Hey, Friends! I planted some new roses in my garden today and I’d love to tell you all about it!
A few years ago I started buying bouquets for myself during my weekly grocery shopping trip. (Just at Aldi’s- we’re not fancy here!) The first time I did it on a whim, then I bought them again…and again. After a few weeks I realized that I would love to have flowers to cut growing in my own yard and my cut flower garden was born!
One of the first flowers I planted was roses because they’re so classic and so expensive to buy. At the time I bought a big box rose, then an At Last shrub from our local nursery, and then my mom bought me a Peace rose. The Peace rose has sentimental value because my grandpa had given one to my grandma when they were young, several years before he passed away when my mom was a teenager. The rose grew to be quite large and my grandma tended it frequently during the summers. If you’ve ever smelled a Peace rose, you’ll know they’re highly fragrant. My sister and I would always beg my grandma to give us a rose or two and she would oblige…when she was deadheading or it was a special occasion. She wasn’t the overly indulgent type. My own Peace rose hasn’t grown that large in the six or so years that I’ve had it, but I get a little crazy with the pruning. And so do the deer. Ugh.
After experiencing some success with my first few roses, I wanted more and got the idea to grow climbers up the columns on our front porch. That’s when I discovered David Austin roses. If you’re new to roses, you absolutely must check them out. David Austin bred beautiful, fragrant roses in England for many years and his descendants have continued to do so. Find them at https://www.davidaustinroses.com/.
For our front porch, I chose three Wollerton Old Hall roses; they’re soft ivory with slightly pink centers and they smell divine. They bloom several times throughout the summer and into the fall, starting just before Memorial Day and typically going until the first hard frost. The first bloom is the most stunning, but the subsequent ones are also lovely. Those roses have grown to around 12 feet and wrap around the columns. They are a lot of work, especially in the late winter-early spring when I am pruning and training the canes, but they’re definitely worth it! There’s nothing like enjoying a cup of coffee on your cozy porch surrounded by delicate roses!
Last year I was looking through the David Austin catalog and fell in love with Bathsheba; a beautiful apricot climber. I had to have her, but I waited until my sweet mother gave me a gift card for Christmas (Thanks, Mom!) to buy them. Since I was going to have to pay for shipping, anyway, I figured I might as well two…or three…or why not four?! So I ended up with four roses! After months of waiting, they arrived today and I was able to plant them this afternoon.
David Austin sends bare root roses when they’re ready to be planted based on your growing zone. For me, that is mid-March to mid-April. They arrive looking sort of dead, just a bare root (no soil) and some pruned canes coming out of the top which may or may not have leaf buds on them. You’re supposed to plant them right away to prevent too much stress to the plant, so that’s what i do.
First, I soaked my plants in water for a couple of hours (D.A. says at least two). I just used a five gallon plastic bucket and left them in a partly shaded area.
Then, one by one, I dug each hole so that the width and depth of the roots would fit within it and the part where the green canes come out of the root area ends up about two inches under the soil (about 16”x16” hole).
I sprinkled some fertilizer in the hole, put the plant in, and filled around it with native soil mixed with compost (I didn’t have any regular compost so I used worm castings mixed with worms and partially decomposed food scraps).
Finally, I firmed in the plant by stepping on the soil around it to remove any air pockets around the plant and watered it. Done!
I know you’re desperate to know which roses I ordered. Since you’re twisting my arm, I’ll tell you. In addition to Bathsheba, I purchased James Galway (a pink climber), Gentle Hermione (a soft pink shrub),and The Lark Ascending (a delicate apricot shrub with lots of thorns). I am ridiculously excited to watch these girls grow and flower, though I know it will be a few years before we see much of a show. Worth the wait.
Do you grow roses? Which David Austins would you love to have/do you have in your garden?
I bought my first two David Austin roses this year. I bought two climbing roses, “The Generous Gardener “. In some further blog, will you please post how you trained your roses to grow around the columns? Obviously, mine just look like sticks growing in the ground but there are already a few buds and I can’t wait until it is as beautiful as yours.
That’s so exciting! I will definitely make a post about training climbing roses. Thanks for the comment!