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leo_prairie_view

In praise of Hardy Roses.

leo_prairie_view
12 years ago

I have been meaning to respond to Northspruce calling non HT roses weedy but today it became imperative when 'Stanwell Perpetual' put out it's first bloom. It was also the last to bloom last October. It is a small (2.5') bush that needs support to show off its well formed beautifully scented blooms. Their are other rose ready to burst, "Prairie Peace' & the old standby 'Therese Bugnet'. Therese blooms all summer long and PP has just enough repeat To keep it interesting all summer. It's prime is when it is in early spring full bloom when ti brightens up the whole yard. I will admits that some of the hardy roses may be a bit "weedy" or aggressive. I prefer to say "arching" or "Spreading". I have also been able to use budded ( not on their own root) roses where the suckering would be a problem and radically tackling the suckers where needed elsewhere.

Leo

Comments (4)

  • northspruce
    12 years ago

    Oops, caught! LOL. Actually if you read my definition, "weedy" meant they were ugly when out of flower. Which does apply to a few of mine but some have very nice foliage. I like the rugosa foliage of my Blanc Double de Coubert, but Agnes is incredibly ugly this year. It formed a very large bush last year and put out a couple of 8' high canes. Then this spring only the last 12" of cane have leaves and the rest is naked. It looks terrible.

    My Celestial is having its best season yet and looks beautiful even out of bloom. I'm getting annoyed with Rosa Mundi which is a foot-tall thicket of suckers. Mme. Plantier looks beautiful all the time. I love it with all my (fickle) heart. Based on how they perform and look in my garden, I'd really like to get more of the Alba group.

    Leo, do you still grow Harison's Yellow that I gave you some of? The people who bought my house removed it and it would be nice to think it was still around somewhere. But I'm not sure how that sucker would have fared so if it died I'm sorry...

  • weeper_11
    12 years ago

    The roses I have are Emily Carr, Morden Blush, Persian yellow and Prairie Peace. I am so in love with EC. It has beautiful color and form when it isn't in bloom, and the flowers are gorgeous and everywhere when it is in bloom! Love the color. I love my Morden Blush too, particuarly the partially opened blooms, but I do think it sort of looks like dirty kleenex as the flowers are getting older. My persian yellow seems very healthy, but it hasn't bloomed yet because the stupid deer keep "pruning" it.(it is in a bad spot but I wanted to plant it away from my other roses in case it gets disease)

    Prairie Peace I just bought last year...it came as a couple of twigs, and it sure has grown! I was so impressed by how it had absolutely no cane winter kill. And it is loaded with buds, can't wait to see them open. Leo, I have a question for you: does PP ever get to be more bushy as it gets older? Should I shape it at all? Right now it seems fairly...scraggly. It has 2 ft tall canes that don't really branch out much. And it is suckering already! Are the suckers PP, or are they something else?

  • freezengirl
    12 years ago

    You guys are killing me with your rose talk! I adore the hardy roses and am dreaming of the day when I can purchase some for my new gardens. I suspect it won't be until next year though, my property is still in the taming of the wild stages and of course my garden budget is in the red light danger catagory for this year. Have any of you tried the Hope For Humanity rose? I had it growing in my garden in Minnesota, the color was so deep and rich and velvety it was incredible.

  • beegood_gw
    12 years ago

    I had it for many years and it did great but then it got some big knots on the stem and looked ugly so I sent it to rose heaven. But it is hardy and a very deep red.

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