I love that blue Birch Campanula... we don't have that over here either...blue is stunning around any colored rose, I agree Straw, Samuel. Kelly if I stayed closer I would have loved to go to that plant sale at the local school...

Straw that is tragic news about the deer...

thanks for the info on Alfalfa and clay - I should stay away from that idea...with my heavy clay soil...

Came back to this thread to admire Kelly's roses and the companion perennials .. I'm on the hunt for Blue Birch Campanula. To answer Jess's question (in another post) if Jude the Obscure like lime .. NO it hates lime. Roses with pale leaves like Jude prefer acidic soil, so any alkaline topping like white limestone, red-lava-rock, pea-gravel .. Jude hates it. I had to top Jude with acidic mulch like cocoa mulch (pH 5.8) and pine bark (pH 4) to help its blooming. Jude is in the Old Rose category .. you can find that info. in Austin catalog and website.

Old Garden Roses flourished centuries ago with rain-water (acidic at pH 5.6) .. there was no garden hose back then !! So Austin roses within the Old-Rose category like it acidic: W.S. 2000 is an example, I have to give it sulfur or gypsum, and it loves sulfate of potash (20% sulfur). Falstaff is another stingy Austin rose in the Old Rose category, same with Young Lycidas (better as grafted on Dr. Huey). Roses Unlimited stops selling Young Lycidas as own-root, they also stop selling Lady of Megginch (old rose category) as own-root.

Austin roses in the Old Rose category like Jude the Obscure, Charles Darwin or Eglantyne have pale leaves, and best grafted on Dr. Huey. I grew all 3 as own-roots, really wimpy, can't take alkaline tap, and only bloom if there's tons of acidic rain.

The rose park nearby has Jude and Eglantyne grafted on Dr. Huey ... both bloom well when there's tons of rain. But during hot summer, their Jude was 7 feet tall, with only one bloom with alkaline tap water.

Jude and other Austins in the Old Rose category prefer it acidic, pine-bark (pH 4) as mulch is OK for such wimpy own-roots that can't secret acid to break down minerals in clay. Gypsum at 17% sulfur also helps with the pale-leaves roses in Old Rose category.

Question for Kelly: How did your Princess Alexandra of Kent and Jude the Obscure survive winter? Are they grafted on Dr. Huey, or own-roots? My two Jude as own-root died through the winter .. just wonder if the grafted-Jude is more hardy.

Thank you, I almost got PAK but backed out since a few people lost it over the winter as own-root.

They are both grafted. I don't think Jude survived. PAOK is doing fine. (I plant garlic by my roses...)

Thank you, Kelly, that rose look so healthy !! I have chives next to my roses.

Hi Kelly, I just came across this post searching for what to plant with Abraham Darby. Your roses and perennials are beautiful. You've got me considering Campanula again. I tried some in the past and lost it. I do hope you wait on Jude the Obscure. I've had several roses that have seemed dead, and weeks later they've surprised me.

Straw, I ordered Wise Portia after seeing some of your posts. I hope mine does as well as yours.

Thanks,

Julie

Jude the Obscure is gone, replaced with Crown Princess Margarita. Roses are starting to bloom here!

More roses will be blooming in about a week...

Your kitten is so cute .. looks like it has blue eyes? I love those blue flowers above. I used to have lots of blue salvia, but they died after a few years when we got spring flood. Your PAK bloom is 5 inch !! Gorgeous with swirls. I chicken-out of PAK as own-root, since that died on few cold-zoners.

Your Abraham Darby has lots of blooms, and all your leaves are so healthy and glossy Darcy B. is perfect in foliage & gorgeous red blooms. I see the pea-gravel effect to mineralize leaves, resulting in thicker, stronger, and glossier foliage. I bought 2 Carefree Celebration for $8.88 at HomeDepot on Memorial Day. Lots of rain, so their leaves (grafted on Dr.Huey) were thin, flipped over, shaggy, just ugly. So I gave it "mineral water" by soaking some pea-gravel in a bucket of rain-water. Did that 3 days, and HUGE IMPROVEMENT: GLOSSY, THICKER LEAVES.

I decided to return those roses to the store after further research. Husband said, "they look so healthy, why do you want to return it?" I improved them !!

Kelly Tregaskis Collova, Your Darcy Bussell, AB Derby, PAOK, all are stunning. Very healthy bushes with no disease on the foliage. Very impressive. Your AB Derby has a very different shade though...it's a light pink with not hint of peach in it.

The peeping kitty look beautiful. She seems to be in a deep thought though..

Please keep sharing these wonderful pics of your garden

best regards

Own root Lady of Shallot started blooming

Beautiful. Lady of Shallot looks fantastic

Kelly: Your windermere looks great with the blue Salvia. And your Golden celebration has lush foliage with lots of buds. J. Celebration has a fantastic deep pink. All the foliage are so healthy, a pleasure to see.

My lady of Shalott is really wimpy as own-root (bought in May) .. and yours look fantastic !! How did you fix your heavy clay for that rose, and how did you fertilizer it. Thank you.

Why thank you Straw. I dug out the clay pretty deep and wide as I had Chinese lantern roots I had to dig out as well. I mixed the clay with topsoil and compost-manure mix cheap from home depot. I give it a scoop of home made compost and blood meal in the spring...

Oh and I take overly ripe bannas and blend with water to feed the roses a potassium smoothy once in a while...

That's very interesting Kelly. Thanks for sharing. I regularly use banana peels in my compost, however, never tried this smoothie. Do you grind whole banana in the grinder and spread the paste of pulp and peels directly on the rose beds? Does it not attract insects (flies etc)?

best regards

No, Khalid, I just blend the fruit up with water and either throw the peel in the compost or chop it up with the shovel in the bottom of a planting hole. I have not noticed an incerase in pests although we don't get too many other than the rose slugs and borers and bunnies which usually are the worst. We do have lots of mosquitoes but they don't bother the roses. They like to hide in the back garden with the bunnies...

Now is a good time to put down homemade Compost.

Kelly's Golden Celebration looks fantastic .. such healthy & glossy foliage.

Your roses are really beautiful Kelly - the banana smoothie is new to me, how many bananas do you use for this purpose - to divide between how many roses?

wouldn't this make the soil acidic? Or have you been doing this a while already without any harm?

your Lady of Shallot, PAK, all your roses are stunning and with beautiful healthy leaves...

Does Lady of Shallot scorch easily?

Hi, Jess. Honestly, the roses I fed banana smoothies last year are the ones that are really being affected this year with rose slugs. I think I do a banana or two in the blender filled up with water for a few (2-3) plants. They are planted in clay so have higher ph-I don't think the bananas alter the ph significantly. I have a book Jerry Baker supermarket gardens that has lots of cheap trick and tips.

It is fun seing the difference from last year to this year- how much the plants have grown!

Jubilee Celebration

Darcy Bussell

Alnwick

Benjamin Britten

Thanks, Kelly, for posting those pics. of roses in blooms. They are very healthy with pea-gravel topping. Which ones are grafted, and which ones are own-roots? I like Sophy's rose color, very pretty. Golden Celebration, Jubilee C., Alnwick rose, and Darcey Busell are healthy, and picture perfect. Your R. des violettes look good too. The blue campanula looks good with Windermere.

I killed a few more Knock-outs (look so bad after my winter) to make room for own-roots from Roses Unlimited.

I am back to school...Alright. I had to double check my records. Reines de violettes and the Gallicas as well as Darcy Bucell, Alnwick, Golden Celebration, one of Lady of Shallot, Benjamin Britten, and maybe one of Princess Alexandra of Kent are own root. PAOK seems to be one of my most tender roses as I generally have to replace one of the two.

Took a break from studying to check on my roses. ..we had a big storm last night with lots of wind and a few of my rose stocks were blown over; some clear off. They are own root jubilee celebration and Alnwick. Should they be planted deeper?

Own root Lady of shalott has nicer, more bushy growth and blooms sooner than my grafted los, even thought the grafted one is a year older...Jess, just saw your question. These are planted in part sun morning and early afternoon, but no scorching. They do fade right before they drop their petals. We do get prety hot temps here, many people seem to assume it's freezing here all year. ..mother's day weekend it got up in the 90's just to get back in the low 30's by the end of the week. My brother lost his entire garden because he didn't cover his plants.

Darcy Bussell is looking more red this evening, usually it has a purple overcast to it. Jubilee celebration smells like ripe peaches....

Labeled Pink Peace but prob eyes on me...slight fragrance of carrots

Kelly: The above looks like Dainty Bess rose. As to own-root being tall & wind break them .. it's from the soil being hardened, and roots can't access calcium for tough stems. I quit putting pea-gravel on roses for that reason. I dug up and the soil is hardened right below the pea-gravel. Now I soak pea gravel in rain-water to use "mineral water" in tiny amount, rather than dumping on top to harden the soil.

My strongest, and thickest stem roses have tons of gypsum in the planting hole, to free up calcium ... and when the soil is loamy, more potassium is available. Gypsum has 17% sulfur to release the minerals from clay so plants can use it.

I planted Crown Princess Magareta very deep (more than 4 inch below), but wind keep breaking it, then I realize I didn't put gypsum in the planting hole, and have to give gypsum/sulfate of potash combo to make stems stronger.

Woodash is another available form of 20% calcium and 7% potassium ... woodash is quite loamy & fluffy, rather than hard like pea-gravel. My neighbor put woodash in his tomato bed and his tomato' stems are twice thicker than mine. He also give his tomato SOLUBLE fertilizer high in calcium/potassium.

I'm too lazy for the above .. just a few red-lava-rocks for potassium, and I did put gypsum in the planting hole of my tomato. I don't have to stake them like previous years, but my tomato still have slender stems compared to my neighbor with wood-ash in the planting hole, plus SOLUBLE fertilizer.

Gypsum is low salt, with salt-index of 8, and is used to de-salt saline soil, when clay is loosened with gypsum, salt is leached out, plus potassium is more available for stronger stems:

"Abstract : A leaching experiment using columns technique was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of gypsum, water hyacinth compost "WHC", rice straw compost "RSC" and their different combinations on reclamation of clay saline-sodic soils. Soils were collected from Sahl El-Hossinia, El-Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Increase the rate of gypsum used leads to an increase in decrease salinity as well as sodicity .... This study suggests that application of gypsum combined with WHC or RSC enhanced reclamation and caused more decreases in salinity as well as sodicity."

Thank you Straw. Would you recommend waiting until next spring to dig them up and amend? I have gypsum powder I can give for now. ...

Kelly: I enjoy seeing this thread, really like the deep pink of your Abraham Darby, Jubilee Celebration, and the deep crimson Darcy bussell. I love the glossy & healthy foliage on all your roses !!

I made a big mistake of digging Yves Seedling in the heat at 90 F, and it's wilted now. I put it inside a big pot & in partial shade for it to recuperate.

I dug up Yves Seedling when I saw the water floated over, rather than sink in. The best time to dig rose up to fix hard-clay is right after they are done with their last flush (October). The weather is cooler, more rain .. I did that to Old Port last year .. and that survived winter best. But I dug up Wise Portia too late (mid Nov), and the freezing rain zapped the roots (it's 1/2 the size now). If you fix the clay prior to winter, it actually increase winter-survival if done right.

There were a few roses that I was too lazy to dig up to fix poor-drainage clay, and those got killed through standing icy-cold rain last Dec.

I bought a bunch of cheap roses grafted on Dr. Huey .. roots are long and big .. so I had to dig really deep, at least 2.5 feet deep and 2 feet wide. Found a bunch of big rocks underneath that block water. Roses can be planted deep, only if there's good soil below. There's no point in planting it deep, when the root hit icky sub-clay that's not even fluffy for roots to access nutrients.

I like the "reverse-system", put the nicest soil at bottom (potting soil), or clay well-broken with coarse sand and pine bark for drainage. The hardest chunks are thrown away, and the medium-hard chunk are best on top last, that way acidic rain water can break it down.

For each hole I threw away four 5-gallon buckets of icky rocks & sub-clay, and replace with fluffy soil. My 2 best roses that's green to the tip through the winter, and earliest to bloom in spring? Stephen Big Purple hybrid tea, and Excellenz von Schubert. Both had the most gypsum and pine-bark in the planting hole, to make it fluffy down to 2.5 feet deep. The fluffier the soil, the more roots can access potassium and phosphorus.

For roses that like alkaline (grafted-on-Dr. Huey), I use coarse sand rather than pine-bark. But for own-roots I use pine-mulch in the planting hole, own-roots are wimpy at first, and pine-mulch (pH 4) secret acid to break down the hard-minerals into SOLUBLE nutrients for wimpy-own-root.

Bought an own-root rose from HomeDepot, and the pot is 90% chunky pine barks, some peatmoss & lime & fertilizer ... really fluffy, there was more blooms than leaves. Same with own-roots from Roses Unlimited: small chunks of pine barks, peatmoss, perlite, shiny black granite bits ... very fluffy and their roses have thick stems & lots of blooms.

For my garden setting, clay replaces peat-moss, coarse sand replace perlite, but I still need pine-bark and chunky organics (compost) to make my soil fluffy. Heirloom roses even recommended 1/2 wood chips mixed with 1/2 clay to make it fluffy & provide oxygen for own-roots.

Sam holds the record of more blooms than leaves, since his soil is loamy, plus fluffy compost on top. Yes to hard-minerals for disease-prevention, only if it's dissolved in acidic rain-water. That's why I soak pea-gravel, and a few chunks of red-lava-rock to give to roses when we have tons of rain.

In the summer with less rain, I do the reverse: sour-organics like fermented alfalfa tea, or used-lemons to help break down minerals when there's no acidic rain water. Too much hard-minerals is tough on plants, and tough on humans too.

A few of my neighbors have kidney stones and gall-bladder stones, from our hard-well water with pH near 9. I always squeeze fresh lemon into my drinking water, to neutralize the hard-mineral.

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain! I have one more question. What type of pine bark do you use? I picked some up from menards but the chunks were huge! It was difficult to mix in with the clay and other things so I threw it in the compost bin...

Kelly, your Alnwick Rose is so healthy with large size blooms and those blue clematis look so gorgeous. Thanks for sharing the photos.

best regards

Hi Kelly: Walmart is the only place that sells Pine Bark Mulch (smaller size). Menards' chunks are too big, but if you use that as mulch around wimpy-own-roots, it helps to secret some acid to un-lock minerals in hard clay.

I used large-chunks pine-bark at the bottom of planting hole for wimpy own-roots that can't secret acid .. no damage was done. It's very slow in releasing acid, and keeps the bottom of hole well-drained. Pine bark is inert, very slow to decompose in the planting hole, so it doesn't hurt plants as much as soft-organics.

Coarse sand is inert, doesn't decompose but it doesn't unlock the nutrients like the slow-released acid of pine-bark inside planting hole.

The only problem with large chunks pine bark is the sharp edges may hurt tender roots, so I prefer it to be at the bottom of planting hole .. when the roots reach down that far, the pine bark mixed with clay will soften a bit.

I hurt plants when I stuff half-decomposed leaves, alfalfa hay, or grass clippings in the planting hole. Those soft organics are best on top, so the acid and the heat released won't kill roots. I carried a big bag of grass clippings against my body, and could feel the heat released from the bag (like an oven !!) ... That's not the case with pine-barks .. still not decomposed after 5 years lying on top.

Thank you Khalid. The Alnwick is the one tipped over. Windemere is the one pictured with the blue clematis. ..

Ah.... thanks Kelly. So Alnwick is the one with single bloom and the one with many blooms is Jubilee Celebration. That was the rose I was talking about..... so many healthy blooms.

Yep. Jubilee is the heavy bloomer, even with its canes falling over. I love the scent of peaches, maybe 6 or 7/10 strength...

Yes, a wonderful scent indeed. It's a continuous bloomer even in my hot climate though the fragrance and blooms size reduces during hot months.

Straw the pine bark.

In a way thats like the hugel I am going to build. I am going to pile compost on a bunch of wood pieces different sizes.

fisherman's friend

Beautiful. Jubilee Celebration is just out of this world so is Tradescent and Alnwick Rose. Thanks for sharing these beauties.

Kelly: Thanks for those bush-shots, very nice Golden and Tradescant. I like the cheerful red of Benjamin Britten. Jubilee Celebration has lots of blooms !! Thanks for the close-up pics. of Alnwick rose . I like it better than the deep-cup pics. in Austin catalog.

How can you tell? I ordered william morris too. Do you have a pocket of the leaves and growth?