I was pruning and deadheading roses at the Big House yesterday, and it was just like every other week.....me ending the process by declaring, "I'm only ever growing English roses!" A couple of the hybrid teas are looking like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree between the black spot and miscellaneous funky things they all seem to develop, but the English roses are blooming their guts out! This top one is Graham Thomas, which never seems to stop putting on a show.
Abraham Darby was just planted last year, and is certainly holding its own with the others......
William Morris is a delightful, exuberant, "fluffy" rose with a really wonderful, almost spicy fragrance.
All of these are David Austin roses, which we got locally at Autumn Hill Nursery.
The David Austins are so beautifully and not at all happy in my garden. I will enjoy yours although the fragrance is difficult to detect from here.
ReplyDeleteWow, and wow, the pink one is spectacular! So pretty!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting - I have one David Austin ('Carding Mill'), and that gets worse black spot than my hybrid teas! So I'm at the opposite pole from you, Tim - I'm not sure I'd ever buy another English rose. I wonder if it's a function of geography, climate, something else altogether......who knows?
ReplyDeleteI will add the caveat that I have been spraying them this year with a fungicide, which has made a world of difference. The hybrid teas, though, still look terrible even with the spray. I fought the sprays for years, maintaining that roses are too high maintenance, but I have to say that it's amongst the best 10 minutes I spent each week in the garden!
ReplyDeleteTim,
ReplyDeleteWhich product do you use, I have been using "Seranade". It is organic and seems to do pretty good, but it has been a bad year for Black Spot with Oregon Rose growers.
Doc
I put the roses at the Big House on the regimen/schedule that another of the local Master Gardeners developed (he's also a certified rosarian), and it's been incredible, particularly with this humidity. I'll try to remember to scan it in and make it available here.
ReplyDeleteI also love David Austin roses Tim, particularly the Crocus Rose, which has flowered on and off all summer, with no sign of disease.
ReplyDelete