organic” solutions are as long lasting or effective. I have not tried the sulfur, but neem does not work here for blackspot.
moliep thanked dianela7analabamamoliep
3 years agomoliep
3 years ago
Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley