Thursday, April 13, 2006

Why Can't I Grow Wonderful Roses? (con't)

In all fairness to myself, I do have a few roses that work well. Of the Explorer roses John Franklin gets hacked down to a manageable size every couple of years, while John Cabot, Henry Kelsey and William Baffin are happily reaching for the sky while growing on supports. Capt Samuel Holland is coming along. We took down a large fir tree two years ago and it landed on De Montarville. I hear is is a lovely rose. I hope it recovers fully this year.

But the floribundas (and a couple of HT's that I was given) are just not working.

Successful Roses
Playboy
Double Delight
Knockout
Marina
Rio Samba looks very pretty good in the fall
Climbing Iceberg - mediocre(not a climber in my climate)
Gertrude Jeykll - mediocre
Chuckles - just so-so

Sad-Looking Roses
Outta the Blue (I guess its kinda mediocre)
Celebration
Lavaglut (a milk carton rose that looked great the first year, then I moved it and its not near as nice anymore)
Royal Bonica (very sad)
Sunsprite (this is supposed to be a wonderful rose???)
Playboy 2
Europeana (kinda mediocre)
Tabris
Burgund

SSOS (single stem on steroids) Roses
Gemini
Sheila's Perfume
Flutterbye
All That Jazz

(I believe this is Gemini, a plant that was given to me by someone who had deer problems and had never even seen it bloom)

New Ones Bought Last Summer
About Face (sure didn't look happy last year)
Sexy Rexy (same)
Perfume Perfection
Honey Perfume
Heart 'n Soul
International Herald Tribune
Dream Orange

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I adore the scent of Double Delight. Smells like a true rose.

Some things that you haven't commented on that you might check:
* pH of the soil. Is it to the roses' liking?
* Water: is your sandy soil draining too fast? I've found that my potted roses get brown leaf margins if I don't water them properly.
* What kind of "organic matter"? Could there be something in it that the roses don't like?

8:27 p.m.  
Blogger Muriel said...

Thank you!
Years ago we had the soil tested and it was 7.0, but with all that I have done to it, it certainly could be different. So I shall check again.
It is bone dry here, so gardening cannot happen without watering. I do that fastidiously.
Organic material has been peat moss (though I have stopped using it), leaf mold (usually from maple trees), horse manure (though I haven't used that for awhile).
I will definitely explore the pH situation further, as that could be an issue.
Thanks again!

8:47 a.m.  

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