Rose Talk Forums

[Guest]

TasV, I see in the Rose Talk Forums area there are separate Forums for Heritage, Modern, Climbing etc, have you considered a Forum for David Austin Roses in Australia? I realise that they would probably come under Modern Roses, but I think that considering the number of varieties available it would be wonderful to have a Forum just for the discussion of them.

[roseman]

I agree with bulbinella, Having been to his nursery in England I am building my own garden of them I have not got very many yet but am collecting more all the time Carole.

[orchid40]

Funny that - I've just ordered 2 - Jude the Obscure and Abraham Darby. I KNOW I said I wasn't going to buy any more but.....................
I've got about 11 DAs.

[Ozeboy]

That's about the worst suggestion I have heard for east coast of Australia.
Sorry to say " They do not do well here, better leave them in snowy europe." Gertrude, Brother Cadfael and Jude will probably stay,all the others are on death row.

David Austin might start a forum then he could learn all the problems his Pommy roses have in 40 C high humidity and do something about fixing them. Probably not as most of his market would be in snowy winters and 20C summers type countries.

[Simon]

I'm not so sure I agree... English roses are, as you say, modern roses and are a classification of rose, like ground covers, Teas, Hybrid Teas, Bourbons, Chinas, and I think their culture can be adequately covered by treating them like modern shrub roses whereas roses like miniatures require a different approach, as do climbers and a lot of heritage roses. If someone was to ask for a section on Bousault roses I would probably say that their culture could be adequately discussed in the heritage rose section. Now if someone asked for a section on species roses... I think they are sufficiently different to warrant separate discussion. We also don't really want to get into a situation where we have lots of little forums resulting in some sections receiving little or no use (some are already showing signs of this). Given that there is a plethora of DA roses around a forum for them probably wouldn't suffer from a lack of use but I think others may as a result of it. I think also, that if we had a separate section for each different kind of rose then some people would never look at some sections and so would never be exposed to them and I would not like to contribute to polarising people more than they might already be. So, I'm not really convinced that this is really needed. I realise that DA devotees think the world of them but when broken down into broadly defined groups I think they are really just another modern rose. However, if enough people say they would like a specific for them I can make a sub-forum under modern roses for them.

[roseman]

Simon, I think you are probably right I was thinking with my heart rather than my head- sorry. Bruce not everyone lives in Sydney but Bulbinella lives in sw Sydney and started this thread so must have no trouble in growing D.A.'s. England has very high humidity in summer and certainly has cold frosty winters. Probably much like Tasmania although I have never been to Tasmania. Here in Mudgee we have hotter summers than Sydney and much colder winters. The flowers in England are huge as against the size we have here on the mainland. I presume D. Austin sells his roses in Australia because the people here want them, if they didn't there would be no market! Carole.

[Guest]

point taken Simon and I have to agree with Carole, I was at the time I made the suggestion, thinking with my heart and not my head, it would be a shame to see other Forums fade away due to the popularity of DA roses.

I'm sorry Bruce if my suggestion offended you, you obviously have had no luck in growing or keeping DA roses in a healthy condition. On the other hand I don't have any problems at all, so far in my (small) collection of these roses I have, 5 x Jubilee Celebration (often described in catalogues as one of DA's finest roses ... and I would have to agree with this, my own plants flower almost year long, they suffer from no major problems, no more than any other type of roses I have growing) 3 x Mary Rose, 3 x Lordly Oberon, 2 x Charles Austin and 3 x Wenlock and I will be adding more this year.

I must say too that I found this part of your reply a little odd .....

[ David Austin might start a forum then he could learn all the problems his Pommy roses have in 40 C high humidity and do something about fixing them. Probably not as most of his market would be in snowy winters and 20C summers type countries ]

........considering that we here in Australia have no 'native' roses and apart from the number of 'Australian bred' roses bred specifically to handle our conditions (and even all of these are 'descendents' from roses that are natives from other countries) we, as gardeners/rose lovers do manage to grow many different varieties/types of roses very successfully.

Perhaps the successful growing of these roses by many people in some parts of this country is a testament to their skills as good gardeners and their dedication and love of these magnificent roses.

[Guest]

I would like a seperate forum for DA's.
I can't grow them in my area, (must be a testament to my poor gardening skills and lack of love and dedication) so a seperate forum saves me the time of looking at posts I am not real interested in.

[Simon]

There will be no DA forum.

EDIT: I just don't think it is needed.

[roseman]

I agree Simon we don't need a D.A. forum ' Those who can will - Those who can't will miss out on the beauty and joy that these plants give. Carole.

[Simon]

For me it's not about that Carole... but I also look at things through a different set of eyes... I just don't think we need a forum for DAs when English Roses is just a marketing name for another group of modern roses... just like Generosa is from Guillot. I don't know much about Genarosa roses yet but nearly fell into the marketing trap the other day when I saw some potted roses labelled as Generosa roses and thought... that's different... but they looked awful in the pot so I figured... same thing... different name. David Austin roses in general grow perfectly well down here in Tas. You only need to look at the beautiful photos BillnDee posted tonight to see that and I am quite happy with them on the whole despite shovel prunning some last year. I also think they have much to contribute to the ongoing development of roses in Australia for Australia. I'm looking at it from a forum maintenance point of view where I don't want to create divisiveness and making separate forums creates divisiveness and when there is divisiveness or polarisation of views and opinions rose varieties tend to disappear and whether you like them or not that is a tragedy. So I say celebrate your all your roses as roses and enjoy what you like and be tolerant of those whose tastes are different from your own. People often feel the same way about Delbards too and I have to say that so far I am under whelmed by the Delbards in general. I have quite a few that are at the two year mark now so hopefully at the three year mark they will start to perform (you know the saying... with roses the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year the leap). When you say that the DAs have beauty and bring joy... well every rose does that for me... I look at them through rose coloured glasses

[roseman]

Simon. I thought that I was agreeing with you that we do not need another forum.

[Simon]

Yep... me too Just explaining my point of view that's all

[roseman]

Just came in from work, this is my point of view, We do not need another separate section to this FORUM, we have lots of sub section to look at. If DA's can not fit into one of these, I will be dammed.. I look at all the section on here for my own interest. Yes I like the DA's, there on the other hand, I do not like all of his roses. Is there a saying or two " beauty is in the beholder and a rose is a rose by any other name".

Deb, you say you can not grow them, could you enlighten me/us why they do not grow for you. Mushroom calls me the secretary for DA, maybe I could talk to him with your problem, maybe he could help you to grow them, Regards David.

[Ozeboy]

Possibly there are some DA's that will grow OK here but I have had difficulty finding them. Season before last I purchased around 12 and was not happy with all except 4 or 5 so decided to give them another season.
I am now discarding them and sending to a friend in a less humid area.
Bulbinella I do not have the ones you mentioned, perhaps I am missing out on having these grow beautifully in my area.
I can see beauty in all roses that grow well whatever the variety or colour.
Some are just too difficult to maintain. All the things in my yard have to be healthy, the pony, chooks,bees and roses etc. There are roses that will do very well here so those are the ones I will be growing. The modern roses like Da's and HT's are mostly protected PBR and those are the ones sold in most nurseries at a very profitable price. Unfortunatly nearly all fall short of being desease resistant on the east coast of Australia where the greater population live.

Up until 3 years ago I used to go to Swanes, look at their catalogue of DA's and HT's and pick myself out a new rose or two and didn't know any difference. I do know they were all grown at Narromine due to the flat landscape and kinder weather for roses. Their Dural nursery is kept reasonable with an abundance of fungacides and some pestercides. However round about now (March to April) the whole lot defoliate and look like crap. They have a rose show at different times of the year and guess what, all the blooms come from Narromine.
Three years ago my children bought me a computer to keep my grey matter in reasonable condittion and I found Rose Exchange. One guy posting (Larry ) was showing great pix of Tea roses and mentioned good for heat and humidity. He recomended two, CREPUSCLE and Mrs B R CANT for me to start with. Since then I realise how suitable these roses are for Australian heat and humidity, they have species ancestors in China where it is like Australia. They are evergreen, flower all year and look fantastic as a garden shrub. They are very different to the winter dormant English and European roses that are bred to survive in snow.

Pardon my frankness , there are better roses than the PBR's at the nurseries but they won't tell you about them as they can't make money from them.

I must conclude by saying " Thank you Larry ".