After the rains...
Jul. 31st, 2012 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leene_chanActually, it hasn't stopped raining yet. It's never going to stop raining!
As a result, our yard has become an overgrown, chaotic wreck. I've been gradually reclaiming the garden beds from the weeds. The roses are still doing all right, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
"Charles de Mills" and "Felicite Parmentier" seem to be competing for the Sad Sack Rose of the Year award. I think that CdM is going to win. FP might be slow growing, but CdM doesn't have any leaves right now. It had started to put out new growth, but the new growth wilted and died. Damn powdery mildew.
On the positive side, my beloved "Marianne" has finally started to grow at a decent clip. "Madame Hardy" and "Madame Plantier" are growing a lot, too. "Konigin von Danemark" is getting tall. "Paul Ricault" is doing much better, and "Rook" is starting to catch up to "Duchesse de Montebello" in terms of size and vigor. Really, I hadn't expected "Rook" to do so well.
"Gallicandy" is starting to look normal! It's shot canes out of the sides of the main stick and now resembles a Christmas tree instead of a broom. We're going to get a nice flush from "Lavender Lassie" in a week or so. We've only had that rose for about a month, but it hit its stride right away.
So I guess I can't obsess over the failures: "Prairie Harvest's" awful case of powdery mildew, "Charles de Mills"'s pathetic appearance, "Felicite Parmentier's" ridiculously pokey growth. "Julia Child" and "Margo Koster" are still tiny. We've had a lot of successes so far this year in spite of our failures. And "Chapeau de Napoleon" is really huge. I can't wait to see what it does next year!
I'd like to think that my experiences will help some gardeners choose plants for their collections based off health and vigor. Not all roses are created equal, after all. Some roses just take a few months to set roots before they start growing like mad. And some of them just don't want to do anything at all. XD
Just for reference, I garden in zone 6b and my soil pH ranges between 5.5 (the "Evelyn" bed) and 6.5 (the front yard). The side and back are 6.0. We have a lot of rocks, bugs and weeds in our CT garden. And bunnies. I just found a pile of rabbit poop next to "Aptos" this evening.
As a result, our yard has become an overgrown, chaotic wreck. I've been gradually reclaiming the garden beds from the weeds. The roses are still doing all right, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
"Charles de Mills" and "Felicite Parmentier" seem to be competing for the Sad Sack Rose of the Year award. I think that CdM is going to win. FP might be slow growing, but CdM doesn't have any leaves right now. It had started to put out new growth, but the new growth wilted and died. Damn powdery mildew.
On the positive side, my beloved "Marianne" has finally started to grow at a decent clip. "Madame Hardy" and "Madame Plantier" are growing a lot, too. "Konigin von Danemark" is getting tall. "Paul Ricault" is doing much better, and "Rook" is starting to catch up to "Duchesse de Montebello" in terms of size and vigor. Really, I hadn't expected "Rook" to do so well.
"Gallicandy" is starting to look normal! It's shot canes out of the sides of the main stick and now resembles a Christmas tree instead of a broom. We're going to get a nice flush from "Lavender Lassie" in a week or so. We've only had that rose for about a month, but it hit its stride right away.
So I guess I can't obsess over the failures: "Prairie Harvest's" awful case of powdery mildew, "Charles de Mills"'s pathetic appearance, "Felicite Parmentier's" ridiculously pokey growth. "Julia Child" and "Margo Koster" are still tiny. We've had a lot of successes so far this year in spite of our failures. And "Chapeau de Napoleon" is really huge. I can't wait to see what it does next year!
I'd like to think that my experiences will help some gardeners choose plants for their collections based off health and vigor. Not all roses are created equal, after all. Some roses just take a few months to set roots before they start growing like mad. And some of them just don't want to do anything at all. XD
Just for reference, I garden in zone 6b and my soil pH ranges between 5.5 (the "Evelyn" bed) and 6.5 (the front yard). The side and back are 6.0. We have a lot of rocks, bugs and weeds in our CT garden. And bunnies. I just found a pile of rabbit poop next to "Aptos" this evening.
