Love this rose!

My little Mutabilis own-roots are now standing 2 feet tall in new pots waiting for me to decide where exactly to put them. If asked I wouldn't be able to point to one reason I love this rose but many reasons. I've always been amazed at its vigor and growth. I anticipate it being covered in those beautiful roses. It constantly delights!

It was growing this rose bush that sparked my interest in growing species roses. I plan on going on a hunt in the next couple months for Rosa Californica and then I'm going to add to my collection from there. We've got a huge hill that is calling out to be covered in roses and what better then species roses? Because of their size, many think I'm nuts but if you had a steep hill to plant on, wouldn't you put species roses there?

Sorry, a little bit of a tangent there!

It's a beautiful rose!! I've never seen it in person, but I would love to!! Please post more pictures when your roses grow!!

Carol

Oh, so beautiful! I adore this rose and have tried to grow it here 3 times. Unfortunately it just can't take my winters, boo hoo :( !

Those pics are so lovely. I've had mine since last October. It's getting big but hasn't bloomed a whole lot yet, and what few I get immediately fry in the sun... sigh. Hoping it comes into its own next year.

I got my first bloom on Sunday morning. Its going through its variations. Right now its hot pink. I had another bud unfortunately my young chickens yummed it up. Why do they always eat the roses I'm anticipating?

Carol, I'll be happy to post more pictures. :)

Seil, was yours own-root? I imagine with its vigor it could come back from a winter if its roots were protected. But, maybe you just need someone to send you cuttings every spring?

Bad chickens!! Bad!!! Cluck, cluck, cluck. :)

Carol

Haha love your baby chicks! We have a couple broodies running around w babies right now. They sure are FIERCE! LOL. Its NOT usually the baby mommas and chicks that jump up and get my roses. Its these fat lavender Orpington roosters and a Black Marans roo that all hang out together that like to eat roses and figs etc. I think thats why I grow so many climbing roses now. They cant get the flowers :/

Sultry_jasmine_nights:

The biggest offenders are my teen-chicks that were born March 1. First they ate my aloe, then they ate my verbena, then they discovered a love of pink roses! The upside, they deadheaded for me...the downside, they then ate the rose buds. Why don't they eat the geraniums? I'd be alright with that, I've got plenty of those and they grow like weeds. We're dividing up the yard to create yard just for them with edible plants for them.

Ohh, lavender Orpingtons & Black Marans? Beautiful, would you share pictures? I just bought 3 Wndotteya chicks and a Rhode Island Red chick, all baby hens to increase biodiversity and cause I adore chicks!

Chickens & chicks maybe off topic but in my logic they play an important role in my garden by providing egg shells and manure! So... because I adore my chickens and love sharing them here's

Mama Hen & Papa Rooster

And Obsidian, my brood hen hiding in the geraniums as her chicks hatched.

To stay on topic, here's a bloom on Mutabilis. Please remember I'm an organic gardener. : ^ )

Fortunately Mutabillis is a strong rose that will take a beating. Mine is at the bottom of a steep slope. Last year my husband got his John Deere tractor stuck in some mud, while trying to push it out it rolled right on my Mutabillis!! You can see the front of it is a bit miss-shaped but there's some nice basals that look like they will grow to fill the hole in the front of it. I believe it is 3 years old.

Its's not in full flush right now, but I'll show it off anyway. Deadheading this thing can be time consuming!!! I love it though and so glad he didn't kill the thing!

Marcia

Here's some of the Lavender Orps when they were younger. A few of them carry the cuckoo gene so have lighter legs.

Heres a link to see my Marans. I have a photo album of them on the byc site lol. http://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6314905/marans/

Marcia,

Your Mutabilis is beautiful! Ohh, I love the blooms!

Mutabilis will thrive and produce blooms under many bad conditions. Once the roots are established there's no stopping it! I had one bush that didn't thrive, turned out someone was eating the roots. Once I moved it, it started to take off. I'm sorry to hear about your John Deere incident but that probably gave your roots more time to grow!

Have you used Epsom Salts on it? My mother a compost fanatic grew the most vigorous Mutabilis I've ever seen, she added inches of compost 2 times a year. For the record, I couldn't convince my mother to deadhead and that bush didn't seem to mind.

Sultry_Jasmine_Nights, your chickens are beautiful. My husband just came over to check out the photos! What's your chicken count at? We've talked about getting Marans & Orpingtons and probably will in the future. I am really intent on keeping my flock bio-diverse. BYC is a great chicken site, we visit there all the time. I've found that letting my broody do her thing makes for a very healthy and robust group of young chicks. Cross my fingers but 31/31 hatched are still alive. Our last batch she choose to sit of 21 eggs, 20 hatched! We are now buying up stock of wooden eggs!

Carlota

Carlota, I do add Epson salts in the spring, along with cow manure, bone and blood meal. I should try compost instead of manure next year. Is bagged compost good though, as I don't make my own. I'll admit I don't deadhead this rose as much as my others, but every once in a while I do when there aren't many flowers on it, like in this photo.

Marcia,

How come you don't compost? You chicken manure would be a wonderful addition! I've never used bagged compost, I don't remember a time when there wasn't a compost pile in my life!

If you save it, you probably only need to add on some aged chicken manure to make your Mutabilis happy. I'd feed a tablespoon of Epson salts every 3 months, to encourage healthy growth and lots of new basal breaks.

I admit that I don't use bone or blood meal but lots of horse & chicken manure. But, that's what is readily available to me! I'd happily share my compost with you if we were in the same area.

I've heard of people deadheading Mutabilis with shears like a shrub. Honestly, Mutabilis is one of the most forgiving roses I've ever grown. Maybe let the hips grow and turn them into jam and tea?

Carlota

Chickens aren't my post Carlota, no chickens or horses here. Hate snakes, so I have no interest in turning a big compost pile to make my own compost! Maybe I'll spread epson salt again at the end of the month., that woudl be three months. How about alfalfa. I only put that down in the spring after I prune to start my roses off in the spring, wonder if I could put that down again. That is supposed to help with basal too, right?

Carlota, I do agree with you on the hardier chicks being raised by mom. I've raised chicks from eggs that I've bought on occasion under a brooder since I didn't have any broody hens available. The hen raised babies are always way bigger and more vigorous. Our Key West/Gypsy rescue hens are the best mommas on the planet lol. I've never seen a more dedicated fiercer mom than a Key West hen. They are crazy, I've seen them fight off tomcats and hawks.

I use both composted chicken and rabbit manure. Both work great. I grow a lot of stuff besides roses and everything loves the compost.

Mutabilis is on my list for fall roses.

These are great chicken stories. I could read them half the night. I also wanted to grow Mutibilis so much that I tried it here. Not successful but I tied.

Marcia,

My sincerest apologies. Alfalfa is great! I put bales in a chipper and turn it into mulch. You do need to be careful, alfalfa can get too hot and cause burn in my experience. Technically, alfalfa is just pre-processed manure! :) Have you tried alfalfa tea? Alfalfa helps with basal breaks and overall growth. In your garden, bagged compost should be fine. Because of it's vigor, it seems to be a rose that like being feed. My approach is to use what you have available. Snakes aren't fun, we have rattler's here and I'm always concerned about them biting my animals.

Sultry_Jasmine_Nights,

That's a long user handle! : ^ ) My broody is an Australorp, she's unstoppable and loves to brood. I really need her to take a break but when I take the eggs she hides her nest! I've watched my broody take on my dogs & cats with a determined fierceness that is impressive. Now I know where the term Mother Hen comes from, they collect eggs sometimes for over a month, then sit for 21 days rarely moving then raise their chicks for another 4-6 weeks. Seriously dedicated!

Patty,

I'm sorry for the tangents but chickens are a huge part of my garden. They give me so much happiness and are a constant source of frustration. Tonight, I caught 4 of them nibbling on my plumeria plants. Could you over winter the mutabilis in your garage or basement? I know its allegedly hardy to zone 7?

Smiles,

Carlota

I love chickens, and would love to raise them...but it's not in the stars. :) I love hearing about your chickens!

Carol

Carol,

Watch out! I'm a very proud chicken mommy! I take tons of photos and I will happily share pictures and stories constantly.

I find they are very handy when it comes to weeding and de-bugging. :) And on occasion they break a branches off my plumeria because they like to sleep on the tree. And I get to make more cuttings!

They love eating Trumpeter! It's a good thing I bought 3 for my bothers wedding.

Carlota - off to start some lettuce & nasturtium seedlings for my chickens to eat.

I picked up an own root Mutabilis at, of all places, Menard's in Angola, IN.

I usually try to avoid body bags due to quality, voting with wallet, and huge chance of being an incorrect variety.

Mine seems to be the real deal; I don't expect it to survive, even in a very protected South-Eastern site with only south winds directly effecting the location, but North, West, and East winds are blocked. It is up against a wall and foundation, planted deep.

A charming little thing.

Steven

Good luck with your Mutabilis Steven hope she makes it thru winter.

Ooh!! That IS charming!! The flower looks quite large. Good luck with winterizing your beautiful Mutabilis.

Carol

Thank you both so much!

The blooms are about 2-3".

I hope it does, but for $4.97, if it doesn't, at least I didn't invest more in a plant from ARE or Chamblee's.

It's been steadily building; so gracile, twiggy, and rounded. I'll get some more pics over the next few days. It's about 1' X 10" or so. It's been mostly healthy, only a touch of mildew before the temps skyrocketed.

Steven

Yes, that's a really good deal!!

Carol

Mutabilis