steveindenmark
Legendary Member
Just another point on Aldi/Lidl rkses. They appear to dip them in a green wax. Dont let this bother you. It does not stop the plant from growing.
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Just nipped up to Aldi......sadly they didnt have any roses
steveindenmark
Legendary Member
Too late in the year.
Poacher
Gravitationally challenged member
- Location
- Nottingham
As @sheddy said, do some research first - another RHS page here on choosing the best rose for particular purposes and positions.
I have a penchant for old rose varieties, such as Rose de Resht and Baron Girod de l'Ain, but many old varieties are susceptible to various diseases or have short flowering seasons. David Austin modern English roses often combine the glorious scent and very full double blossoms of old roses with strong growth, disease resistance and prolonged flowering, and I have no hesitation in recommending them. From garden centres and David Austin's own nursery, these tend to be expensive - in the region of £20 - but I have on occasion found them very much cheaper, so don't be too hasty, and shop around. A specialised rose grower at Stickney car boot last week had three for £20, and I've even bought some at a Newark gardening event for £3.50. Right now isn't the best time to be planting them anyway.
One further observation; I would never consider a rose with little or no scent!
I have a penchant for old rose varieties, such as Rose de Resht and Baron Girod de l'Ain, but many old varieties are susceptible to various diseases or have short flowering seasons. David Austin modern English roses often combine the glorious scent and very full double blossoms of old roses with strong growth, disease resistance and prolonged flowering, and I have no hesitation in recommending them. From garden centres and David Austin's own nursery, these tend to be expensive - in the region of £20 - but I have on occasion found them very much cheaper, so don't be too hasty, and shop around. A specialised rose grower at Stickney car boot last week had three for £20, and I've even bought some at a Newark gardening event for £3.50. Right now isn't the best time to be planting them anyway.
One further observation; I would never consider a rose with little or no scent!
Davis Austin roses can be expensive compared to one from say Aldi, but then Aldi haven't spent years selectively breeding varieties from thousands of seedlings. I am more than happy to pay the twenty pounds for a DA rose, the quality and varieties are second to none.
If you can buy a rose from a specialist grower.
If you can buy a rose from a specialist grower.
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
I never used to like roses as I felt I was too young, but in the last 7 years I have really enjoyed them. Like @Poacher I prefer bouquet rather than bloom. I grow Madame Alfred Carrier which wafts down the street and is about as blousy as I’ll go. Almost no thorns. I also grow Wedding day which I have grown into a tight, formal arch leading to my edible garden. It’s bouquet is particularly delightful but the thorns are the antithesis of any happy marriage I heard of. (In full bloom, that arch is almost white. It’s now way over as you see in the photo)
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That has taken lots of TLC.
Too late for me to think of an actual rose garden so the visual is more important than the scent.
I have had a thought...... B&Q.....they may have some left at a decent price.
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
No rush. All the roses I plant are bare root, winter stock or planted from pots in the autumn and they’ll establish better. Nothing much is going to happen now anyway.
Not much TLC needed. That arch took maybe 2 seasons to look like that. Wedding Day is vigorous. If anything too vigourous for that arch. I need to clip it a few times a year or else I’d bleed to death visiting the chickens.
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PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
First you always get what you pay for, quality is expensive.
Your DIY warehouse will be paying the minimum and selling as high as possible. The £4.99 rose is £5 less VAT bringing it down to £4, most plants are retailed at a 2.75 multiple which means the grower will have received £1.40 for the plant which took him two years to grow.
Your specialist is difficult to assess in a similar manner. Is this a grower or simply a retailer calling itself a specialist? If you can give a name I can probably answer that question.
For outstanding roses, especially old English, it's always worth going for David Austin. To an extent you're paying for brand, presentation, etc. but there is no doubting the quality.
Another great producer is Wharton's Roses who you will find in many garden centres and possibly B&Q. They offer more traditional hybrid T and floribunda roses.
Both Aldi and B&Q buy from some of the UK's top growers. Delivered plant quality is always first class, the issues arise in store. Try to establish when your local store takes delivery and shop on that day.
Always keep in mind low cost plants will have been grown to that price. The grower is unable to use the very best of everything in order to allow the retailer to achieve it's margin.
It's always better to buy dormant roses.
Ganymede
Veteran
- Location
- Rural Kent
I actually disagree about David Austin - some of his are great but others have heavy heads which bend down as the stalks are too thin to hold the flowers up (eg variety "Olivia Rose Austin" which has beautiful flowers which look at the ground. A great many of his are such tight double flowers that the bees don't get a look-in. Having said that, his "Gentle Hermione" is very good. Personally I like "Jaqueline du Pre", very lovely single rose but can be prone to black spot.
I cannot deny some of the heads can bend. I planted Munstead Wood which for the first three years was quite floppy, however as it has matured it now holds up quite well. I am not bothered about his roses being tight doubles, I grow his roses for the beauty of their form and perfume, I have other flowers in the border to attract the insects i.e. single Dahlias and Agastache's. Gentle Hermione is a cracker, Gertrude Jekyll is my personal favourite beautiful flowers with a scent to die for.
Ganymede
Veteran
- Location
- Rural Kent
Ahh, interesting, I had Munstead Woods - I didn't choose it, but I did love the colour and scent (though it's one of those tightly-wound anti-bee ones). Mine died completely inexplicably after a year and a half. It was in a very large mixed bed with a few other new roses scattered about, which are all fine. Hey ho. I wish it had survived to grow more portly.
Love Agastache btw.
"The Countryman" is another good rose - really lovely scent - very strong and sweet.
- Location
- Manchester
Get your new rose in the spring next year. You already have the space ready for it so it can go straight in and grow away with your other new ones from this year.
Just been on the phone to Fryers Roses who tell me they have a good selection of potted rose bushes.
Part of my child like feeling is I HAVE TO DO IT NOW WHILE I HAVE DUG THE AREA.
The other part tells me you are correct.
Next spring wins
