Saturday 6 June 2009

WHAT MORE ROSES!

Cottage rose
Rosa Mundi a sucker from Dad's garden.

This is to show what a problem I have with ground elder, it seems never ending. Once I can get it down a little I will then paint the leaves with systemic weed killer that's the theory anyway. Ground elder grows towards the sun and loves to get it's roots under paving. I am trying to keep it from getting into the box on the right. So far it has only got into the one at the bottom right and not quite reached the vegetable beds.

Sweet Juliet. I used to plant annuals in these beds but they never did so well and now the roses are so big I have been planting up Geranium Magnificum and Alchemilla Mollis to succeed the daffodils. I think they both are good companions for the roses.

Charles de Mills is another sucker from Dad's rose. This like Rosa Mundi and Rosa Gallica Officinalis all sucker well and these can be taken to grow as new plants. I just posted this on My English Country Garden blog. Anyone wanting to quickly and cheaply get that cottage garden look could increase their roses this way but of course they do not repeat flower like David Austen English roses do.
Mayor of Casterbridge is quite something.



This is Francis E Lester but typical that the Bindweed had to get in on the act!

Noble Anthony last but not least












21 comments:

  1. Joanne, now I think of you as a rosarian.

    Lovely photos. Have you ever bought from Peter Beales roses?

    Rob

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  2. Hi Rob
    I am flattered. No I haven't bought from Peter Beale's although I have a very old catalogue I sometimes flick through. I suppose my interest was captured through my Dad with the David Austen English roses. Dad has lots of big shrub roses which I don't have room for and the repeat flowering of DA English roses is such a bonus. Something I miss with the rambler's which is why I have lots of clematis growing in them.

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  3. Ooooohhh they are all lovely! Your a woman after my heart with your old fashioned roses.

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  4. Gorgeous!! I'm trying to find a smaller size pink rose that is a repeat bloomer, any suggestions?
    I had no idea that some roses suckered and could be started as a new plant. Your got a couple of very pretty ones that way!

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  5. My experience with Peter Beales wasn't a happy one. I ordered six old roses, and they sent two wrong ones. They eventually replaced those, but by that time I had lost six weeks' growing time and no flowers this season, with very little top growth.
    Expensive too. Meanwhile I bought the ones I wanted somewhere else, in a pot, and half the price. Those are doing fine.

    I wish I liked Austin roses. From a distance they are OK but close-up they all look identical to me with those crowded centres. Artificial with the smell of fabric softener and room fresheners. As usual, I am the odd one out. Sigh.

    Nice collection of groundelder, Joanne. But not a patch on mine :-)

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  6. And why not more roses. Ground Elder is just evil and I've never got rid of it either.

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  7. Hi Brooke thank you
    Catherine when you say smaller size do you mean the height of the plant or size of the flower. Cottage ros is about knee height and the flowers are not as big as many but have a look at David Austen roses and you will see they give good guidance on height etc they are distributed world wide.
    Carolyn Thank you
    Joco sorry about your experience with Peter Beales. I did have two substituet ramblers from DA but infact they turned out to be real treasures. You and I can disagree on DA roses I guess you may prefer the HT type flowers OK I like people to be honest and value all opinions. Well I am really sorry to hear you have even more ground elder but that of course was only one area of it.
    Hermes It is nice to hear that others also have problems with it. Of course I believe much of it comes through from next door. We did get a good hold of things until I was unable to garden. Mike doesn't have quite the same desire to get rid of it 'It's green'! Now though it's days are numbered.

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  8. Your rosed are beautiful, so many pretty pinks. I particularly like the Mayor of Casterbridge. Who could resist so many petals on one bloom?

    Is ground elder the same as goutweed or bishops weed (Aegopodium)? You're not going to believe this, but here they sell the vairegated form in garden centres. I shudder whenever I see it being sold. The previous owners of my house actually planted it along the side of the house. I had a terrible time getting rid of it. It sent runners under the sidewalk, and into the lawn on the other side. You can mow their little heads off as many times as you want, but they still pop back up fresh. I had to pry up the sidewalk blocks to get rid of the runners. It's mostly gone now, but the odd leaf pops up here and there.

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  9. Very nice collection of roses Joanne. We only have a couple because of the deer - and their days are always numbered!

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  10. You garden must smell divine Joanne :)

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  11. Northern Shade Yes the same. I remember on a gardeners world TV program them saying years ago that the variagated variety was not as invasive but it made me shudder at the thought. I think it was Alan Titchmarsh and some years later I heard him say that it was very invasive. I often wondered how many had innocently planted it and sufferred the consequences.

    Rain Gardener we used to have a problem with deer eating the roses in the front garden but since more houses have been built they don't seem to come this way thank goodness.

    Anna Yes it does and especially today after the rain and when the sun came out. I wish you could bottle it I don't think any perfume comes near.

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  12. I love posts about roses! I think I share your taste too. I've only got one DA rose but I'm pleased with it. I don't like the smell much. His nursery supply loads of old roses too. I've bought from Peter Beales as well and found them excellent - very friendly and helpful, sending good roses. I've not found them elsewhere for less but they were rare (I love early hybrid teas).

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  13. I've fallen in love with the Mayor of Casterbridge.
    Apparently ground elder is edible - I have put some recipes for it on the right hand sidebar of my bog - NOTE - I haven't actually tried them so they may be completely inedible!

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  14. Happy Mouffetard I did cook ground elder many years ago as a vegetable but did not like it at all. I did notice the recipes on your blog but shan't bother trying again. Gald you enjoyed the Mayor of Casterbridge.
    EB Glad you enjoyed the roses. I am sure Peter Beales are just as good as DA certainly I enjoy their stand at Hampton Court RHS show. But as I said I am a fan of DA English roses.

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  15. I didn't know you could take suckers and start new ones. I am anxious to learn roses, i only have a few and I am winging it with them I will follow your posts for more info. thanks

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  16. Hi Teresa I have only done it with Old Roses. Modern roses are grafted onto a different root stock and can send up suckers from the root stock these are different than the main rose and should be removed and discarded. They eventually reduce the strength of the rose if left to develop.

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  17. Hi Joanne, I just love your beautiful roses! It must be like a dream walking through your gardens. Guess what: I tested positive for Lyme Disease! I've been on doxycyclene for 2 wks.(due to an infected tick bite, before the test was done) and the doctor just called to confirm the dx. & wants to put me on another round! About 5 days after the bite I got a stiff neck...then several symptoms that suddenly 'came on'. Mostly though, signs don't show right away. I think I'll be ok. I've dealth w/some pain issues for the past 2 yrs. anyway, so it would be hard to tell the difference, I think! I take Lyrica because of it. Just thought I'd mention that. I don't think it'll progress like yours did...thankfully. I am still sorry to hear how much YOU had to go through. I hope you are improving daily...in every way. I know you said you are 'better' but I still hope each day is better than before;-)

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  18. Hi Joanne, yes a true rosarian, and a veggie gardener to boot! A perfect combination. Your gardens are so orderly, to my eyes, with the hedging and trusses adding artful decor to the utility. We are having our very first broad beans here, they took forever to bean up, but are doing well now. Not weeding so as not to damage the plants seems a good idea. :-)
    Frances

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  19. Hi Francis Thank you for your kind comments. Our beans are a bit slow but I expect the recent rain will fatten them up. Yes perhaps that's why Mike isn't keen on weeding out ground elder, in case he damages plants!

    Jan Yes it feels like heaven, truely.
    Well I am so sorry you have tested positive for Lyme that is very unusual to get a positive so soon after the bite it is usually considered to be 6 weeks before a positive develops being an antigen test. So glad you were on antibiotics so soon, make sure you take the bigger dose and for 4-6 weeks see ILADS guidelines on top right of my blog, or Burrascano guidelines included on ILADS site. I understand within 12 hours of the bite the infection can disseminate throughout your central nervous system so it is important to treat fully even in the early stage, many doctors do not treat strong enough dose or long enough. About week 4 I had the most awful flu like illness like none I have had before I thought it could be meningitis but the rash was on my foot/ankle so decided it was not meningitis but I could hardly move through weakness and my joints were in such pain even toes and fingers. I did not realise that this was the real start of lyme until 4 years later.
    I am so glad you have a doctor that is treating you, hopefully you will have no further problems. It's all such a mess over Lyme once it get's into the later stages. Can you believe that Conneticut has just passed a bill to allow doctors to treat following ILADS guidelines(in essence) without fear of reprisals from health agencies. Conneticut are the fifth State in USA to pass a bill to allow doctors to treat Lyme patients long term if necessary. I watched a video of the proceedings. The amount of sufferring by so many people and the need to pass such bills is a disgrace to the health services, in all countries it is the same problem just because of bunch of muppets who wrote the IDSA guidelines that restricts diagnosis and treatment. Here I go again. I go on not because of bitterness at my experience but so others will be more aware. What concerns me most is the children who are the most vulnerable. Lewis Jeynes case has taken 3 years of serious decline in health before finally getting a diagnosis of lyme Disease. The link into his blog is on my list. It is likely to be a struggle for him to be adequately treated and even if he is it will be a very difficult journey. It all makes me so cross. I know of several other young children and their families who also have a terrible time but Lewis story has touched me the most.

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