On Sat, 14 Jun 2003 22:06:20 GMT, (Shiva) wrote:

On Sat, 14 Jun 2003 15:54:41 -0500, dave weil
wrote:



Well, this was all helpful stuff. I wasn't worried too much about the
little trellis, but the tree was something that I wanted to eventually
hide. Maybe I can work the lateral thing to my advantage by wrapping
the canes *around* the trunk of the tree rather than training the
canes *up* the trunk. We'll see.

Here's a thought: add some other climbers. Don Juan is small for a
climber, judging from what many have said. Bob Bauer said its canes
gets no more than 12 or 15 feel long. Most people worry about
containig a giant climber--with your tree, you have no such worries. I
like two different types of roses intertwined together. That is what I
wanted to happen with Don and Sombreuil, but they have not bloomed at
the same time, so that's a bust so far. Have you considered Zepherine
Drohine [spelling!!]? Jane's up in Maryland is outstanding.

This is a good idea.

Actually, I went whole hog and planted *two* Don Juans under this tree
g.

And now, I've looked carefully at the tree and I realize that 10 - 12
ft. canes will cover most of the tree (it's a spindly little thing,
after all of the hacking that I did to it trying to save it). So, I
might be able to get away with *just* the Don Juans. The drooping cane
thing might work to my advantage if I let one long cane from each
plant to get, say, about 6 or 7 feet tall and then train it downwards.
I might be able to generate a nice girth of rose around the tree this
way. I'm hoping to train each of them up each of the remaining
branches and then have them cross over in the middle.

Here's a pic to give perspective. The stub of a branch in the middle
is about 6 feet tall. Another 6 feet takes us about 2/3rd 3/4s of the
way up the branches.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ddweil2/DJClimbers.jpg

But you've got me thinking that growing Cecile Brunner CL on the other
side of the trunk might be cool, contrasting big red blooms with more
delicate small blossoms weaving in and out. Since I've got a *real*
specimen CB at the moment, I'd probably choose something different
(and a different color as well).

Sombreuil has been an underperformer for me (mainly due to the lack of
afternoon sun I think) but that works well for its location, which is
fairly limited in size anyway.

I like mine okay except for the fact that it ages so ugly. I love the
blushy center. But I am not really attracted to roses with 9,000 itsy
bitsy petals. It is a lot more shallow-cupped than I had thought it
would be.

My problem with Sombreuil stems from the fact that it was a spindly
little thing when I got it (part of the reason that I don't order from
Vintage Gardens any more). It's done surprisingly well in its third
season, and, as I've said, it's probably for the best, although I hope
to eventually create a wall of rose on the porch. I've got 10 foot
canes, but the ends aren't very vigorous.

The other limiting factor is that it shares its little pied a terre
with a vigorous stand of mint. I'm constantly ripping out an area of
mint around it.

I guess I'm disappointed that it hasn't been nearly as vigorous as CB,
which was planted at the same time. CB has been really amazing in
terms of coverage. Here's a recent pic:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ddweil2/CBJune10.jpg

The tallest part of the plant is about 10 feet up. It would be much
taller, but I've arched some of the longest canes to create an
illusion of a tree and bush (making the top part rounded, as you can
plainly see). I really like the effect and now that the second flush
of blooms is fading, it's starting to throw some long canes straight
upward. I just wish that Sombreuil would do this. Instead, it's just
sitting there, with only one new cane coming out of one of the
foundation canes (and not basal growth either). Well, it just has a
different growth habit, plus, it doesn't get all day sun like CB does.

I've also planted a "President" clematis at the base of the tree (you
can barely see one of those little wooden "arbors" that come in the
pots of clematises). I'm hoping that it takes off, because the big
violet blooms will really make this thing look striking, I think. I
think that the bottom part of CB will provide the cover that the roots
need.

On the left, you can see the new Belami planting. There are three
there, and I think that a good 6 foot "bush" of Belami will be pretty
striking in and of itself, plus, it will give me dozens and dozens of
blooms. I can see you thinking, "*Great*, a 6 foot bush of dozens of
pink HTs...well, at least they smell great..."

Boy, am I vebose this morning...