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I may be a bit of a pushover in that I will put up with a lot if a rose will reward me with a lovely fragrance, and cold hardiness. Some roses have done this cheerfully without asking for much like Marie Pavie. Some have taken advantage (*looks at Golden Celebration*). But Poet's wife is a genuine puzzle.
It is a lovely plant in my garden. Tinier than the Austin catalogue states, just 1.5 feet after 3 seasons in my bitterly cold zone 5 Chicagoland garden, but full and chunky. It blooms its heart out and in spring, the flowers are the clear perfect yellow of optimism and hope given rose form. Even when faded, it is a lovely shade of melted butter. Like most Austins, if fed and watered, it flowers reliably several times during the year.
Its leaves remain glossy and unblemished by blackspot - a huge issue in my garden even though it is a bit crowded by nigella and does not get the best air circulation.
So why do I not love this rose?
No fragrance. Not even a little in my garden. With 5 roses, all bought directly from Austin, and 3 years, I am hypothesizing this is a matter of soil chemistry. I can smell neighbor Roald Dahl very well.
Since this is in a prime location where fragrance really matters, I need to decide if I should move these beauties to where their loveliness can still be appreciated but where I will not be always looking at them with judgment.
I would suggest that you smell these if possible before you commit to several.
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Thank you for an excellent review on The Poet's Wife. A friend grew it (grafted-on multiflora) and she disliked its "marigold" scent.
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If there is a more eager to please white rose that is hardy in zone 5, I have not met it and I would love to hear about it. Because there is no rose that out performs MP in enthusiasm- be it the vivacity of her fragrance or the ebullience of her blooms. Not in my garden.
After a spring show that is almost blizzard like, she is never, not once, without flower or bud, and I am not talking a flower or two. But generous productions.
She is not fragrant up close, but she perfumes the entire garden because she wafts gloriously.
She gets a bit of chlorosis (yellowing of leaves) in spring in early spring so that is the only care I provide for her. One spring feeding of acidic fertilizer.
I deadhead her lazily. Dead flowers dont bother me as it is part of the plant. I don't fuss over her like I do lver my Austins. A lot of my ogrs and earthkinds are to allow me to grow some more water intensive roses without guilt, so I expect them to be less remotant. But she outperforms all my roses, including the inherited knockouts despite being out of the drip irrigation line.
Blackspot in my climate is an inevitability and no rose is completely immune unless one sprays. I spray minimally, 6 times all growing season(4× organic, 2x mancozeb) and only at night. This is barely enough for many. I do not need them for MP.
She has been a delight and I try not to take her for granted.
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After a few seasons in my Chicagoland garden, I feel comfortable enough to comment on this lovely rose. In this climate most Austin roses stay close to their catalogue size and Desdemona is still tiny after 3 seasons after 2 mild winters. Her first flush is profuse, and she is the first to bloom. She almost always has blooms on her. Her fragrance is mouthwatering lemony almond cookie and she holds it close to her petals for you to discover.
Perhaps my only "complaint" about this rose is that in my garden, she is not a white rose. She has pink buds, she often has an eggshell or cream aspect to her, sometimes she is tinged pink. Thus, she cannot perform her role of tying the rose bed together as a neutral. But she is so lovely, I am letting her be.
She is becoming one of my favorite Austins.
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