'gelee' comments & questions

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gelee

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RoseThe Dark Lady most recent 14 SEP 06 SHOW ALL

Initial post 7 MAR 06 by HMF supporting member

ParisRoseLady

This rose performed wonderfully for me, even in a first year garden, unfurling bloom after gorgeous bloom throughout the long hot summer months. The flowers get a little less intense, color wise, in the relentless sun, but they are still marvels of opulence. This lady is rather spreading, flowing outwards as well as upwards. She definitely takes up more room in a bed than a hybrid tea! Her scent is divine, even though you have to cozy up to her to appreciate it... Claire, St Louis Missouri, Zone 5/6

Reply #1 of 10 posted 26 APR 06 by Unregistered Guest

Howdy neighbor. Thanks so much for your post, I was just wondering if I should give her a try and was searching for some information on her and after reading your post I think she's worth a go. Julia	REPLY

Reply #2 of 10 posted 17 JUL 06 by HMF supporting member

ParisRoseLady

Hi Julia,

Glad to see you are giving this worthy gal a go. In her second year, my Dark Lady has again put out flush after flush of opulent old-fashioned blooms. Bizarrely, she was not a prime target for Japanese beetles this season, even though roses to the left and right of her were being devoured. A relief! Re: Dark Lady's disease resistance, I have pruned off some of the lowest canes that were basically laying almost flat against the ground, in order to avoid any blackspot coming up through the lower leaves and branches. This has improved her overall health, and there are very few yellow/blackspot leaves so far. I have sprayed most of my roses preventatively this season a few times, however.

Reply #3 of 10 posted 21 JUL 06 by waoneal

I, too live near St. Louis. Have you grown any other "English" David Austin roses? I want to plant some next spring, but can't decide which. They all look so beautiful! Thanks for your info.	REPLY

Reply #4 of 10 posted 21 JUL 06 by HMF supporting member

ParisRoseLady

I only grow a few Austins; if I had more space, I would grow more. There is a caveat with Austin roses grown in areas of the USA with long growing seasons: many of them can get huge. (In England, where they were bred, they stay much smaller). My Austin Heritage rose, for example, it has only been in the ground one year, and it is already eight feet tall! I am growing it as a climber, so that's fine, but if I had wanted it to stay mannerly and compact, it would have been a conflict of interests between me and the rose. I just recently added Sharifa Asma, which is widely considered one of the very best Austins. This pale shell-pink rose is prolific, healthy, and stays compact--3-4 feet or so. The blooms are ethereally gorgeous, like most Austins, and divinely fragrant--like most Austins. I have also heard raves about Tamora, an apricot-hued Austin. Apparently this rose stays compact as well. If you have no problem with size, then you have a whole range to choose from. I have heard raves about St Swithun, Mary Rose, Graham Thomas, Abraham Darby. And many more. You could try going on an Internet search for 'Best Austin roses' or some such thing. Or order David Austin's catalog from www.davidaustinroses.com and then come back to Help Me Find to look each rose up. If space is at a premium in your garden, careful research will be rewarded prior to planting. Also--and this is important--when I planted my Austins (and all my roses for that matter), I made a HUGE effort to improve my soil. I added cotton compost, hummus & manure, gypsum (I have clay soil), bone meal, superphosphate, and Rose Tone, an organic mix of rose minerals. I also add alfalfa pellets now, to increase the potency of my mix. Rich soil is of HUGE importance to repeat blooming roses, especially Austins, because there are just so many darn petals to produce! They NEED rich soil to be at their best. So if you have poor soil, make the effort prior to planting, and you will be rewarded many times over. A rose just stuck in the ground with poor soil will never be at its beautiful best. Also, a LARGE hole is a must. At least 18" by 18", some advise 24"x24", although it can get tough digging! It is also important to be super vigilant about watering, especially in a rose's first season. The plant needs to root, and it needs to stay moist to do so. Once it is well rooted, it can extract nutrition from the soil and do its thing. A final word: I personally believe Own Root roses are the way to go (that's a whole other debate in itself), so if you can find a good source of own root Austins (click on the 'Available At' link on Help Me Find), you can't go wrong... GOOD LUCK!

Reply #5 of 10 posted 22 JUL 06 by waoneal

Wow, thanks. The Austin Catalog says many of its roses do well in only 3-4 hours of sun. Do you know if this is true in our area? I've read differing opinions about it. I have quite a bit of space to work with, but some of it only gets 3-5 hours of sun.	REPLY

Reply #6 of 10 posted 22 JUL 06 by HMF supporting member

ParisRoseLady

There are many Austins (and other roses) that could do fine with the amount of sun you have. Sharifa Asma, for example, is reputed to be shade tolerant. I would call the Austin customer service number and ask them for a list. You can also do an internet search or a search on HelpMeFind for 'shade tolerant Austin roses' or just 'shade-tolerant roses'. Many of the OGR's (Old Garden Roses) are more shade tolerant than modern varieties, for example, Cecile Brunner, Little White Pet, The Fairy, etc. Many Griffith Buck roses as well. The entire species of Hybrid Musk roses are reputed to be more shade-tolerant than others--Cornelia, Penelope, Felicia et al. Nurseries can be helpful too; Rogue Valley Roses has an extensive list of shade-tolerant varieties on their website, I believe the Antique Rose Emporium may as well. Rose books are also an excellent source.

Reply #7 of 10 posted 3 AUG 06 by waoneal

Reply #8 of 10 posted 3 AUG 06 by HMF supporting member

ParisRoseLady

My Dark Lady has not missed a beat in this prolonged heatwave of consecutive 110 heat-index days, with stifling humidity. I have kept her well watered, however, and have sprayed preventatively for blackspot approximately every month since the beginning of the season. She has bloomed prodigiously all throughout this period, and has had next to no blackspot. I find the blooms are not as perfumed in the extreme heat as when the temperatures are more moderate. But they are every bit as beautiful. My lady is an own-root obtained from Roses Unlimited; Chamblee Roses also sells own-root Austins at unbeatable prices, including The Dark Lady.

Reply #9 of 10 posted 3 AUG 06 by waoneal

Reply #10 of 10 posted 14 SEP 06 by gelee

My experience with 3 of The Dark Ladies here in southeast VA parallels Claire's. I improved my clay soil quite a bit with bone meal, peat moss, compost, manure, etc. Even in 102 degree temps the fragrance was very nice, but now that the weather is cooling off I can catch the scent of the 3 DLs from 6 feet away. I spray mine with Bayer Advanced every 7 to 10 days and alternate with Fertilome's fungicide. I mulched these with an inch or two of hardwood bark chunks (wish I had used pine) and then two or three inches of wheat straw (wish I had used pine straw).

In early Sept. I did a foliar feed with fish emulsion/sea kelp on all my roses. The DLs responded fine to that as did everything else. At any given time I have at least 5 or 6 big blooms on each DL.

These are young bushes so the bloom stems are not very strong. When it rains, you can count on drooping DLs. You can't use them in tall vases but in bowls with water 5 or 6 blossoms will last a good while and give a room a pleasant scent.

Now it is on to Jude the Obscure and Teasing Georgia for me. These 3 DLs were my first Austins.