Rose Garden Structures

Top 2. Aug 29, 1998 10:24 AM

» Mark_Whitelaw - Carol, 'Zephirine Drouhin', a "thornless," bright pink Bourbo

Carol,

'Zephirine Drouhin', a "thornless," bright pink Bourbon would be perfect.

BTW, although some are my shots, others are copyright Corel Ltd., as stated in the "alt txt" when your run your cursor over the picture. Note that one picture is from the beautiful Victoria Gardens in B.C.

MarkW>Ft. Worth, TX/Zn 7b, Rose Garden

-- posted by Mark_Whitelaw

Top 3. Aug 31, 1998 2:02 PM

» WilliamG - Mark, If your rose is near to a wall (house) and you want it to

Mark, If your rose is near to a wall (house) and you want it to spread to the side rather than all around, would you put in something like a trellis / fence as a barrier at the back of that rose to guide it to the sides and to the front? This is to somewhat control the growth of the swamp rose and train it to grow in more or less a semi circle. I am considering putting up a fence type trellis behind the rose in the raised bed so as to fan out the canes away from the house and the bedroom window. Do you think that would work?

William Groth, Houston TX,

USDA zone 9a Upper Texas Gulf Coast

Budding Rosarian (actually a HARJ), Herbophile,

Gardener and Avid Aquarist, Enophile and Genealogist

-- posted by WilliamG

Top 4. Sep 1, 1998 4:08 AM

» Mark_Whitelaw - I'm sure it would, William, but it will take a great deal of eff

I'm sure it would, William, but it will take a great deal of effort to train it in that form. That said, it takes a great deal of effort to train a rose into any form other than a natural one.

MarkW>Ft. Worth, TX/Zn 7b, Rose Garden

-- posted by Mark_Whitelaw

Top 5. Oct 3, 1998 12:38 PM

» CalWine - Thoughts about training roses: Most roses, HTs especially, ar

Thoughts about training roses:

Most roses, HTs especially, are best left to reveal their optimum growth habits, I think. But there are lots of roses which can be trained. I have turned several of my minis into very attractive trees; and, upon noticing that my Reine Victoria was putting out long canes, trained it as a climber on a small trellis. It's much happier in that configuration.

I remember Clair Martin, rose curator for the Huntington Library Rose Garden in San Marino, CA, saying that he prefers to tie long canes back to the center of the rose, making large loops. It's a way of keeping unruly roses in place.

Alan Boehmer California
Wine

-- posted by CalWine

Top 6. Mar 21, 1999 3:05 PM

» Mark_P - Pillar Roses

I am interested in planting some pillar roses, can you suggest approximate demensions for a post or column? I'm thinking of using redwood to match my beds and trellis.

I have purchased Gertrude Jekyll and Sombreuil, will these work as pillar roses? Do you have other suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark_P

-- posted by Mark_P

Top 7. Mar 21, 1999 5:31 PM

» Mark_Whitelaw - Think big!

Hi Mark!

That's a great question!

The biggest mistake most new rosarians make when trying to pillar a rose is using a post or column with too small a diameter. A small diameter post or column can make it very difficult to wrap the canes around it without breaking the canes.

Although a 4x4 is suitable for pillaring miniature climbing roses, I would suggest a post not smaller than a 6x6 and an 8x8 would be even better. As a technique, also consider "knocking off" the corners of the pillar (the longitudinal edge along each side) so the post is slightly octagonal when viewed from a cross section. This will prevent the edges of the pillar from cutting into the cane.

Our ancestors used old tree trunks as pillars, as well as the columns that supported their homes. So keep that image in mind when pillaring.

RE pillaring roses: Most any rose with long supple canes can be used to pillar. Climbing roses are especially suitable for this procedure since the pillaring process makes the canes slightly horizontal, thus producing more bloom stem breaks along the cane, and thus more blooms.

You choices will make excellent pillared roses - I pillared 'Sombreuil', a white climbing Tea. I have also pillared 'Dortmund' and a mini called 'Red Cascade'. I am also currently pillaring a "found" Noisette we have dubbed 'San Fillipe Noisette'. And I'm ordering two 'Altissimo' (a modern, Large Flowered Climber with old garden form) for pillaring.

Hope that helps a bit. I'm sure others will join in here with suggestions for pillared roses.

Nick?!? How 'bout you? Which roses do you pillar?

-- posted by Mark_Whitelaw

Top 8. Mar 23, 1999 4:15 PM

» WilliamG - Pillaring Roses - Here is what I did.

I have more or less pillared the Dortmund by taking three 3'x8' trellisses and placing them in a triangle around the Dortmund then tying up the canes to the trellisses. This gives the pillaring effect and also allows for air flow through the canes which is probably more a necessity in our hot humid climate.

-- posted by WilliamG

Top 9. Mar 25, 1999 7:45 PM

» Mark_P - Rose Pillars

Thank you all for your suggestions. I cannot wait to begin with this project. Perhaps we can all think in harmony and warm up the weather so things will grow faster! We are suffering from our friend "La Nina"

-- posted by Mark_P

Top 10. Mar 27, 1999 1:43 PM

» NickHudd - Varieties to pillar

Mark

I think you could pillar any climber as long as the pillar is high enough, and has a big enough diameter to bend the canes (as in your earlier comments). I pillar Zeph. D. and Kathleen H. - they both have very flexible canes and the pole is therefore only about 3-4 inches diameter, but you couldn't do that with many stiffer roses - I think Compassion or Highfield would never pillar anywhere - the wood is so stiff and brittle.

Noisettes have very flexible wood and could be pillared easily, and other Bourbons (Z.D. is a Bourbon) like Mme Pierre Oger, can be pillared.

I grow Clematis texensis "Duchess of Albany" with Z.D. and C. viticella "Mme Julia Correvon" with Kathleen Harrop. This does well on a pillar - the latter combination particularly is spectacular.

-- posted by NickHudd