I'd go with a noisette or tea-noisette or a large hybrid musk like Lavender Lassie, as they are more continuously in bloom. Maybe Peggy Martin, who will grow anywhere. I love the way she hangs.

My first thought is Reve d'Or which would complement Mutabilis very nicely. It should do very well in your climate, is not very thorny and overall is quite healthy. Cl. Lady Hillingdon would also be a good choice, but for me it's taken longer to mature than Reve d'Or.

Ingrid

Thanks. I've never seen Lavender Lassie or Peggy Martin offered here, but will look into it. I will see if RdO is available on fortuneiana.

What is Zephrine Drouhin like?

Zephy blackspots like crazy. For me, I get a great spring flush, some fall flush and not much between. Crepuscle is another possibility--apricot side of yellow, but would also go nicely with Mutabilis and more flexible. Also nearly thornless and takes shade.

What about a non-rose? I'm thinking that with something going from yellow to pink on one side, and white on the other, something like Salvia 'Black and Blue' could serve to set each neighbor off.

:-)

~Christopher

I'm really after a climber to cover the kumquat.
But might underplant with some blue agapanthus.

I like crepuscule, but it grows into more of a weepy shrub than a climber here.

Adam, I have some concern for the permanency of the situation. In my experience, dead trees -- eventually -- rot out and fall over. That would likely happen right about the time your rose hits its stride.

I'm never terribly concerned about color -- so long as you don't stick something screaming meemie orange in there, I suspect you'll do just fine, colorwise.

I would dare to suggest a dark red, such as 'Cl. Cramoisi Superieur,' or (if you think there's room) maybe 'Marie Nabonnand' -- making a distinct separation between the Mutabilis and the Plumeria.

Jeri

Thanks Jeri.
The kumquat actually looks to be making a comeback, but I still think I'd like to add a climber.
Right now I'm leaning towards pink Maman Cochet. It doesn't seem too vigorous.

I've never seen the climbing version, but the bush, at least, is beyond lovely. And always clean, too!

Hi Adam

Are you getting anywhere yet with your decision-making? I've given your question quite a bit of thought, actually, but really, each time I've thought I've got a good answer/ suggestion, I see a drawback with it and have to have a rethink. It seems to me to be rather a tricky one, to get the perfect solution here...

If it does indeed turn out that your cumquat is recovering, it seems to me it does change the criteria quite a bit; since as well as coordinating nicely with Mutabilis (always a bit tricky, IMO) and the frangipani (which I'm guessing has those lovely waxy white flowers with creamy yellow centres, seen close up), your rose would need to coordinate in both colours and timings with the cumquat's own cycle of blossom (lemony- or creamy-white, Spring?) and showy orange fruit - and I understand that the fruiting season can continue for many months through Summer and Autumn, maybe even into Winter in your warm climate? Also, anything too vigorous and/or heavily foliaged might tend to block out light and air from the little tree and be an additional stress on it, as well as possibly competing for water and nutrients. Or am I over-thinking/complicating the whole thing?
I like the contrast the lighter, more yellowy- green foliage of the cumquat provides between its darker neighbours in your photograph; it might be nice to keep something of that foliage contrast. But what rose flower colour would go with all those different colours of flowers and fruit? My brain is spinning!
I certainly think a less vigorous rose would be desirable, unless you really don't care all that much if the cumquat survives. I guess if it did die (thinking of Jeri's concerns), it might be possible to bang in some big posts or something to stabilise the whole thing. There again, with a big sturdy rose, dead tree and rose might just all combine together into a huge self-supporting mound... maybe something like a big old Lorraine Lee, the Australian-bred Aleister Clark (sp?) year-round flowering, heat-loving coppery-pink climber would do this? But there again... maybe a spring-flowering creamy-white rambler with sprays of little orange hips in Autumn, to complement the cumquat fruit might look prettier?... When is the plumeria's flowering season? Does it lose its leaves in Winter?

Sorry this post is really just a sort of summary of my train of thought, and is full of more questions rather than answers. I don't know whether it helps your process at all or not...

I hope you and your family are keeping safe from the bushfires; the Adelaide Hills ones seem to have settled down for the time being. Thank goodness no humans killed. Just homes, properties, and lots and lots of animals... just awful to think of....

Comtesse

Hi Comtesse. Thank you so much for your input.
I was at the rose nursery on monday and had a climbing pink Mamon Cochet on the counter, but asked to put it back at the last minute (I had three others to pay for so it wasn't a wasted trip). I saw that the plant had some old balled blooms on it, and wanted to do a bit of research on that before I committed.
Since I last posted I pulled up all the succulents and cycads that I had under the cumquat and applied a very wide, deep layer of sugarcane mulch. I have also been bucketing washing up water onto it, and it seems to be recovering. Whilst before if was almost completely yellow, it has sent out a lot of new green growth and isn't looking quite so terrible.
I will see how it travels over summer and reasess the situation. If its looking OK, now I am thinking that a small climber or pillar rose with lax canes might be a better option than a full climber. Maybe crepuscule would fit the bill afterall.
the kumquat has tiny almost inconspicuous white flowers in summer (it actually has one or two on it despite its poor health) and the frangipani blooms all summer and loses its leaves towards the middle of winter.
Jeri suggested a dark red. I do have a longing to grow a Tradescant...

Comtesse's comments about matching flowering periods now have me thinking. Given mutabilis is such a flower machine, maybe I should go for another equally floriferous plant.
I have an established 'old blush' growing in a pot that would actually fit the bill (bottom left)

Probably the perfect choice.

In my own garden I have recently planted 'Mutabilis' near a pernetiana climber 'Climbing Shot Silk'. The color range of the roses themselves is rather similar, the warm pink-yellow range. 'Cl Shot Silk' blooms repeatedly rather than constantly, but still repeats quite well for a climbing hybrid tea. The roses are larger and strongly fragrant, while 'Mutabilis' has no fragrance I can detect. And I like the pairing of the plant forms as well, a large bushy shrub planted just to the side of a large climber on a trellis just off the side porch of the house.

Sometimes I just plunk roses in the ground where I can find a space for them, but this placement I thought about for quite a while before moving several plants to make it possible.

Rosefolly

I can detect a faint peppery scent in mutabilis on cool mornings. But it doesn't last long!

Old Blush and Mutabilis are the best of friends! I think you're on to something if the size and habit of OB suit you. -Carol

Update.

Looks like the kumquat is bouncing back. Its canopy is almost completely green again which is excellent news because I do hate to cut down trees (good trees, not the trashy Robinias, variegated Christmas tree and Japanese pepper I hacked down when I moved in).

I am now pretty set on liberating one of my existing potted roses and planting it in this spot. I think my best options are the aforementioned bush Old Blush or my La Vesuve.

Would Old Blush or La Vesuve perform better in this semi-shaded spot? It gets full aftermoon sun and lots of morning sun in summer, then essentially full sun in winter when the frangipani drops its leaves.

For some reason I think the foliage and almost bicolor flowers of La Vesuve would look nicer. And the flowers don't melt in the sun.

Adam, what about competition from the tree roots? Sometimes a rose will have a hard time flourishing if it's planted close to trees.

Having said that if it were me I'd plant Le Vesuve because for me Old Blush always seems to have mildew on the stalks below the flowers or somewhere on the bush, although your specimen looks great, as does Le Vesuve. I would go with whatever you personally prefer. I wish I could grow roses in pots successfully; I'm quite jealous of yours.

Ingrid

Oops, double post

This post was edited by ingrid_vc on Fri, Jan 30, 15 at 18:47

Ingrid, the secret is fish poop ;-)

Plumeria and citrus don't seem have overly invasive roots. But I guess it will be an experiment.

I think I read that kumquats need quite generous feeding during growing/ blossoming/ fruiting periods and consistent moisture (but good drainage) to do well - I expect you know all about that anyway. But I was thinking that with a substantial rose under it, this would be doubly important to keep on top of, to ensure both have sufficient nutrition/moisture to meet their needs and flourish. (As Jeri suggested, but I'm also thinking more about the needs of the tree)

I'm now also wondering about the possible risk of damage to the tree's root system when digging the planting hole. I don't know about kumquats (fortunella sp) specifically, but I understand that citrus in general have rather shallow root systems, located within the canopy's 'drip line', and mostly within 30cm/1ft of the surface; plus, if there's mulch around the base, feeder roots will apparently even grow up into the mulch too. Which is I suppose why one often hears that the ground around the base of citrus trees should be kept clear.

Maybe it would be something worth bearing in mind, anyway...

I seem to spend far too much time finding problems for you, Adam!
Ahem..Sorry about that...

Comtesse
:ì)

Correction: as Ingrid suggested...

:ì)

You can see in the update photo that I can see straight into my neighbour's yard under the canopies and I'm really not thrilled about that.Plus the fence is really ugly, so I definitely want something to screen it. I'll just have to keep the water and lupin mulch coming a day hope it works out OK. I might even do some vertical mulching to help the kumquat out a bit.

Just a thought about the plumeria: Don't let the rose climb right on it or too close to it where it can brush against the softer bark of the limbs. They are soft wooded and can scratch easily from the thorns and leak white latex everywhere. The real problem is when the wind blows and they get all scratched up leaving the plumeria limbs open to fungal diseases and rot.
I found this out when I had thorny bougainvillea too close to my large plumeria trees and they climbed up them and every time it got windy it scratched and gouged them up lol.
~SJN

So the kumquat yelloewed off completely and got cut down, but Le Vesuve is settled in nicely. Mutabils just keeps growing and pumping out flowers.

Looking good, Adam and the great thing is that Le Vesuve's thorns will repel any unwanted visitors over the fence :)

Which is good because those neighbors just got robbed on sunday night.

Poor people! I hope your roses continue to be deterrents. If all else fails there is always New Dawn etc etc. :-D