| Hi there, I have two, soon to be five, David Austin roses. A David Austin rose was my first rose, Tradescant, which is nine years old. I also have Heritage, which is going on 6 years old. (Three new DAs arrived today: Jude the Obscure, Lady Emma Hamilton, and Charles Mackintosh.)I also have a rugosa, a William Baffin (climber), and three teas or floribunda (can't remember): Honor, Cherish, and Melody Perfume. All of the roses are taken care of organically. My rugosa is the most troublesome: it develops powerdery mildew in August just about every year. I simply prune at the first sign, and it keeps thriving and blooming. My Austins have been very easy to take care of and their smell is, to me, just heavenly, which is why I'm so excited about my three newbies. Also, they bloom two and three times each summer. Heritage has even put on a fourth bloom a couple of years. I do very little for winter care. I mound up some mulched up leaves and compost in November. All are planted with the bud union 3-4 inches beneath the ground. I like my teas/floribundas/whatever because of what they represent. They were anniversary presents (different years) meant to represent vows (love, honor, cherish --love died in the garden lol) and my husband is a musician (melody perfume). However, they are not very interesting, to me, in comparison to the shape, fragrance, and color (leaves and blooms) of the DAs and the rugosa. The thing I liked least about the organic care was squishing caterpillars, aphids do not bother me. However, we are now trying to encourage more butterflies and hummingbirds, so I am simply relocating the caterpillars I find -- unless they are gypsy moth caterpillars. Reading around these forums and getting some books on roses and organic care of roses is helpful, too, for me. :)I've been doing lots of reading around here about planting bare root roses in the past few weeks! Cheers,
Nora |
