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Re: question about KnockOut roses and overwintering
I agree the Easy Elegance and Lady Elsie May are great roses.
Another group that should be tried are the Griffith Buck roses. There
are some 70 or more of them on the market today. However, I also
suggest Lorraine may be gardening in better soil than I . My heavy
clay soil ( unammeded it's best use is making pottery) registers 7.5
and I water from a well that produces a pH of 8. Not the best of
situations for roses that prefer 6.5 to 7. Also, we have experienced
drought condition the past two years. So my roses do much better
when I fertilize them with organic fertilizers. I have tried tough
love on many hardy varieties and they go down hill fairly quickly :-(
I just returned from visiting Giverney, and many of the great gardens
around London and their roses are thanks to the moisture and their
soil, they are big and breathtaking this time of year. There is no
way I will ever be able to grow climbers that will engulf the side of
my castle. But my Buck climber did make it to the dinning room
window this year thanks to lots of Spring rain. Stunning .
Nancy Szerlag ( Zone 5 Michigan)
On Jun 16, 2008, at 6:42 AM, Lorraine Ballato wrote:
> Despite the great popularity of KnockOuts, I have had great success
> in my very crowded zone 5 garden with Easy Elegance roses. I
> fanagled some (Easy Elegance Lady Elsie May and Easy Elegance
> Sunrise Sunset) from a display at the GWA meeting on LI in 2005,
> and planted them side by side with Knock Outs very late in the
> season. No hilling, coddling, etc. The Knock outs didn't make it,
> the Easy Elegance did. And then the show came in June...then
> July...then August...then September. No fertilizer, no spraying.
>
> I thought maybe it was just that first year living off the remains
> of the grower/breeder prep for the GWA show so I waited to see what
> would happen the second year. It was the same. And by this time I
> had acquired another Easy Elegance rose: My Hero, a brilliant red.
> Same performance.
>
> I now have Knock Outs, Easy Elegance, and O-So-Easy Roses in
> addition to Flower Carpets and Carefree Wonders (anyone see a
> pattern??) Easy Elegance is the best of the lot. The brand offers
> a broad range of options (a climber, a standard, one that is tea-
> like, one with heavy fragrance, etc.) to suit any garden need.
> They are very hardy and truly undemanding, bred to be resistant to
> disease and insects, etc. I just love them for what they add to
> the garden and what they don't add to my to-do list as a gardener!
>
> Anyone on this list who hasn't tried them might want to think about
> giving them a hard look, especially if you live in a cold spot.
>
> Lorraine
>
> Lorraine Ballato
> 16 Mudry Farm Rd
> Brookfield CT 06804
> (203)740-8636
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Nancy Szerlag<s*@earthlink.net>
> To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers
> Forum<g*@lists.ibiblio.org> ;
> Hamptongar@aol.com<H*@aol.com>
> Cc: Nancy Szerlag<s*@earthlink.net>
> Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2008 5:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [GWL] question about KnockOut roses and overwintering
>
>
> Nancy Lindley , owner of a nursery here in Michigan that grows only
> hardy own root roses,
> counsels that roses are big time party girls - they like to eat and
> drink. Lindley say they need to be fed and
> and watered on a regular basis unlike many perennials and shrubs
> that
> can fend for themselves once established.
> An annual shovelful of compost won't do it . I give my roses a
> handful of organic fertilizer three to four times a year and I
> water them well every couple of weeks. Not a lot of work for a
> summer
> full of blooms.
> Nancy Szerlag
> Michigan Zone 5
> On Jun 15, 2008, at 11:39 AM,
> Hamptongar@aol.com<H*@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> Having not planted any roses in my own garden for more than 20
>> years I was
>> tempted to try a new variety at our zone 5 garden (2000 feet high
>> and 140 avg.
>> inches of snow) where the Japanese Beetles and deer seem to be
>> manageable.
>> I queried the list a few years ago and the consensus was to try a
>> Knockout
>> rose...no scent but virtually disease and insect free. I planted
>> Radrazz in
>> the spring of 2006 and while I only got a couple of flowers I did
>> get some
>> vegetative growth and thought I was well on my way. Last year it
>> showed now
>> signs of breaking dormancy until late June and finally flowered in
>> early August
>> but I'd by no means call it a robust plant. It seems to have over
>> wintered
>> much better this year (no protection other than what we got from
>> the snow) and
>> it's about two feet tall now with more than a dozen buds. Unlike
>> last year
>> I've decided to feed it a bit as our soil is mostly clay and rock
>> with meager
>> amounts of organic matter...and yes, I did dig deep and wide
>> adding plenty of
>> compost and humus at planting.
>>
>> Still don't know how long it will survive but it's pretty obvious
>> that it's
>> virtually disease free and insect resistant. Now if they could
>> only insert
>> a scent gene...but fear that would doom its insect resistance. I
>> refuse to
>> mound it or give it any winter protection other than holding back
>> on the
>> fertilizer come August to harden it off. It's not that I don't
>> believe in those
>> practices, it's just that I don't want to have to do that kind of
>> work to
>> insure that my garden and plants survive.
>>
>>
>> Andrew Messinger
>> The Hampton Gardener
>>
>> The Hampton Gardener is a Registered Trade Mark
>> (Published every Thursday in the Southampton Press, The Press and the
>> Easthampton Press)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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> Nancy Szerlag
> Columnist for Detroit News
> szerlag@earthlink.net<s*@earthlink.net>
> Check blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com<http://
> www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com/>
>
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Nancy Szerlag
Columnist for Detroit News
szerlag@earthlink.net
Check blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
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