Straw, thanks about my dogs. They're a handful at the moment but both sweethearts. My sheep dog is 4 years old. He's a big muppet, mostly fur but looks big to people. Kiki is only 12 weeks old and very small, but he's being really gentle playing with her. She is very aggressive wanting to play with him and he obliges even when I can tell he's had enough, it's cute. She's a bit sassier than he is, yipping once back at me when I scold her for eating all of the weed flowers out in the yard, but she stops which is good. She's a shar pei so she should grow to be about his size.

I love that post on Shay's Crown Princess. What a beautiful plant. I really am in love with the variety of colors it's flowers put out, and it's growing so much faster than any of my other roses here. I wish I had saved my tags from all of my David Austin pots that I bought them in....I have no idea what root stock they are on. But they're all showing lots of new growth this past week....even a few sleepers like a Bathsheba and Jubilee Celebration. I have 2 of both of these....and one of each just didn't want to show new growth as fast as it's duplicates. They're planted near each other too in the same garden beds each.

Plants are funny things, I always tell that to my friends who are trying to get into gardening. You can't control everything, and it's a lot easier to go with mother nature as best you can ;)

I find it fun....I enjoy trying experiments like you do, to figure plants out and see what they respond to indoors and out. Patience and experimenting are key :) Plants and gardens need just as much love as our pets! I went over to one friends house last week to bring her one of my wildflower bouquets since she likes the ones I've grown, and I brought fertilizer and alfalfa over to dump on some of her unresponsive plants. Gotta take care and feed plants.

Along with our planet. If only more people(and companies) understood that.

Thank you about my amateur bouquet. Last year I bought a bunch of seeds for flowering perennials/native wildflowers. I've never grown from seed so it was a big test and turned out really well (with plenty of water). They grew like weeds and I let them do their thing. This year I dug out a bunch of the beds I had tried that out in to add roses or other new plants...and the wildflowers still came up all along the edges. I love it and want to do something similar in one large single area next spring.

I love your bouquets. My goal is to be able to have nice rose bouquets like you in the next few years. I've always loved roses in vases, and your combinations of colors and tones are always great and unique. I also love that Christopher Marlow....that is a nice reddish raspberry color I like. Little deeper than my Jubilee Celebration and nice and fluffy, looks so healthy. I also like the idea of lemon scent. It's one of my favorite scents (and things to drink) :)

I went on an drive today to take a break from the dogs and walked around this beautiful garden near me. They had the most beautiful greenhouse I think I've ever seen, along with giant fields of queen anne's lace (one of my other goals for next year on my property!) I have big 4-5 ft tall bunches of it coming up in certain areas of my yard, and I am going to plant some more to get a small field effect of them. It's funny because I started planning this just this spring, and then today came upon this garden and had to stop in my tracks with their fields of it.

Most of their roses were in pretty rough shape, dried out looking to me. I actually heard one of the gardeners working there talking to another about how badly they need to mulch because of our summer heat drying out the soil so fast. The rest of their gardens were really something special though, was great to walk around and get more ideas for myself next season.

@strawchicago z5 here are some shots of one of my climber beds I did this year...first picture is from the end of May when I planted them, and then today after finishing some of the trellis and tie ups. I think they're looking pretty good. Probably planted too many, too close now that I've learned some more about roses. But hopefully they'll do alright. That tall wall needs some climbers/crawler plants so I wanted to try roses. From the left is

New Dawn

Strawberry Hill

Crown Princess M

Colette (not doing so well as we've talked about)

and another New Dawn.

I am regretting not planting Eden's instead of New Dawns...but I thought I had read that Eden is once blooming. But after reading more on it, it seems it can be a re-bloomer if dead-headed. I don't mind, I like the New Dawns well enough. But I might replace one of the 2 that are here with something like Eden or another white-pink big climber next year (maybe if I remove the Colette and New Dawn on the very right of this row...and replace the two of them with one new one). Ignore the coreopsis in the front of the picture from today...I had all these plants planted in the bed in front of the roses and found climbing back there to clean the roses and tie them was too difficult with other perennials so I moved everything and left the Coreopsis. I'll probably move them early next spring and redo the front of the bed with something (more roses! ;)

Here is that one Westerland I was telling you about...planted near my patio wall and hot tub patio (so warmth from the tub and stone) and there was a lot of gravel/grit in that area of the bed from my construction a couple years ago....but it seems to like it there and is probably my biggest/quickest grower. I don't LOVE it's flowers but it flowers a lot and they do smell nice. Those two branches on the far right of my picture from today is so thick and has to be 7 ft or so...but I was able to bend it easily towards the ground. Maybe I need to move all the gardens near the patio into rose-only gardens next year hah!

and here's an extra picture of Wally in an area I'll be trying some more big patches of queen's anne lace in next year :)

Brendan: You posted the most beautiful pics. ever in Houzz !! I love that open-country-side in all your pics., esp. of Wally the cute sheep dog. I have white sidings on my house like yours, so I choose deep & vibrant colors for flowers. Strawberryhill is a stand-out in beauty in that row of roses. Agree with you about New Dawn, Eden are more impressive. Your Westerland blooms look really nice against the brick wall. Very few Austin roses can take the reflected heat & full sun of a brick wall .. and Westerland is tough & looking good in your pic.

Really like the pic. of that fancy-greenhouse and the fields of Queen Ann's lace. I worked in CT for one year, then moved back to Chicagoland. The East coast is a beautiful place !! My sister is still in CT (all by herself) .. she's 70 year-old and loves CT.

Today Husband bought for me 6 bags of top soil (black gumbo clay with black peat mixed in), only $1.68 per 40 lb. bag from Ace hardware. Black peat is from the decayed-plant-bogs here, rich in nitrogen.

I once threw this black-peat-top soil to patch the lawn, and the grass grew 3 times taller & darker green. It looked really odd with super-tall & dark-green clumps. Husband told me to wait for a while. It took 2 years before the nitrogen got depleted for the new-grass to blend in with old. Grass in alkaline clay is VERY DEEP, roots go down 6 inch. So I killed the grass with THICK PLASTIC BLACK MULCH putting down 6 months in advance, it's easy way to make rose beds. It's impossible to dig out grass with a shovel when the roots are so deep in rock-hard clay. Below is my center garden, roses are NOT in there .. my roses are planted around the house so they can survive my zone 5a winter.

Below is my front garden, we did that by renting a "sod-cutter", A HUGE machine from HomeDepot. It was heavy & dangerous machine which beat up husband's muscles (he's an athletic competitive marathon runner). That was before I know about the "MULCH FILM" or thick black plastic 4' x 50' sold at Menards for $6. Even a 5-year old can put down mulch film & secure with small bricks .. 6 months later take the plastic off, and the grass below turns into fluffy compost. I expanded the below garden to 3 times bigger by putting down black-plastic to kill the grass.

Straw, what beautiful shots! I love both those gardens. I've always wanted to try something that is a little more formal than my natural look of gardening, but still has natural form plants in it (not just clean shaped boxwoods and super formal shaped plants) and I love this formal design of yours with different flowers kept in each area. Beautiful, giving me ideas for some things to try next season. I really like the pathways down each side, and the two trees on each corner to kind of anchor/frame the whole thing from your view point. Kind of a curtain-effect, it's great.

Most of my roses are somewhat near the house or a wall of some kind...so hopefully they'll survive. There are 8 or 9 along my front fence...but we'll see if they make it. Any tips on getting longer/bigger basal breaks in some of them? Or do you find it's just a patience thing where they'll shoot those out when they're ready and can't force it?

That half circle garden is so nicely done. I love how neat your beds are but then the plants themselves have life and flowers/natural forms for beauty. Really nice contrast and I need to get better at finishing off my actual beds and not letting plants just get gigantic and flowing over everywhere. I think I need more things like tulips too, to have a bolder shape and form to them. I love their form and they come in such great colors. Do you plant bulbs each spring? Thanks for the tip on the mulch film too...I am actually using that to kill a giant weed area that was at the edge of my property in one area this season. I removed a giant area of random overgrown bushes and dead trees from the previous owner and have that plastic laying on top..I used so much so I'm hoping it works! Maybe I can save it after the soil underneath is clear, for future garden areas to get a nice edged shape to the beds like yours. Your husband sounds great, nice that he enjoys gardening with you! :)

My main gardens right now (below) are surrounding my patio and are beautiful, but don't really have any shape or design to them (like a free-floating bed like your two pictures)..and I really want to contrast these that I have with some shaped beds around them..I think it is nice to have square or round type beds with paths through them so you can get up close to certain plants...and move through them. The ones I have now are kind of "built into" my patio/pool area. Next year in the grassier meadow parts of the yard I'll focus on more designed beds like yours, I like those better and then I can think more about shapes and moving through space.

Strawberry Hill is such a nice rose, I love the 2 I have in each spot they're in. Definitely keepers. Maybe I'll try a dark rose like you mentioned, in the place of the New Dawns I have above, by the white siding of the house. I think dark would actually pop better and contrast the Strawberry Hill and Crown Princess :) Maybe two different dark tones so they can mix in with the others. Are there any dark flowered climbers that grows easily/tall like New Dawn that you'd recommend?

I fell in love with that greenhouse I saw today. That might be my actual dream house. So unique and full of sunlight and plants. Where did you work in CT? I live in upstate NY now, about 2 hours from the city, but I grew up in CT! It's so beautiful there, I love visiting my family that is still there too.

Below are my main gardens that are 2 years old now....and wally in the middle of them (they're on either side of my steps and wrap up and around the hill on either side framing upper patio). He had his haircut in that picture :) I love them, but they're kind of giant and unruly...it would be nice to have organized spaces to try different types of roses or same plant in.

Next year I'm going to add more color variety...more Lilly's, more softer colors along with tropical colors hopefully too... and then focus mainly on gardens out in the yard, more designed like yours so they look clean and beautiful. Any chance you might know what that last picture of the rose is? It's the first rose I bought (along with Life of the party) 2 or 3 years ago...they grew well in pots but in ground did barely nothing for two years. This year they've both grown and bloomed like crazy (thanks to your tips!) and food for them. I'm guessing a knockout? It's much nicer than it was now that it's filling out into an actual bush shape.

Brendan: I worked in Hartford, CT and I lived with my sister in South Windsor, CT. Then I moved to Chicago area and got married & have a daughter (I'm 58). Your garden is incredibly beautiful with blue sky and open fields full of flowers .. it looks like heaven to me

Also love the middle pic. with very nice brick patio and Wally standing there looking down to a lake. Is that a lake or river? My husband's dream is to be nearby water so he can go fishing daily. My biggest mistake in life is NOT to pay extra money to have a house backing up to no one. I planted a bunch of trees to block out the neighbors and that took away the sunshine from my garden. Too much shade in my garden. Trees are 1,000 times more work than roses. Roses are actually the least work, compared to the many hours I spent killing invasive flowers and ornamental grasses. Roses are NOT invasive. I'm in a city-like suburb of Chicago, I rarely see blue sky and open fields like your place. It's cloudy here, but when I go back to Michigan (where I grew up), it's like going from night to day ... Michigan is full of open fields and blue sky like your pics.

The trees that are worth planting & least work and won't invade the house to crack the foundation are: Red Japanese Maple and Flowering dogwood trees. I still remember how beautiful CT was in spring with pink flowering dogwood trees. Redbud is nice too and roots won't extend far away. Crabapple trees have extending roots that steal water from other plants. White pines are nice since their roots are shallow & can be killed easily. My Mom told me that evergreen trees have shallow roots and roots don't have to be dug up like deciduous trees. True, I spent months stopping the cherry tree's roots from invading my raised bed, but only 2 weeks to stop Norway spruce. Both of them are 20-year old trees. I dug down to 2 feet and put cement blocks down, after chopping the trees' roots with pick-ax.

All 4 next-door neighbors paid $300 to remove a small tree (crab apple), over $500 for a big tree. Easy to kill a rose that I don't like, but hard to kill a tree once its roots invade the foundation of the house, or rob water from vegetables & flowers. Your last pic. has a very pretty rose & it looks more like roses bred by Ping (he breeds very hardy roses, but more petals than Knock-out). It might be Easy Elegance Calypso rose: https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.71090.0&tab=36

There's a long list of Ping roses to match with your rose:

https://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=7.8502&tab=21

I got Grandma's blessing rose, bred by Ping, at HomeDepot, it has lots more petals than Knock-out, his Easy Elegance series is quite popular in cold zones.

Your pics came just on time to cheer me up, I got hurt by my brother this week (the memory came back to hurt me, but his insult occurred 20 years ago). Garden and nature are like "buffers" in soil, to buffer the acidity and the hurt in life. Funny how my siblings hurt me the most, but kind and generous people like you can take away the hurt. I have 8 older sisters and 2 younger brothers .. so far I get hurt far more from my brothers. THANK YOU for your wonderful pics that cheer me up. God hears my hurt and healed me through your pics.

Straw, what a small world. I grew up in CT. and have never left the east coast. Something I sort of regret but hope to change eventually. I love the east coast and New England, but sooner than later I hope to try living in some other areas of the country. My family still lives in CT. around Essex area and I'm upstate NY now with my partner. I love it up here, we are really lucky to have our house before this area started getting more and more expensive over the last few years.

The picture with Wally boy is actually our pool. I wish it was a river or lake! That is both of our dreams some day too, to live by the water and be able to go fishing and enjoy the peace that water brings. We designed our pool (put in a couple of years ago now) to look like a body of water from our house since we're up on a small hill. I love it and our property is great for planting some really beautiful garden beds like the ones you showed.....we just have to figure out how to design them. We're both ambitious with gardening like it sounds you and your husband are, but are still learning. Now that those gardens I shared around the back patio/pool area are grown in, we have more of an idea of how things work planted together and how other things like height and "fullness" work with groupings of plants.

I love Chicago area and Michigan. Two of my closest friends grew up around Michigan (traverse city and another town I forget now) and are there now after leaving NYC in March because of Covid. Lots of nature like I love there, with blue skies and open space. And blueberries! My best friend grew up surrounded by blueberry farms, so whenever I'm lucky and visit, there are giant boxes of blueberries for every meal and I'm in heaven.

Your gardens are beautiful and so nicely designed. That's what I plan on experimenting with next year, I can't wait :) And I love your roses...they always look so healthy and your variety in color is something I need to get better at imagining. Thank you for the tips on trees. Trees are too much work I'm learning! I had about 10 new ones planted on our property this year....decent sized. But I have to water them so much with the heat that it's driving me a bit crazy. But once they grow up a bit, they will really help split up the space and vantage points of my yard. I actually planted two dogwoods in that group this season...and then some Kwanzan Cherry Trees, and my favorite, a big yellow flowered Magnolia near the house that I hope will bring some shade to my patio. We get nonstop sun here on our hill...I shouldn't complain, my plants love it, but it's too much for me and my sensitive skin hah. Hopefully the cherry trees don't create a problem with roots and stealing water....I did not know about that!

Next season I'm hoping to build a pergola around one portion of my patio to help with shade. Our wind takes every heavy duty umbrella I've tried to install and tosses them around like toys. Once I get a pergola built around the edge of one side of my patio, I'm going to try to have some climbing roses go up it. Maybe the New Dawns that I want to replace with Eden can go at the base of the pergola, since they seem like they're about to turn into giant octopus beasts compared to my David Austins. I can have them go up the pergola and create a roof of roses that I'll never leave ;)

It's funny you should mention Red Japanese Maples. My mom has some beautiful ones in CT. and I love them. I have a beautiful big purple leaf plum or cherry tree(was here when we got the house) in my front yard near the house, that has really beautiful flowers in the spring time. But it was planted too close to the house and grows into the front of the house, trying to get the sun that comes up and stays all in the backyard...I've been debating taking it out and replacing it with a shorter maple type tree that is more ornamental and sculptural. Maybe next year.

The two dogwoods I planted this year are pink type. They're such nice beautiful trees. My partner wanted crabapple trees because of their flowers...but I grew up all around apple orchards in CT and know too well the mess crabapples make. I planted a redbud in the front yard too in memory of my nephew that passed away. It's a beautiful tree and the colors it shows in springtime are my favorite and so vibrant. Still very small but I love the pinks/purples and yellows.

Thanks for the tips on that pink rose I have. It does look like Easy Elegance. I probably got it at Lowes or Home Depot, but have no idea now what it would have been called. I would have bought it because of the flowers since I knew so little about roses back then, and bought this one and the Life of the Party because of the flowers. I'm happy they've both come back more this year after feeding and cleaning them up a bit. They looked so blah the past two seasons after putting them in the ground...but now they're greener and flowering more :)

I'm sorry to hear about your brother. Stay positive and spend time outside are my keys to life right now, especially with all the insanity the world is dealing with! I have to remind myself every couple days how lucky I am to have my outdoor space during times like these. Gardening and spending time with the plants is really helpful to calm my nerves and anxiety. That is why I also go on long drives like I did yesterday to that garden/greenhouse I read about. I need to be reminded that even if we're all dealing with hardships and catastrophes around the world and personally, there is always nature somewhere to help show me beauty and calmness. Here are some more pictures from my trip to those gardens yesterday to inspire. I really love seeing how other people use nature to create space and peacefulness, like at this big garden. The last pictures are some clouds over my pool last night. I love clouds almost as much as flowers and my phone is mostly plants and cloud photos, two things that hold beauty that can't be replicated by us humans-

giant rose of sharon bush/tree (i think...)

One of my favorite flowers, ranunculus. They look like delicate tissue paper. I gave up trying to grow my own...but love seeing them at garden places-

@strawchicago z5 For some reason houzz won't post a bunch of photos at once, so I'll make another post-

I love these trees and the dappled light and shade they create

Wally trying to get a nap in after too much time with new puppy Kiki -

Brendan: Thank you for your generous blessings with those fantastic pictures. I love all the beauty that you captured on your camera. This world is so beautiful, why should I mind some ugly words that my brother uttered years before? The pic. of Wally napping so cute, pic. of butterfly, of stone-walls, of clouds, of trees, garden (big scarecrow !!), and Rose of Sharon bush .. when I focus on these beauties, I'm in heaven and at peace.

But when I focused on the careless words that my brother spoke, I was in hell & hurt.

Thank you for showing me the beauty in this world, and there's joy in this world. My sour Montgomery cherry tree extends its roots FAR AWAY into my raised tomato bed, same with the crabapple tree. Both cherry and crabapple tree give off shoots or make tons of baby-plants by the seeds they sow. Peach tree was fantastic & never invasive, but it died after the neighbor put a fence that blocked air-flow. The fruits that my peach tree gave in my alkaline clay were sweeter than the fruits at Michigan orchards (more acidic soil).

I planted roses 30 feet away from the red Japanese Maple tree I didn't see any tree-roots when I moved my roses. Below is red Japanese maple seen through my front window & no need for curtains.

Straw, that picture has convinced me to replace the purple leaf plum/cherry tree out in the front of my house/windows. It's beautiful, I love that color...and it makes the perfect curtain. Beautiful.

Thanks for the tips on trees too. If I am able to plant a nice red maple, I'd love to add roses underneath it.

I'm sorry about the unkind words from your brother. Stay positive and look up whenever you're feeling hurt or anxiety....the clouds and sky always give me a good feeling. I just got back in from a walk around my yard. Have had the worst headache all day...but looking at the roses and plants was a nice break from the crazy aches around my eyes. I noticed that none of my roses have blooms right now...except one of my Carding Mills.....it was a nice surprise to be walking along that long line of roses in their bed and at the very end...was one giant bright flower that must have opened earlier today. Simple surprise but sometimes the best kind :)

I got an email from Heirloom roses that Eden is back in stock today. I must have signed up for a reminder a while ago because I don't remember even looking for Eden until the past few days. I wonder if it's too late to order some and plant them? Too late in the season for our zone?

Here's my surprise flower from my walk

Brendan: You helped me A LOT with your happy spirit and uplifting pictures !! THANK YOU. When I was deep in the trench of hurt (for the past few days), your pictures lifted me up from hell. I'm 100% healed and happy & nourished by your fantastic pics. showing the beauty of this world. That gave me the power to distance myself from negative siblings .. it was a wedding invitation that ignited the fear of family reunion.

Why would I want to be with people who bring me down, when I can be with nature that nourishes me .. like your Carding Mill bloom?

Flowers and trees really nourish one's soul. Urban studies proved that when trees are planted in a housing complex, the rate of crime and domestic violence fell. People are less stressed when they are around the beauty and blessings of nature. When I was in college and so stressed out prior to a Physics exam, I went to the arboretum, into their fragrance garden .. it was like heaven and took away the stress instantly.

I'm so sorry to hear about your worst headache. I hope you feel better. Our family have been on a low-salt diet, and husband's headache reduced substantially. When I eat out, I always get a headache from high-salt food. The Pink Himalayan salt helps a lot in more taste, and less salt.

Planting own-roots now is not a good idea. Best to wait until Jan. to order from Roses Unlimited .. they have a large selection of Austin roses as own root, plus Eden rose. Best shipping date to zone 5 is May 15 or later. The shipping rate is cheaper if one orders 6 roses from Roses Unlimited. If my rootings survive winter inside my garage, I have a few rootings to send you in spring: Zeph. Drouhin and Evelyn. Zeph. has 1 month-blooming with tons of blooms in spring, and fantastic raspberry-rose scent that floats 30 feet away. it gives 4 to 5 blooms in later flushes if well watered. Some pics. of Evelyn, always the LARGEST BLOOM among my 130 fragrant roses. Left is Princesse Charlene de Monaco, right is Evelyn (not fully opened yet). Evelyn smells like floral and peach. CdM smells like pear nectar (similar to Jude the Obscure).

Austin roses bloom best in cool & rainy, except for Evelyn and Carding Mill which bloom well in hot & dry. My best bloomers in hot & dry are French roses like Dee-lish, Bolero (which Roses Unlimited have). Roses Unlimited has a large selection of French roses like Eden, plus English roses. Below is a long list of Austin roses as own-roots from Roses Unlimited.

https://rosesunlimitedsc.com/2016/12/13/english/

Below is 6th year own-root Dee-lish blooming in hot & dry 90 degree August:

I won't post my 4 roses grafted on Dr.Huey .. they dropped 1/2 of lowest leaves from recent heavy rain. Own-roots are much healthier & less leggy & less black spots than grafted-on-Dr.Huey, esp. in 3rd year and on-wards. It's good to have Austin roses for cool & rainy months and French roses for hot & dry summer. Eden is a Romantica French rose, does very well for Andrea in rock hard clay, zone 5. Harkness is English collection (zero luck for Cynthia who grows 900 roses in zone 5). All the Romanticas (Peter Mayle, Frederic Mistral, Bolero, Liv Tyler, Tchaikovsky) do very well in my rock-hard clay at above 90 F in hot & dry. Below is Roses Unlimited's HUGE COLLECTION of French roses (Meilland, Romantica, Guilott, Delbard).

https://rosesunlimitedsc.com/our-collections/

@strawchicago z5 Couldn't agree more, about nature vs. humans sometimes ;) I often joke with my friends that I love plants so much because they don't talk back and are the healthiest relationships we humans can have with something :)

I love that note on urban studies and your trip to the arboretum, and believe it 100%. I have lived in NYC for a long part of my life, but when I am lucky to be upstate here at my place with gardens, I am 100x happier and less stressed out. It's where we're supposed to be as a species I think....less concrete and overpopulation and more fresh air and the nature around us, to be closer with this planet we live on.

I feel better today with that headache, thanks for the note. I think it was because we mowed the grass yesterday and weedwhacked....sometimes it sets off a bad headache with me. Also salt is very true. I got takeout from a local restaurant the night before last....and it was delicious but so salty. I think that's a big part of what I was dealing with yesterday. I ate a box of blueberries last night and a bunch of homeade food (big bowl of fresh kale and broccoli. I swear, when I eat fresh uncooked vegetables and greens especially, my body and brain smile with a big sigh of relief. I was a raw foodist/vegan for a good part of my twenties and I believe 100% that fresh fruit and vegetables are what our (or at least my) body needs most. My partner and friends think the big bowls of kale and broccoli taste awful uncooked or with no dressing, like I enjoy. But I LOVE them. I smile inside, as ridiculous as that sounds hah.

Thanks for the notes on planting own roots. I think I will wait until March. I am a bit wiped out from garden projects this year anyways....and got a lot done. I think I should spend the rest of summer and fall to sit back and enjoy it a bit. I will check in with Roses Unlimited too, thanks for the reminder on that!

That would be very sweet of you to send me rootings. I've actually been reading up on how to root cuttings from roses...to try and attempt a giant field of Carding Mill or maybe crown princess like I see in my dreams hah....but we'll see if I can attempt it this winter, if not next. I've never tried rooting anything besides my succulents and cacti...which I can do indoors but those require very different conditions than a rose cutting I imagine.

Your bouquet is so beautiful....I love it. The subtle color shifts and the big fluffy flowers. I hope to have bigger blooms next year so I can really try to create some nice bouquets for my friends and my own house :) I NEED to get Evelyn after seeing all of your pictures, so beautiful. Your Dee-lish is awesome, it looks so healthy, all those nice dark green leaves and that flower color is pretty. Nice rich raspberry with a hint of violet...some of my favorite colors.

I still need to read up on the different varieties of roses...it seems a bit daunting but I want to learn more and find your descriptions for different types (romantica, english) doing best in certain conditions. Would be helpful next season since I had no idea there were so many varieties this season that prefer different conditions.

Today I watered all my roses a bit and tied up some of the Austins that are getting nice thick long shoots on a wall (not on the wall but close to it tied to posts). My Bathsheba was opening a bunch of flowers...and they are very different from each other. Similar to Crown Princess. Even on the same plant. I love it. Need to get a few more next season to add to my fence rose bed :) It really does have this otherworldly glow to the flowers-

Love your pic. of Bathsheba, glowing like an angel. My Queen Nefertiiti's bloom is similar to that, it changes from yellow to apricot to pink. I am a firm believer in RAW foods, my best night of sleep is with a big-salad for dinner. Coffee in the morning sometimes wreck my sleep, but kale smoothie (kale & apple) always give me energy to work in the garden in the morning.

I appreciate your company & what you wrote very much. Proverbs 13:20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

I would rather be in touch with one person with a nice spirit, or among nourishing & nonjudgmental plants, than to be in touch with my siblings. There are family ties that destroy & hurt me, but there are always friends and nature to nourish me. Below is Queen Nefertiti taken today 8/14/20, bought as a tiny band this May from High Country roses:

Straw, I love that bloom...such a nice transition from orangey apricot to apricot pink blush on the outer petals, beautiful! I love raw foods :) I want to get back to eating that way again over the next year. I feel so much better eating that way and my so clear mentally. It's a great way to eat even if it takes a lot of effort at first to transition :)

I appreciate your company (and wisdom) as well. I appreciate all of your interesting research and knowledge with soils/plants and especially roses. Plants are like us it seems....healthy food and soil really makes such a difference in health and growth. I can't believe how much different the 40 roses I've planted this year are after all the care and time I put into their soil and the organic food I've been giving them, compare to the two roses I tried in the past (life of party and that pink one we discussed). My parents arrived yesterday evening for a long overdue visit...and my mom who is a great gardener was in awe of the growth in these new roses. Sometimes I wish that I could just buy 50 gallon (or bigger) plants and have them be the giant size I hope for....but then I remind myself of how satisfying and exciting it is to see them grow so well after caring for them properly :) Just like humans.

Stay positive! Sometimes I just turn my phone off for the day hah...it can help with keeping my mind on more important things like plants and dogs ;)

Nothing too special to show today...lots of great new growth the last few days on most of the roses...and my Julia Child is starting to open it's blooms. It seems like it won't stop blooming. Even when I dead head a lot to try and get the main plant to grow. Keeps growing canes along with lots of flowers...but I can't complain. The flowers are a really nice buttery yellow, Can't wait to see what they're like when the plant is bigger-

Straw..thought I'd add this plant I saw on a walk today with my parents...one of my new favorite plants Amaryllis Belladonna

Brendan: Thank you for sharing with me the beauty of Amaryllis Belladonna. You are a positive & happy person and it's wonderful to hear about your life activities, I find it interesting and comforting. I hope people turn more into plants for entertainment and "emotional nourishment". In the old days people were into plants .. still remember an old friend of my Dad. This old man was into orchids and he took us to a big orchid nursery, where he bought many orchids (some of them were $100). It's sad that the pornography industry grew, while many nurseries closed down. Covid-19 crisis hurt, but there are a few pluses: family spend more time together, people work & study from home and get more sleep, and folks turn into solo-hobby like gardening, rather than eating out or going on a cruise. Gardening helps me to get more vitamin D from sunshine. The last time I caught a cold was when my daughter was 4 .. she's turning 18 this summer.

About my rock hard & alkaline clay, I post a few pics. in the below post on alkaline clay. I wonder how your soil looks like .. your area looks fantastic with healthy plants and flowers. You probably have the ideal soil for flowers. My sister in CT has VERY LOAMY & fluffy soil and her sunflowers are TWICE taller than mine. My soil has the touch of "cement" when dry, and hard-glue when wet.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5971487/calling-strawchicago-re-clay-alkaline-soil-amendments-fertilizers#n=19

Straw, sorry for the delay, I hope you had a great weekend. I had family visiting which a nice change of pace. I think more and more people are turning to plants and outdoors during this strange time, at least with my friends and people I know. To me, it’s really healthy to spend time outside and off of our glowing screens. I miss the days where I was young and would spend all day outside building things and playing in the fields and woods, before screens and tech were the norm. I love the story of the old orchid man. I love that special connection we can get with certain plants. A healthy obsession and it’s really like raising a pet in a strange way. Glad to hear you’ve been staying healthy. Raw foods and sunshine are what our bodies want/need :)

I have to take some pictures for you of my soil. It varies so much after I had construction done a couple of years ago (pool/patio)

I don’t even know how I would describe it but it definitely turns to shiny, thick, gummy mud when wet and then is kind of dusty and hard when dry.

In my rose beds it’s getting better though. My large flower beds are better too. Still very dry and not super loamy or fluffy. But my goal with all these organic amendments is to get it to slowly spread out and become healthier.

I’ve been spending my nights researching more climbing roses like David Austin‘a. As usual, I’ve fallen in a bit over my head it seems and can’t keep track of everything I want to try hah :) I want to spend winter building some structures to try training tall-growing roses on in my yard next spring, since I will have the time and can find some cheap wood and materials easily near here without having to go inside too many stores. I think it would be nice to have some thick rope tied between wood pillars to let climbers grow on, especially if I'm able to figure out some designs for more shaped/formal beds like the ones you showed me at your house. I really like those and think they would contrast my more "wild and natural" looking beds near my patios.

There are too many roses, it’s overwhelming but at least it’s fun to learn about :) Just trying to find the tallest/fastest growing ones for zone 5, besides New Dawn. Eventually my whole yard will be one giant multi colored rose cloud..... hopefully!

Straw, have you seen this YouTube channel? It’s been giving me some ideas for creating simple structures to make large forms with roses, I love it...I've done some sculpture (trained as a painter/sculptor) and love the idea of creating living sculptures with flowering plants for my yard, especially roses.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC1mmb-Lc0XYoFMEuNNReOZw

Brendan: That you tube above is amazing, so many climbing roses, and I love the white-structures, nice music too. That reminds me of my visit to Elizabeth Rose Park in CT, so many climbing roses it was like in heaven. That's in zone 6a, -10 F to -5 F. It's in West Hartford, currently has 15,000 rose bushes and 800 varieties of old and new roses in the garden. It's pure "rose heaven" compared to Cantigny rose park (here) of 1,200 roses and Chicago Botanical Garden of 5,000 roses.

Elizabeth Rose Park has loamy & fluffy soil so their roots go deeper to enable tall climbing. Chicago Botanical Garden has very few climbers in zone 5b, and Cantigny rose Park (nearby me) is in zone 5a (-20 F below zero), with ZERO CLIMBERS. Sadly this year Cantigny got rid of their roses altogether !!

My Crown princess M. reaches 10 feet max. My James Galway is in very fluffy soil so it can get 16 feet tall. My clay is rock-hard so roses are stunt ... clay pushes the roots upward in the winter, so less winter-survival and less green canes in spring.

Straw, I still haven't been to the rose garden in Hartford. I'm going to go next year when they're in bloom, their website says June-July for the arches to be in bloom. I'm hoping to recreate something similar here at my house, just not as many arches. But I like the way they add height and sculptural qualities to the space. The Elizabeth Rose Park looks beautiful in pictures. It will be helpful to see what types grow well for them too, to get some ideas for my yard and similar climate.

I wish I could just replace all of my mucky dust/mud soil on my property with loamy, healthy soil. I think over time I will be able to build some more beds with better soil at least. James Gallaway looks beautiful. Kind of like Strawberry Hill, but from pictures on google it looks like the pink is more concentrated at the center of the rose, and not all over, which I like.

I need to figure out my plan for more shaped beds like yours. I keep trying to come up with ideas for my property but get overwhelmed easily with what shapes and where to put them. This spring I planted a bunch of privet in a small bed by my house to create a small "hedge". It's growing pretty well so I'm thinking I can take a bunch of cuttings next year from either those or the two boxwoods in the front yard and try to see if I can get the cuttings to root in fresh soil/compost to create some short hedges around new rose beds for a more formal look. I was reading how easy it is to do this with boxwood clippings...and saving money on buying boxwood or privet from my nursery means extra money for more roses :)

Brendan: I came back to Houzz to help Carol with roses in pots, and to exchange cuttings with Sharon, but I will be off from Houzz since my daughter is back in school. I tried to message you to give you my gmail, but your message is off. However, my message is on, just click on the Message button in my Houzz profile to message me. I'm off from Houzz, but I still keep in touch with friends via gmail. I consider you a wonderful friend who gave me comfort with your fantastic photography and uplifting words. Many thanks.

Yogi in zone 5a Michigan asked me to write an update of my 30 Austin roses (only 1 grafted-on-Dr.Huey), so I wrote on them for my heavy & alkaline clay, see below:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5974637/cold-climate-northern-garnders-show-me-your-roses-please#25927223

Straw, sounds good! I will message you with my email :) I have no idea why my messages are turned off on here...don't really use house too much besides plant forums.

I've been reading up on how to root rose cuttings. I am hoping to try and root a bunch of cuttings of some of my favorites from this year over the winter indoors. Maybe I'll be able to start soon and get them started outside, and then bring them indoors until late winter/early spring to plant them outside.

It seems to be somewhat tricky, but I found an old thread you commented on, with Khalid...and he mentions clay pots being useful to root cuttings. I've only done it with my succulents and cacti before (on heat pads, in pure perlite, under my big grow light setup) but I am not sure how that would work for something like a rose bush......time to test things out :)

I figure if I can figure it out, I can save a good amount of money and not have to re-buy more roses of the varieties I already have...and can just spend my money on new varieties for next spring. We'll see how it goes :) Let me know if you have any tips if you see this and get a chance. I think I'll make some more willow water for my first attempt.

Brendan: Best wishes for your success! My zone 5 kills roses through winter, so it helps to root them (in case the one outside dies). I lost at least $1,000 of own-root roses dying through winter in the last 20 years. Someone asked about rooting roses, I answered below:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5978012/question-about-taking-rose-cuttings#n=6

Also if you scroll WAY-DOWN to below post, I posted pics. of my rootings done outside, getting blooms in less than 2 months:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5832907/state-of-these-cuttings#n=31

Brendan: here's info. from Val, who works for Rose Petals Nursery in Florida ... they sell own-root roses:

Valrose FL Zone 8bOriginal Author

"Hi Straw, I root in a commercial mix containing about half perlite and half Canadian peat moss, its ph is limed to about 6.5. I need a soil that will not get water logged no matter how much water I use. I am rooting under white poly that is about 50% shade. I have an intermittent mist system that runs for 10 seconds at a time every 10 minutes for about 12 hours a day.

Above are cutting that I stuck 2 weeks ago. They are already starting to root. The "secret" to rooting soft cuttings is to figure out how to keep them from getting stressed and dropping leaves. If I can keep the leaves green and healthy, the cuttings root. If the leaves fall off, then the cutting usually die. I keep my cuttings happy with lots of water, so I need a potting soil mix that will not become water logged.

Above are 6 week old Polonaise cuttings, they still have their original leaves, so they were very successful. They are also growing new leaves and flowers.

Roses react to water stress by dropping their leaves, then they immediately start growing new leaves. I once did two trays of cuttings, one where I removed all the leaves, the other where I removed no leaves. The leafless cuttings quickly started sprouting new leaves, the other tray had no new growth but rooted quickly. Most of the cuttings in the leafless tray died.

The Canadian Peat Moss that I use is not dense but light and fluffy, it holds water well and releases it well. Florida has peat but it is very dense and not good for cuttings. I haven't tried it, but I know people who make miniature greenhouse for their use in their home using bags, plastic bottles ect. The secret to the bag, bottle setup is to always have enough water in the pots that use see condensation of the inside of the bag/bottle.

I would definitely go with a perlite mix." Valrose in FL at Rose Petals Nursery.

Straw, thanks for this info from Val! This is helpful to hear that peat moss and perlite works well for her. I've been thinking of trying to root some of my new roses in clear cups of perlite (with holes drilled in the bottom). If I leave their cups/pots in one of my extra long tupperware trays, I may be able to get them to root in pure perlite, with drainage, in my sunroom which has glass walls but sun full day.

I've been debating this since my roses are all new this year...but some of them have produced nice new thick canes that I think would be good for cuttings. If I take the cuttings in late fall before freezing weather sets in, maybe I can root them indoors in the sunroom this way, since I'll start using my heat around then so that room will be sunny but also heated.

I just don't want to set back my new roses outside by taking off thick canes for cuttings....if it's better to wait until they're more established, I could always take cuttings from them next year instead.

I'll keep reading through your old posts on the topic too..they've been helpful. I'd try to do them outside in the shade, but I don't know if I have enough time right now before winter temperatures hit to get rooted and established enough to put in the ground so I don't have to bring them indoors over winter. That's why I'm thinking maybe starting the cuttings indoors from the get go might be best, and letting them root/establish inside over winter for early spring planting outside.

Thanks again for the tips, and email. I'll write back later after I finish watering all my trees!

Straw, here's my Claire Austin looking beautiful today...making me think maybe I should give her more time. I didn't love her at first (I planted 3 around the yard) but today her blooms are looking pretty nice. Was going to shovel her to a new spot but might leave them.

Also some weird mushrooms I found towards the edge of my property near the woods this morning while I was watering my buckeye bushes.

Also- near these mushrooms are big bushes of some kind of wild rose that grows at the wood-line of my property....I've read they can carry disease and be dangerous to planted roses, but the ones I've found all seem to be healthy. I can't ever remember seeing them flower though, but there are quite a few along the woods edge here. Anyways I was reading about how good it can be to use soil from areas of one type of plant in the wild...and transferring the soil and good bacteria/fungi in that soil to your garden soil. Was thinking of maybe trying that with the soil in this area of mushrooms/wild roses and putting it into my new rose beds....still have to read and figure out if that's a good idea..don't want to transfer any bad stuff or diseases

Brendan: I had seen pics. of successful rooting indoor with 1/2 perlite and 1/2 vermiculite, plus a plastic pop bottle on top. I have success this year OUTDOOR with 1/2 coarse sand and 1/2 peatmoss .. by volume, pH-tested it and it came out neutral .. no need to put lime since sand is alkaline that that balances the acidity of peatmoss (pH 4).

Outdoor has sunshine to kill the germs & prevent rot. But everything needs to be sterile in door, such as 1/2 perlite and 1/2 vermiculite. Val's mix is 1/2 perlite and 1/2 peatmoss, but it's tricky to adjust pH to neutral by adding Garden Lime .. tried that and it didn't work for outdoor.

Brendan: Just saw your pics. of Claire Austin among perennials .. so pretty !! Your clay is similar to my clay, I get weeds & invasive perennials (black-eyed susan & same blue flower) EVERYWHERE. What's the blue flower name in your pic.? What are your roses blooming in this hot & dry August? Mine are mostly French Romantica: Dee-lish, PcdM, Sweet Mademoiselle, Bolero. Only a few Austins blooming: The Dark lady, Princesse Anne, and CPM. Pretty lady rose (very thorny) and Austin St. Cecilia are blooming.

That's great, I've done lots of experiments with rooting my succulents and cacti in pure, damp, and WARM perlite. Every time I try to root cuttings indoors with any kind of soil mixed into the perlite or vermiculite, I got rot....at some point. If not the beginning, than after new growth and new roots...it's just too hard even with multiple fans blowing on them. I'm sure people have figured it out, but for me I think keeping it warm+damp even with the airflow creates optimal environment for bad stuff to cause rot.

I'm going to give it a shot with some of the roses I have multiples of I think :)

Carding Mill, Jubilee Celebration, Olivia Austin, maybe Crown Princess Margaretta too.

I would give strawberry hill a try but even her new growth is pretty thin stemmed for some reason on both the ones I have. My 2 Bathshebas are finally throwing out thick new canes...maybe Strawberry just takes a little extra time.

Agree with you that ANY TYPE of bagged soil ROTS if rooting is done indoor. I avoid peatmoss for indoor since peatmoss is acidic & holds water and that breeds fungal growth. I winterized rootings in my dark & unheated garage and the rootings survive winter if they are in DRY potting soil with mostly pine-bark, but THEY ROT if kept in peatmoss potting soil. Peatmoss holds water 10 times its weight.

Also I watered with my pH 9 tap-water and that suppressed fungal growth. Stored lots of bottles of my tap-water in the basement, and they still smell good & zero mold after 5 years since there's no fungal growth at alkaline pH, but mold grows at neutral to slightly acidic medium. In recent years I watered my rootings with pH 4.5 acidic rain and all rootings rot through winter.

Jubilee Celebration is on my buy-list, how's the scent? Is your own-root or grafted? Thanks. Own-root roses smell MUCH BETTER than grafted.

Straw, good note on peat moss indoors...ever since I moved all of my plants out of their peat mossy mix they came in, to a more gritty mix inside, they've thrived. My succulents and cacti do so much better with an almost pure grit mix (Bonsai Jacks grit mix) and some like euphorbias have a little bit of soil mixed in..maybe 10% soil. They also do much better in clay pots instead of plastic. My tropicals can handle plastic because it keeps it a bit more moist. But I think the clay pots and a fan on them help my indoor plants breathe and thrive. Interesting note about tap water vs. rain water too. I haven't experimented with that enough yet, I just use my tap- well water for anything inside (and throughout summer on my patios)

I think the blue flower in my pic of Claire Austin is one of my nepetas....either walker's low or Purrsian blue. Their flowers are usually more purple with their first flush in spring. But if I remember to prune them back early summer, their second round is a bit more blue. I have too many....growing them mostly along the edge of my big main gardens around the patio and pool. They get wide after their second year but keep a nice round shape and smell amazing. The pollinators go crazy over them. They can handle heat and dry conditions well too here which I like. I grow them with lots of lavender and russian sage. All do well with the extreme sun/heat/dry conditions.

The other blueish plant in the pic is one of my blue grasses I of course forgot the name of. It's a beautiful upright grass that holds it's blades upright even through crazy rain and wind storms we've had. It has a nice deep reddish purple tinge to the edge of it's leaves which I like.

My roses blooming right now even with the heat:

Carding Mill (does this ever stop blooming?)

New Dawn

Strawberry Hill

Crown Princess Margaretta (big buds almost blooming)

Cream Veranda (finally grew tons of healthy new growth and has lots of big buds about to open)

Bathsheba (close 2nd to Carding Mill with constant blooms)

One Graham Thomas has been blooming lots...the other is setting buds still right now

Westerlands (one blooming and growing insanely...the other just growing insanely and setting blooms)

Jubilee Celebrations have big buds about to open

Imogen -seems to like the heat, both of mine have been blooming...they're beatufiul but don't last long

The Pilgrim - tons of new growth but no buds right now

Colettes -3 of them...new growth only, no buds

Julia Child - Forgot about her....she is also a nonstop bloomer. I'd say she's 1st...Carding Mill 2nd, and Bathsheba 3rd for constantly blooming.

I have to look up the roses you posted for liking the heat, I need that in my full sun all day yard!

Jubilee Celebration is pretty beautiful...it has a much deeper and richer magenta/pink tone compared to my Strawberry Hill's pinks, and seems to grow/bloom much more here. It's blooms smell beautiful but I can't really place the smell yet. Both my bushes have lots of new buds so when they open the next few days I will take pictures for you and smell them :) I really like the pink she has tho, I have both mine each next to Carding Mills and they offset each other's colors nicely...her pink tones show more against Carding Mill's pinks which have a more orange tone, instead of rich magenta....and then it fades to salmony light pink. Jubilee fades to a more Strawberry Hill cooler light pink tone. Hopefully that makes sense....I'll take pictures the next few days :)

Thanks for a fantastic review of your roses in hot & dry ... I really should get Julia Child (I love yellow), but her scent grossed me out at rose park (like cough medicine).

Yes, nepetas are invasive here in my clay. Your clay has better drainage than my clay, if lavender thrives. The longest I could keep lavender alive is 4 winters. My neighbors planted lavender around her tree (dry spot), and it died after the 1st winter. Not sure if it's our heavy rain in the fall or lavender is NOT hardy in my zone 5a.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT ABOUT CLAY and winter-survival. Had I known about the below, I would NOT lose over $1,000 worth of own-root roses through winter. If a rose drop leaves & stunt in growth like one of your Colette .. it's A POOR DRAINAGE spot. French roses like Colette needs excellent drainage, unlike Austin water-hogs. Sharon from Florida with flooding shared with me that French roses don't survive flood well, but Austin roses can.

I have an uphill spot & a slope that it's always dry on top, I thought it's dry so I dug down only to 1.5 feet, and roses kept dying in that spot: First a blue-rose grafted on Dr.Huey, then Polka, then St. Cecilia, then Darcy Bussell, then Versigny, then Old Port. Recently I dug down in that area in hot & dry. Clay is too hard at below 1 feet, so I poured a 5-gallon bucket of water, and IT WOULD NOT DRAIN. I kept digging, and digging down PAST 2.5 feet, and removed 4 LARGE ROCKS (the size of grapefruits), and water finally drained. So even if the soil on top is dry .. if there's rocks (even at 3 feet deep), that spot won't drain well, and roses won't survive winter if there's heavy rain in fall that rot their roots.

Thank you for the info. on your roses, esp. Jubilee Celebration and what's blooming in your garden in hot & dry.

Straw, great info on the clay and winter. I have no idea how I'm going to winter protect all of the roses I planted this season. I need to read up on that some more so I can buy mulch or whatever I need to protect them before it's too late.

My lavender is hit or miss, I have no idea why. I've planted a lot of it and all in the same 2 big garden beds I started with a 2 or 3 years ago now, so it's even in the same soil. But I've had a few, that are planted right next to ones that thrive, just die for who knows why. Seems to be a fussy plant, but my partner loves the smell and dried flowers. I think it needs good drainage but also not too much water once it's established. I'm not sure, still learning about how my gardens operate :)

I have to move that Colette from that one spot. I don't know why, but my other 2 seem much happier (same soil, about 40 feet away). Not same soil, but same type. I didn't do much different with one or the other I mean. I hope the 2 that are doing well continue to do so, it's flower color variations are really beautiful. I think the one that's doing poorly is doing badly because it was so tiny compared to the other climbers in it's bed. It's also planted way too close to those other 4 climbers (New Dawn x2, Strawberry Hill and CPM)

The 2 Colette's doing well in my soil are on the fence...there is no other plants or perennials around them, and the roses on that fence are spaced a good 6 feet apart or so.

I have one hill in particular behind my pool, that I planted 8 Austins along. I removed too many rocks to pleasantly remember....and dug the deepest holes I think I've ever dug before for those roses. They're doing great now, but hopefully they'll survive winter.

I hated digging the holes for my roses so I'm praying that most survive hah. That was the most intense garden work for one plant that I've ever done, but I wanted to try to do it right.

I would say for the heat, Carding Mill, Imogen, Jubilee and Bathsheba seem to be the happiest/most bloomers :)

Here are some photos to compare some of the colorations....to show how "true" pink Jubilee is compared to Carding Mill which starts off a rich deep, but not dark, orangey red salmon and then fades to orangey-pink colors to a this light pink....(I studied painting and am a little TOO particular about my colors as my friends say ;)

All of these roses below are in full sun till about 4-5pm with no shade or plants/trees around them.

I had to break this up into 2 comments because houzz won't post my pictures for some reason-

Carding Mill

fades to this pink...which still has orange/yellow undertones

Jubilee Celebration has a much truer "pink" with colder magenta undertones that I like. They look yellowy orange in this first picture because it was taken at 8am when the sunlight has a warmer color in summer.

Imogen looks like a sunnyside up egg rose which I like, very beautiful and seems to like the heat. I think I like my other white rose with a yellow center "The Pilgrim" a little better....seems to have more petals and more cupped of a look, I'll try to find pictures of that. It is growing very well here too.

and an extra for Bathsheba today, looking nice as always. I like the tangerine quality it has. Spring time it had more pink undertones, now more yellows

Here is a comparison of The Pilgrim and Imogen.....not sure why I like the Pilgrim more, but it is growing even fast and thicker branches right now compared to my 2 Imogens...and seems to have a nicer form

Straw, quick question curious if you or anyone else has any thoughts on. Since my roses were just planted in late May, I have been deadheading them right underneath the flower bud during every flush they've had. I've noticed now that they're all(mostly) putting on a lot of new growth either from the bottom with new canes, or from the areas I've been snipping the flowers which is usually at a 3-leaf joint.

I know I was supposed to cut them down to a 5 leaf so new growth is stronger, but so many of them were new and had so few branches, I didn't want to take away the few branches/leaves they had. But now I'm wondering if it'd be a good idea to clip any new growth happening at 3-leaf joints down to the first 5-leaf......or is it a little late in the season? Should I just let them continue their growth for now and then after winter, prune them down to 5 leaf or stronger joints?

Thanks for any tips!

Pilgrim

Imogen

Brendan: Thank you for those fantastic pics, your Pilgrim shows that it's the best-looking yellow Austin !! I love them all, esp. Jubilee Celebration. Houzz deleted my many pics. at one time (I wasted 1/2 hour re-posting), so I learn my lesson to post my words first, hit submit, then come back to add pics. later. Adding pics. is easy, but typing takes time.

My experience is AFTER 1ST FLUSH, BRUTALLY PRUNE them down 1/3, or even 1/2 for TALL roses or climbers like Lavender Crush. I prune bushes 6 inch. shorter than where I want the height to be. The re-growth is about 6 inch. to 8 inch. longer to produce blooms.

For tiny own-roots, the height is always shorter than where I want to be, so I just snip off the bloom. For tall roses, the height is always taller than I want it to be, so I chop down to 6 inch. SHORTER than where I want the height to be.

After 2nd flush, I SHOULD HAD pruned Princesse Charlene de Monaco (tall hybrid tea) down to 2 feet ... but I foolishly pruned down to the first 5-leaf, and ended up with 7 feet tall slender & stingy rose late Sept.

Straw, perfect, thanks for the tips on pruning!

Quick question...When I was watering the roses earlier I was brushing away some mulch that had piled up near the base of one of my Carding Mills and I accidentally broke off what looked like a pointed little bud tip for (I'm guessing) a new cane.

Is this ok that there is an open wound so close to the soil now? Now I know not to mess around with the mulch below them, hopefully I won't have to worry about the plant having more problems hole so near the soil. Thanks!

I would pile up more top soil to cover up the broken branch. If that half-broken big branch gets dried out, it will die. No harm in covering roses up with more soil. Two of my FlowerCarpet (grafted-on-Dr.Huey) were covered with more than 1 foot of dirt. Nineteen years ago I ordered a HUGE pile of top-soil, there were left-over so I piled up the dirt high (almost buried those roses) !! So they grew their own-roots and lost Dr.Huey completely. Four Knock-outs were next to it ... my daughter told me to kill them (too thorny), so I dug up Knock-outs and two lost Dr.-Huey-rootstock completely, and grew their own roots.

The best blooming Knock-out had BOTH own-root (grew above) and Dr.Huey-rootstock below.

So if your Carding Mill is grafted, it will grow its own-root if the bud-union is covered with at least 6 inch. of top-soil. If your Carding Mill is own-root, it will survive winter better with LESS dead branches if more soil piled up on top. My own-root Mary Magdalene has at least 1.5 feet of dirt above it and the bush keeps getting wider in the last 10 years.

Straw sounds good with the soil at the bottom. Think I should do that now or maybe in two months before winter and really cold temps hit?

I like the story of your flowercarpet. I’ve been wanting to read up on those and see what type might be good for a “groundcover” effect with roses for zone 5.

I’m not sure if my Carding Mill is own root, it was in a rectangular david Austin box from a local nursery, and I didn’t save any of the tags ;(

But I love the three I have, they won’t stop blooming since May. Here’s a picture from today with 3 blooms showing the different stages and colors. And then one of the many buds on Jubilee Celebration opened after the rain storm we had after sunrise, so I took a picture since the drops looked nice. I’ll take more of it over the next few days for you as all the buds open.

Brendan: WOW !! Your photography skill is amazing, that's the best shot of Jubilee Celebration with raindrops !! You are so talented in capturing the beauty in nature. Thank you for sharing nature's beauty with me. Thank you for sharing kindness in your words, and the beauty of nature in your pictures.

The box that Carding Mill came from ... was it deeper than 1 foot? Dr.Huey-rootstock is VERY LONG (more than a foot). Carding Mill roots easily so yours is probably own-root.

@strawchicago z5

Thanks! I love seeing flowers with raindrops on them, especially early in the morning when the rain or dew drops are getting the early light on them. It is always so beautiful and really highlights the colors and forms of different flowers.

The box that all of my Austin roses came in were probably a foot and 1/2 tall, dark green rectangular pots and decent size plants with multiple canes. All purchased from my local nursery. I have to go see the head of the outdoor nursery one of these days and ask if he knows about whether they sell own root or grafted Austins. I haven't really gone out much since quarantine but I will ask him when I venture over to the nursery next.

Straw, I've been wanting to take some pictures of Jubilee Celebration for you since both of mine have so many buds, but it's been raining for the past 2 days and the only buds that have opened have all been lower, on the sides of the plant. I'm waiting until the upright buds open on the taller growth. Once they open it will be easier to take pictures for you, but so far the flowers are really beautiful bold pinks.

@strawchicago z5 Straw, I will get some pictures later today of my Jubilee's. We had torrential rains all yesterday and last night, so all of my plants are a little heavy right now including all the rose flowers that are blooming ;( Once they dry off and perk up from being so close to the ground I'll try to get some pictures, The 2 I have are looking really beautiful though with big fluffy magenta flowers. I took time to smell them all this morning for you. I'm not the best with scent descriptions, but I wanted to try for you-

Olivia Austin rose- not very strong scent....can't comment

Imogen - typical rose scent (to me)

Carding Mill - Beautiful scent, fruity, almost tropical but not too fruity like my Westerlands.

Jubilee Celebration - I really like this smell now that I got up close to them to sniff the flowers. It is fruity like Carding Mill, but with a strong kind of lemon zest scent to it. Lemon zest might not sound good, but this is my favorite smell of all the Austin's so far I think. If someone told me a flower smelled strongly like lemon zest, I probably wouldn't love the idea. So maybe that's not the best description of it but I'll try it again later and see if I can come up with a better description. I'm going to order some more of the rose though, I really like it :)

Thank you for info. on scents, very important for me. Jubilee is on my wish-list, I like lemon and rose scents together. Would love to see bush-shots of Jubilee, since a few stated that it's wimpy as own-root. Own-root have very few blooms 1st year (less than 10), then improve in 2nd year (20 to 40 blooms), then more in 3rd year if they don't get winter-killed down to a few canes.

Grafted-on-Dr.Huey is the opposite: tons of blooms in 1st year like 40+ (more blooms than leaves), then down to less than 10 in 2nd year and much less in 3rd year due to winter-kill. Dr.Huey doesn't grow cluster-roots well in freezing zone 5 clay, but it does better in loamy soil or warmer climate. For that reason, Cantigny rose park (alkaline clay) had ALL roses grafted on Dr.Huey for impressive show in 1st and 2nd year, then they get rid of Austins after that.

I constantly top roses with soil before winter, then winter-protect with leaves in Nov. or early Dec. to seal in the moisture. More soil on top = wider the bush for own-root roses.

Straw, I'm going to take some pictures over the next day or two of each bush for you, once this gross wet weather stops. I don't know whether mine are grafted or not. Same tall rectangular pot my other Austin's came in....wish I knew to keep my tags before getting into roses! My fault.

That is great info on how to winter protect, makes perfect sense. I am going to do that in Nov or Dec.

Are you saying that if I pile up enough soil around my Austins for winter protection, over time they may grow their own roots and detach from Dr. Huey (if that's what they are grafted onto)? That would be great in the end, I can try that which each of the beds I made. There isn't much of the original top branch to them, above the knot that's above their roots. I think I buried them all a bit too deeply in early May, so most of the base is actually underground at this point. But I can definitely add more soil for winter, and again in Spring if it will encourage them to own-root.

@strawchicago

The Sun came out for a bit just now so I ran out to grab some photos for you. Here are my two Jubilees and then some pics of it next to the other Austins in that row to compare. They've been putting out some long shoots the past month, from the base. Little behind compared to some of my other roses...all planted mid or late May, so 3 months grow time. What do you think? Curious if these look good enough for 3 months of in the ground, or how much wider+taller they will get before I plan all the other roses I'm going to order for this hill.

The blooms last longer than Imogen + Carding Mill...about equal length of time to my Olivias, maybe a day or two longer. I REALLY like the scent though, hadn't even really gotten much scent from them until today, maybe from all the crazy rain the last 2-3 days? Does rain make their smells enhanced? Hope you like-

@strawchicago z5

Straw, I forget if you grow The Pilgrim, but I was just out walking around the gardens now that the rain stopped, and it's flowers that opened have the nicest, freshest smell. It is sweet but not too strong and not tropical, but doesn't smell like a typical rose smell...it is much sweeter maybe with a hint of spice. I have to get better at descriptions of scents...but it stood out with all the ones blooming that I just smelled.

Brendan: thank you for the above BUSH-SHOT pics. of Austin roses Jubilee Celebration. Most Austin roses blow fast in the vase (2 days max), except for Jubilee Celebration (as rated in HMF), Golden Celebration (lasts 3 days for me), W.S. 2000 (4 days in the vase).

Since your Jubilee Cel. is big & vigorous, it might be grafted. Khalid in Pakistan do not root these roses: Jubilee Cel, Jude the Obscure, Mary rose .. these are too wimpy as own-root. Jude died 4 times on me as own-root, and Jubilee Cel. has a wimpy reputation as own-root. I DO NOT MIND tiny own-root, as long they survive winter like W.S.2000 which thrives for 10 years in my garden: constant bloomer & healthy but stays small under 1' foot tall.

Straw: No problem :) I know they aren't the biggest or most impressive looking rose bushes, but hopefully in time they'll get a bit taller and fill in. I really like the fragrance. It's funny that you should mention vase life. I haven't really tried any of my austin's in a proper vase, with a stem. I tried it once with Crown Princess or maybe it was Bathsheba, when I first got them. Whatever it was, had a thin stem I thought looked pretty on it's on in a tiny glass vase I have. Think it lasted maybe 2 days tops. Probably less. That's when I started floating the flowers in big bowls of water instead, which helped. But I noticed Jubilee definitely was the last flower floating in those...like you said her flower just looked the best after 4 days or so while the others got all crummy.

I assume mine are grafted since they're from my local nursery, and came in big tall rectangular DA containers. Hopefully they'll reach 3-4 ft height and peek over my wall ledge that they're in front of.