I LOVE Tamora. I have one from David Austin, but it suffered greatly last year and I'm afraid it's gone. I would love to get one grafted on fortuniana, since mine was always a smallish bush. I wish Nelson's shipped.

Buford they do ship. Here is the link, and it looks like Tamora is in stock.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nelson's

Jack, the story of your visit to this nursery is very enjoyable, and I was happy to see the picture since I have two specimens of Grande Dame that were planted recently. I cannot wait to see a flower and smell that strong perfume. I'm told this rose does very well in a hot and dry climate and is very healthy.

Ingrid

Nelsons is an amazing resource for Roses If it weren't for them we probably wouldn't have any Fortuniana grafted roses in South Florida. I am also a fan of K and M nursery but Nelsons really is the source for many of our roses down here. I have called them and ask them for varieties and have gotten excellent customer service via the telephone. I do wish I could directly order from them though, that is my only complaint. They seem to have the best variety on fortuniana, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find. I'm very glad to hear they have some Austins now because as of yet, I heard they only had Abraham Darby. I may have to take a road trip up there now that I know they do sell to customers on Saturdays. :)

Hi

I have been to Nelson's last summer. Bought Tamora and SdlM, both grafted on Fort. For some reason they are not growing well. Also bought climbing Iceberg on Fort from Lowe's. Also not growing well....Other own roots bought from Chamblee and Heirloom are doing good. I am still wondering what to do. I use the granular fertilizer from Nelson's, it is their own mix.

Norizam, what is the issue you are having with them? Is it black spot? Do you spray? What varieties have you had success with on their own roots? I grow duchess de Brabant and Quietness (from chamblees) own root and they have done great. But some of my grafted roses (fortuniana) like John Paul the second have been mediocre at best. Sometimes I think it has much more to do with the actual variety then the graft. It's kind of hit or miss. Meanwhile I have Belinda's dream both grafted and own root. And my grafted one performs 10x better.

Ingrid,

Thanks for the kind words. I've read enough of your graceful posts to know that you are a true writer and the fact that you enjoyed my story of my trip to Nelson's means a lot to me!

Here's hoping your two Grande Dames thrive! If the rose I saw Saturday is typical of what the plant offers, then you'll be thrilled.

Wow! "What a difference a day makes, twenty-four little hours." Did I ever get a surprise when signing on...and my photo vanished, so here we go again.

I just got Grande Dame a few weeks ago. It is on its own root. There are 2 rooted cuttings in the band sized pot. They were so tiny but have already grown enough that I need to pot up to 1 gal size. I might have to get a Tamora as well now because they look so good together!

Sylvia,

Tamora is a fine rose. The perfume ages well as the second day it seemed more pleasant than the first. I can empathize with the need to stay in budget as I've promised to not spend any more on roses this year! But...there are some fine specimens of Mirandy at Home Depot I saw the other day... LOL

Your photo is simply stunning.

Jack

@dsd,

I did sprayed my roses in the summer but now I stopped spraying. I have a few own roots that are growing well such as Clothilde Soupert, the Faun, Pink Cracker Rose,Belinda's dream and Duchess de Brabant. My own root Julia Child and Easy Does it are quite new and putting a ot of growth and buds.As for DAs, they are a mix bag. Some are big and blooming , some are puny and struggling, all are own root except for Tamora. Tamora is just not putting strong canes. It is putting out two or three flowers at a time but the flowers are on weak, spindly canes the size of a toothpick. It has some BS but nothing serious. I am giving the roses alfalfa tea every two weeks. I have the same issue with grafted SDLM. Could the size of the graft have any effect on the performance?

I wonder. I have heard about "bad grafts" that just don't thrive. But some roses just take a while to get going. I do think the age of the rose and its location in the garden are two big factors. But I still think it has more to do with the variety. Some do better then others in Florida. Even grafted ones don't always thrive depending on the conditions.

I have an easy does it (grafted) that did nothing for its first two years and now its hardly ever without bloom so age was a factor with her for sure. Maybe try moving it to another location? Maybe there's roots competing with her down below or something. I have Tamora as well but she's a tiny little own root thing. I got her from Rogue Valley Roses last spring and she was the worst one of the bunch when my order arrived. Her stems were yellow and within a few weeks she had lost all but the top few leaves. Somehow she bounced back however. I stuck her in the ground and she's given me 2-3 blooms. But she's still growing, albeit rather slowly.

Keep in mind also that grafted roses usually don't have such bushy growth as own root since they are entirely growing from that one stem they are grafted on to. Maybe that's why she seems skimpy compared to your non grafted austins?

I worry about growing them on their own roots down here (south fl), but you seem to have had luck with many of them. I have had success with Quietness and she's on her own roots. And Duchess de brabant too, own root. I had Clothilde Soupert but she died. I also have red cracker rose (2 years now) and shes pathetic. She's just three little branches, but she booms a bit even for her small size. I've been waiting for her to take off. She's older than quietness and quietness has towered over her. I got quietness from Chamblee. I like them alot.

I also have a Dames de Chennonceau on her own roots that I put in the ground not too long ago and she sent out a monster basal cane that was like 5 feet tall, so I'm thinking she'll do ok. LOL

You can always try rooting a cutting of Tamora. Maybe she'll be happier on her own roots. Mine isn't really doing anything so who knows. But worth a shot.

Growing roses in Florida is certainly challenging,but I found it to be so rewarding

when I do get a bloom or two.Location? checked, competing roots?checked, moles/voles/gopher?checked(i have a lot of them since I have been amending the soil) fertilizer? checked...hmm patience? still working on it! Sorry you lost Clothilde, mine is doing well. I have found it to be super easy to grow and to root. Ditto for Duchess de Brabant and Belinda's Dream. Having heard about nematodes when I moved here two years ago, my first reaction whenever I bought new roses is to root them. So..yes ..I got Tamora cutting in a pot..finger crossed :) I hope you will get another Clothilde. This is a baby Clothilde, maybe 6 months old.

Dang! I wish I would have rooted mine. She was good while she lasted. I had her in a pot when I should have had her in the ground. I was pregnant at the time and had horrible morning sickness throughout almost my entire pregnancy. Needless to say, I lost a lot of roses that year. I had most of them in pots and sometimes I couldn't even find the energy to water them.

I had a few in the ground and those were the only ones who really survived plus a few other really tough ones that I had in pots. I lost about 15 roses that year. But the really tough ones that survived have done very well. Talk about weeding out the weaklings!

In clothilde's defense however she was still very new and young. Had she been in the ground, I'm sure she would have lived.

Does anybody know or have the list of roses that you are supposed to carry? I have emailed them and have asked for the list of what they carry (not what is ready) so I can plan a garden. I have been told more than once that someone will get me the list and then I get nothing back.

Thanks for any info.

Sharon

Do they still sell to the general public? I have got some great roses grafted on fortuniana by Nelson but they have been at different nurseries with the Nelson tag. So I assumed they were only selling wholesale etc. I could be wrong lol.