What is your favourite climbing rose? Part 2

Dawn,
thanks for bringing up Antique Rose Emporium.Haven't been on their site in a while.I hear good things about them and glad to hear from you Donna that they're doing good in your climate since we're in the same zone

I just realized that I didn't answer about the DA Heritage.Yes I am shocked in what I see when driving by and just sick about it,so many are not there anymore !! The new owner wanted to buy our house especially since she loves roses and always wanted a rose garden .....and now ? Wish I would have at least taken cuttings since I had a nice collection of DA roses.

Dear B,

I think that when some people say they love roses they mean they love hybrid teas. I'll bet that's what your buyer meant. I notice that the American Rose Society refers to roses like Heritage as "shrub roses". I have been a member for quite some years (don't ask me why - I don't care for hybrid teas) and from some local meetings it is clear that "shrub roses" is a putdown. Struggling to survive, they have started to pay a little attention to the Austins, Mordens and Explorers, but their articles on this are sloppy (how can you fail to include Quadra in the Explorer category) and the presumption of the article seem to infer that those of us who like them have no taste and that those aren't real roses. After all, they feel that those I named aren't good exhibition roses. They judge a rose on the flower alone (no matter how diseased the plant). I volunteered to help with a rose show and the few Austins were poorly displayed. Someone pointed out to me that I should bring in anything from my garden, because no one would compete with me and I would win something. The condition of the Austins made it clear that they had been terribly neglected.

The individuals who live next door to me allowed their landscaper to choose their plants. What's easy to get, low maintenance and probably won't die. Knockouts!

Oh, oh, she's ranting again.

Bad Donna

Donna, Thanks for mentioning Quadra. Very nice red rose - climbing

The Explorer series has several hardy climbers: Marie-Victorin, William Booth, Henry Kelsey, John Cabot, John Davis, John Franklin, Quadra, and William Baffin. I have 17 of the 25 Explorers and love them all.

Joanne

Joanne,

I just love Quadra. How wonderful that you have so many of the Explorers! I leave my Quadra completely exposed all winter in an 8 foot trellis, and when April arrives it just laughs, send out the most gorgeous foliage, and blooms and blooms and blooms. I gave a friend who doesn't want to spend a lot of time tending roses Alexander MacKenzie and it has been just perfect.

Is it true that some of the Mordens are not cane hearty in your zone? I noticed that Morden Blush (I have three) used to lose quite a few canes in the winter that I would prune (it would very quickly replace them and be in bloom in April). But I also noticed that as the plants matured they kept 90% of their canes.

But Quadra never loses any. What amazing programs the Canadians had. I think that they did wonderful work. That program produced the kinds of roses that I put in very prominent spots in my yard, because I can be certain that they will always look great.

(I apologize for being a bit off topic again. Back on roses but only one climber mentioned!)

Well, I belong to ARS and used to subscribe to the chat group in the late 90's--I think it was called a listserve then (doesn't that make me sound old?). I know that some of us on that group were buying Austins when we could find them. We took quite a bit of teasing/minor grief for wasting money on "shrubs" that all looked alike.

I do think the ARS is at least trying to include we Austin/Morden/Buck rose lovers as we are starting to spend quite a bit of money. There are more and more articles in the ARS magazine devoted to the "shrubs" and the yearly survey/evaluation of new roses for the "Selecting Roses" handbook is including more and more of these roses. I find it a bit odd that, upon reading a rescent article about David Austin in the ARS magazine, no real mention of the US mail order retail nursery was included in the article. I would have loved to have read the US manager's take on which Austins are doing well here in Texas. There was an advertisement deeper into the magazine. If one did not read carfully, one would assume that the only way to buy an Austin rose was through European sourses. I found that disconcerting as there are ARS test gardens in Shreveport and there are several Austins being tested there. And Austin USA must splash quite a bit of money on those ads.

Well, anyway, they do really focus on those show roses don't they? Some of us want to just use any number of roses in the landscape. There's my rant.

Speaking of climbers (back to the subject) today I like Malvern Hills. I don't have this rose yet, but am planning for my fall orders and want to find it own root. Angel Gardens lists it (this will be my first order from them and I think all are own root there) but it is not in stock. I think she does custom rooting and I may just go for it......Does anyone know of another source?

Hi Terri,

My observations are in line with yours. My issue with the surveys and evaluations is that they do not include many of the roses I have. Several of them state that there is not enough data to include a rating. So if you have one of those roses, and I have several, you cannot give them any input. And yes, they do not make it clear that Austins can be purchased domestically. makes you wonder if the Austin people are aware of it.

As for Malvern Hills, have you seen this?

http://www.pickeringnurseries.com/web_store.cgi?cod=08

And a list of Austins that they carry:

http://www.pickeringnurseries.com/web_store_08.cgi?&cod=08

They won't be shipping until September, but that's right around the corner.

Donna

Pickering has it, although they will not ship until December.

I love William Baffin.

The large Cabbage roses are my favorites though, as far as flowers but disease in a rose is hard. Where I live watering is a huge issue, in the desert. I seldom have a perfect showing of roses past Spring but this year has been pretty good and I have done some things to get rid of mildew which is often a problem when working and watering in the evenings.

I have a new rose that I just adore. It is the red Lady Banks, guess what it apparently is not a single time bloomer like the white and yellow ones. Two just keep blooming and one has yet to bloom.

Terri,
now that you mentioned it I haven't seen any advertisements in magazines about the American DA roses at all.I used to belong to the ARS as well now I only belong to the American Peony Society.I think it would be advantages even to advertise in decorating magazines .I have bought and collected Victorian Homes and Victoria basically since the beginning.In addition other magazines i.e.Romantic Homes show some wonderful gardens at times and they DO mention DA roses but no advertisement from the sources them self.

As for climbers I would like to recommend LAGUNA and ROSANNA,both by the well known Kordes family/Germany.

Meant to tell you .Two days ago I went to a nursery.....oh what a disappointment again....KO EVERYWHERE :-(( ...but I did pick up JOHN CABOT and will go back today to get WILLIAM BAFFIN if they still have it.Can't beat these two for their hardiness and disease resistance.Both have performed great for me in the past.However "only"mild fragrance but will make up in other ways.

"KO EVERYWHERE"...aarghhh!

Got HIgh Hopes from Pickering this year and it is turning out to be quite wonderful.

My roses have been struggling this year. They had more dieback than usual this winter and are suffering during the heat wave. My knock out relative, Carefree Celebration, keeps blooming. The blooms aren't as large or fragrant as my Austin or antique roses, but it is nice to have some color. The breeder, Radler, has some interesting new roses including a reportedly fragrant one. I am glad that someone is breeding roses for colder climates. Kordes has some hardy roses as well. I wish that the stores would carry their floribundas, especially their fairy tale series.

I have William Baffin growing with clematis rubromargareta. The clematis reached the top of the trellis this year, Baffin is slowly catching up. They didn't bloom at the same time this year.

A novice gardener buying plants at local stores would have a choice of knockouts, body bag roses and blackspotted potted roses - mostly grafted. The knockouts are the most likely to survive their first winter. If you want anything else, you have to use mail order. It is more fun to buy plants in person.

I am glad that I found internet forums like this one to learn about more varieties of roses.

It is absolutely more fun to buy roses in person, especially at the time of peak rose disease. I had read awful things about Glamis Castle, and then saw it in a garden center in Racine in August. Not only was it disease free - it was in full bloom. And better yet, it was marked down from $27.99 to $9.99. Despite the fcat that it was grafted (something I usually avoid) it has now spent 11 years in my garden and bloomed splendidly through the 90 degree heat.

They used to have about 15 Austins (I got my first Heritage there at the same time) for $9.99. No more!

what do you all think of the climbing American Beauty?

It is on my wish list. I love the color. Even though it is a once bloomer, it is said to bloom for a very long time and it gets huge. Being a short little woman of course I like big tall climbers =D! It rates a 7.1 in the ARS Handbook, but is said to do well in the South.

Do you have it?

I want that Peggy Martin...It does not sell around here. Anyone have a rooted cutting they could send me by chance? I love that rebar thing it grew on too btw. love it!!!

I didn't know it was a once-bloomer. I just saw one once on a friend's trellis and asked her its name. I don't want a once-bloomer.
So I guess my favorite red climber is still Don Juan

American Beauty is a once bloomer but is said to bloom for at least two months straight once established. I thought I would do a clematis with it for the rest of the time. Something like that anyway.

I think Don Juan is very cool. You might look at the climbing verion of Tess d'Durbervilles. It holds its red color very well.

I heard after Don Juan takes off it is a beauty.Most likely it depends on a lot of things i.e.temperature,soil...and sometimes they just just sulk for a while.

it is long stemmed so if cut for a bouquet, everyone thinks it is a florist flower except it is very fragrant.

I have a rose "Soaring Flight" that comes from Heirloom Roses and I think the bred it. It is not well known it seems, but it is an incredible continual blooming rambler. It grew very fast from a small ORR. It is now about 15 x 15 and I have to prune it throughout the summer and fall to keep in reined in. I love this rose. I wish more people knew about it and bought it because I think "Heirloom Roses" may not carry it any more.. I agree with one of the other bloggers. I think a lot of places are selling less and less of these roses for the new, what they push as disease resistant and I have had more blackspot on my KO rose then any other roses.
I also love Josephs Coat climber, Don Juan, Crimson Sky. I also do like Flutterbuy because it is pretty and easy to grow and needs little care. Lady Banks in a wonderful rose but only blooms once a year but really puts on a show.. I love Seven Sisters. Oh and don't forget Dortmund which grows fast and blooms all year, beautiful red single blooms with bright yellow center.

Here are some uploads of Soaring Flight.. a great rambler

She is, indeed, a lovely rose!

Heirloom has Soaring Flight listed as out of stock. But I waited for Symphony for several months and they finally filled my order. So they will work with you if you want one of their "out of stock" roses.

Today, as my favorites change daily, I will put in a vote for Dorothy Perkins. She is really a rambler and does only bloom once. But boy, what a show! Sorry about the cell phone photo, but I was brush hogging and took this photo on the wild side of the fence. A great rose for a sunny day!

Wow! She is glorious!

Truly gorgeous!

My Don Juan took a bit of a set back this year with all the horrible icy weather this winter. It was all the way to the top of the gateway last year. We pretty much started from scratch this year but despite that, it is starting to rebound. I went out to the garden this morning and saw this amusing (and completely untouched by me!) placement on the lion's head. I guess the lion on the left is a fancy lady! :)

That is soooo cute!

Thanks! I got a good laugh out of it. :)

Bump!

I love the climbing Madame Caroline Testout. My grandmother has one so it has a special place in my heart. But, I must say that whereas the shrub MCT is lauded for its resistance to black spot, the climber seems to have little resistance at all.