Rose (member) Garden  

Listing last updated on Wed Aug 2024

Oslo, Oslo
Norway

My old garden is situated in the northern part of Oslo in an allotment area with small wooden cottages from the '30s. Most of the gardens contain various types of fruit trees and bushes, as well as vegetable patches.

My new garden is situated in a warmer climate on the West coast of Sweden. The site is windy and exposed to strong winds and heavy rain in autumn and winter. There are also lots of deer having a go at many rose varieties, although not all. For this garden, the main function for my roses is scent. As rose buds on bushes are eaten by deer, the plan is to use perpetually blooming modest ramblers (Darlow's Enigma, Rosengarten Zweibrücken, Clg Cecile Brünner) to grow up my fruit trees in the orchard and occasionally some bush the deer don't like (Ann Endt, Pink Roadrunner so far). I get much better flower power from dahlias and the deer will not touch them.   

I have had my trials and tribulations and tend to be quite unforgiving to poor performers and too sensitive varieties. Over the years, shovel pruning has been quite common. In Oslo we commonly have about one week of between -22 to -26 C in winter and I unfortunately often forget to arrange for winter protection. Summers are often late and unreliable in terms of warm temperatures. At night, cold air comes running down from the higher altitudes which creates a cold draft through the garden, further delaying summer temperatures. So, my roses need to be tough, healthy, vigorous and cold hardy to make it. In addition, they should have a good scent, flowers that last long and withstand rain, have beautiful leaves, be great for pollinators, set hips for birds and biodiversity, flower prolifically, and self-clean neatly (which appears to be difficult to find any information about). I have a preference for single or semi-double flowers that have some space between them and are held well above the foliage or all around the canes as on vase-shaped Scotch roses. The latter form in a manageable size is ideal, but also ground covers with dense foliage blocking weeds while providing a habitat for insects. Obviously, pesticides are out of the question. A recent interest is finding roses that keep their leaves during winter.

Been gardening for about 30 years now. It is my constant interest that I simply cannot do without. Roses fascinate me although trees take the prime spot.