Tuesday 24 December 2013

Friends remembered


Christmas post, final delivery

Peter’s rose. A long-flowering, deliciously scented scented ‘climber’ about five foot high.
I have forgotten the real names of many of my plants. I do remember who gave me them, where and when. Peter’s rose came from Peter Williams who lives down the road. Tony’s rose was given to me by rosarian and former colleague Tony Thompson, known to the students as AJT. 

Tony’s rose. This shrub rose thrives in all of my four gardens! It is a free standing shrub with a very long season of flowering.
The interesting thing about both these roses is that they are on their own roots. Any suckers are welcome! Most of my roses are rooted cuttings and I see that the superiority of  plants from cuttings rather than budding for many, but not all roses, is starting to be recognised. Propagation by budding (grafting) is arguably more for the benefit of the producer rather than for the consumer!

Tony’s rose ten days before Christmas

Peter’s rose also ten days ago

10 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of trying cuttings from the shrub roses on the plot but as they seem prone to black spot maybe it is a pointless exercise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neither Peter's or Tony's rose is prone to blackspot, Sue
      I have most success with ripened shoots in September but you will remember my post last year when I inserted six ten inch shoots of Tony's rose and treated them like hardwood cuttings as you would on the plot. In my post about chickens roosting (!) I reported one fine new plant that grew.

      Delete
  2. I am glad to see I am not the only one who likes roses on their own roots. In my case I knew several years ahead that one day we would be leaving our garden for the new place we were building and so over the years made cuttings of just about all my roses. I am not particularly gifted as a propagator so I will at most get one new rose for half a dozen cuttings but with time I transferred most of my rose bushes to the new garden. I am still doing cuttings but it is because I like doing it (and I am cheap). Nowadays, I often have more than I can use so I give them to friends. Some come from cuttings easily, some are difficult. Ballerina is the easiest I have ever tried. Apparently, rose bushes on their own roots do not get as large. I am not sure that is true. One consideration, important for us, is that they are more resistant to cold.
    Merry Christmas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting to get your experiences Alain. And if one in six root that's brilliant - its just as easy to stick in twenty as it is one - as long as you have the stock!
      I have had an Iceberg thriving in Bolton Percy cemetery for over thirty years now on its own roots..
      As to the size, different varieties have their own vigours, some will be bigger, others smaller I would imagine, Just like apples when for example a dwarf rootstock will hold
      back a vigorous Bramley - perhaps you do not grow Bramley over the 'pond'

      Delete
    2. It is funny you should mention Bramley because where we live there are hundreds of "wild apple trees" (seeded by animals, mostly in ditches). Last year, a neighbour told me about the best apple in the neighbourhood. She was right, it was a very nice apple. We do not have Bramley but when I started looking up this " wild" apple, the look and description of the taste were just like Bramley. It must be close. I expect that at some point in the past someone planted a Bramley somewhere around here. It used to be an apple producing area but no longer is. However there are abandoned orchards all around. Anyhow, I took a lot of cuttings which I plan to graft in the spring. I already have a similar apple I grafted 5 years ago and for the first time this year it produced.

      Delete
    3. In one of my old posts I mentioned how the locals around here used to graft on to wild apples in the hedgerows early last century so they could gather future food later. (put apples in the search box at the top -which still works!

      Delete
  3. Good to see you challenging the "received Wisdom" as usual, Roger. Some of the established practices are anachronistic now. I only have tow roses, and one of them suffers a lot from Black Spot, but although it loses its leaves every year, it always produces a second flush, and flowers well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those are some beautiful shots of your Roses you captured. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

    ReplyDelete
  5. As you say Roger, probably budding is preferred over cuttings more for the benefit of the producer being a matter of numbers. I did some budding and like most horticultural jobs it certainly stretched your back and, as the work is too fiddly to wear gloves, which I didn't normally, it could be hard on the hands!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The attraction to the commercial grower is that he needs less stock (One bud) and he does not need special propagation facilities such as glass and propagation environments. They also get the budding done very quickly. To much bending for we pensioners Rick!

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...