Austin's roses was Re: `Britain Meets the Bay'?

Michael wrote:

>Dave Poole:  I don't know where you got sthe information that the Austin 
>roses don't do well in hot climates, but here in California's  Central 
>Valley the ones I've tried grow like blazes.  The temperatures in July 
>and August are commonly over 100*F and occasionally reach 115*-120*.  

A year or so back, I was in touch with possibly a dozen or more people
living in S. California and Texas who all seemed to be having similar
problems with them.  As a result, I assumed that they might not be
that well suited to very warm climates.  Having heard how well they
grow for you and another member here, I'm beginning to wonder what
these other folk must have been doing.  

>The main problem is more keeping them within some reasonable bounds.  
>They don't seem to go completely dormant, maintaining some green leaves 
>throughout the winter unless stripped, which I refuse as too much work, 
>but still flower well.  

They rarely go completely dormant in many parts of southern England
either.  This is only a problem after a summer like we had last year
where excessive summer rain brought about massive rust infections on
all plants not normally susceptible to them.  I don't grow roses here,
but a pal who is fanatical about them has had to resort to very strong
dilutions of liquid copper on all of his roses - not just David's
varieties.

Dave Poole
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index