English Roses

'Sharifa Asma'

I was thinking about what I'm most excited about blooming this year, and I think it has to be my new David Austin (English) roses.

After tearing out my giant, blackspot-addicted climbing roses from the pergola last summer and moving them to the far corner of the back yard, I made a pact with myself to only adopt roses that are disease-resistant from now on.

My purchases last year of 'Mardi Gras', 'Tamora', and 'Sun Flare' turned out to be great. They had no (or very minor) problems, bloomed all summer, and I didn't have to spray the darned things every other week.

This spring, I moved some stuff out an overgrown front bed and replaced several too large shrubs with 'Sunny Knock Out' roses. They should be extremely hardy and bloom non-stop through fall. I also got a standard (tree) rose of 'Cinco de Mayo' from Bennett's, an All-American Rose Selection (AARS) winner that I am excited about seeing bloom too.

'Pat Austin'

But, my most anticipated purchases were three David Austin roses - 'Pat Austin', 'Sharifa Asma', and 'Anne Boleyn'. I ordered them as own-root roses (not grafted) from Chamblee's. That way, if (when) I kill several of the canes, they'll still come back as the intended plant. (Plus, they're supposed to be hardier and more disease-resistant when own-root).

David Austin breeds his roses to have the same form/habit as old roses (scent, high petal count, bushy form, etc.) , but with modern roses' disease resistance, vigor, and repeat bloom. They're all so pretty - it was hard to limit myself to just three!

'Anne Boleyn'

Matt and I were both excited to receive UPS packages last week. He got birthday presents (tools), and I got flowers. The roses from Chamblee's look great and all had blooms on them. I got all three planted in the garden this past weekend and can't wait to see if own-root roses really are better.

Of course, all of this is dependent on my "problem child" staying out of the flower beds. He's been obsessed with a bunny nest on the other side of the fence from my tree rose, and last week he dug up the clematis I purchased from the spring plant sale. I used bone meal - a doggie attractant - when I planted the roses last weekend, but also left a good sprinkling of red pepper on top. Hopefully he'll get a mouthful of that and stay out of the plant beds!