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Roses

Liz Runciman's question about roses: our experience in S W France may
possibly be interesting, though more from the point of view of the hot
rather dry summers than the winters, which could be cold some years.

We wanted generally "old-fashioned" looking roses, which could stand up for
themselves with only infrequent attention in a holiday home that
unfortunately we sometimes fail to get to from one year's end to the next.
Ones which have done very well for us there have been Lady Hillingdon and
Climbing Lady Hillingdon, Aimee Vivert (quite sensational sprawling up a
pigeonnier), Blanc Double de Coubert and Roseraie de l'Haye (both rugosas),
Penelope, Moonlight, Celine Forestier, Celeste, Complicata, Scharlachglut,
Mermaid (but its vicious thorns are a serious drawback), Alister Stella
Grey, Gruss an Teplitz (does well, though not a strong grower and rather
hangs the heads of its numerous flowers) and The Fairy (rather
ground-coverish). Rosa nutkana has grown quite differently from how it
grows here in England - in France it sends up a tall fountain of erect
shoots to twelve feet or so, quite a sight when in flower, but vulnerable
to wind rocking it on its roots.

General Schablikine does have virtues (flowers early and late, and its
purply shoots are attractive), but we actually find it does less well in
France than here in Sussex, tending to look rather gawky. I like Desprez a
Fleurs Jaunes (climber) but have to admit that it's not exactly covered in
flowers. We have hopes of Zephirine Drouhin but she's a bit overshadowed by
other plants.

Disappointments include Marechal Niel (masses of flowers but these hang
their heads too much and are very prone to mould in humid weather), Mme
Pierre Oger (very floriferous and sometimes the flowers can be lovely but
they too are prone to rot in wet, and it's VERY subject to blackspot),
Louise Odier (ditto), Cecile Brunner (not enough personality to hold its
own among other plants), Rosa rubrifolia (foliage nice enough, but again
better here in England), R. cantabrigiensis, R. hugonis and Canary Bird
(too hot for them, I think), Souvenir de la Malmaison (flowers rot too
easily), Rosa setigera (the only absolute failure we've had), Wilhelm (a
fine rose with its dark crimson flowers, but not so good there as
Scharlachglut), and Prosperity (not a strong grower there). Buff Beauty
(seems singularly prone to ant damage), Golden Wings, all the Fruhlings
roses we've got (anfang, morgen and gold) and Nevada sometimes have a good
fling of flowers, but their flowering season seems shorter in France than
in cooler England and on the whole they're not a success there.

I absolutely agree with Eric Rowe about growing the plants on their own
roots.

Alisdair Aird (Sussex, England)
Alisdair@compuserve.com
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