"Shiva" wrote in message
news:aHlwYXRpYQ==.a65dbeabc14c0abc5a314d4f9f876424 @1066670029.cotse.net...
Theo Asir wrote:

Distant Drums is a Buck rose.

Duh, I knew that, I don't know why I put it that
way. What I meant was that he used one of his roses
as a parent and an Austin as the other. I imagine
some of his roses have no Buck rose parents at all!


I've seen
a Heirloom hybrid Distant Thunder that
uses it as parent.

Hmm ... is it pretty? Distinctive like DD?
Round and bushy and floriferous?! It might
have to go on next year's list!

I've heard some good things about it.
It supposedly has similar color with improved vigor
on it own roots and in blooming. Bushy 3' high.
Its in heirlooms catalogue as (CLEstormy #SH710)



I've considered it. Unfortunately it is not
very vigorous unless grafted around here
and you know how I feel about grafted's.

Well, you are talking to the right woman
for a little Zone 7 field test, as I have
one grafted and two Roses Unlimited own roots.
I cannot tell how they will do in your zone,
but I can make a comparison next spring to tell
you how the two types do in the same context!
I am off grafted roses myself after my adventures
with bare roots this year. All my own roots did
fine and look great.

Do let me know.

On the other hand the color and scent are
quite unique. Part of the problem is I wouldn't
know where to put it. My Mongrel bed is all full up too.

Do you mean because of the colors, or because of space alone?
Theo I am so esthetically unevolved that I have really just begun
to look at the way the colors go together. I have my DDs in a front
sunny bed on a backdrop of good mauves like Royal Amethyst.
Nearby are Mutabilis, which blends the mauves and peachy tones,
and some other yummy yellow blends that come out peachy. I love the
cool and warm tones together, I find.

Both. Space is at a premium here. I only
have space for another 20-25 roses and this
is in non prime areas. We don't have fences so the
landscaping has to blend well. A riot of clashing colors
is hard on the eyes and probably affects the
property value :-

Something about this rose has
bothered me for some time now.
At the Reiman garden in Iowa they have a
Distant Drums that does not appear grafted.
It is a large 6 ft bush with pinkish yellow blooms
with a slight old rose scent. Now this is not the
rose I have seen in nurseries. One of the two
has to be a forgery.

NO WAY is that DD! Cool mauve outer petals, tan inner.
Very distinct. Sometimes the tan is a bit peachy, but
the mauve is never pink here, and it fades toa ghosty
looking lavendar.

That the way I figured too. But remember many
many buck roses were lost and friends and admirers
provided cutting from the "Original" bush that buck
himself had handed around. They were quite meticulous in
not acquiring stuff from commerce.

Knowing Bucks winnowing techniques it
seems incredible that the weak grafted variety
in nurseries survived. This is the only one of his
many roses that has to coddled this way.
Now I could be talking through my hat
but something does not smell right here.

You lost me. What is winnowing and how does it
effect the roses?

(laugh) This one reminds me of Madden asking "whats a vixen?" Monday night
Football.

Winnowing is seperating the grain from the chaff the process
all rose breeders use to select from among the 1000's of roses
they breed each year.

Bucks idea was to plant them out there and let them
fend for themselves through disease, cold, drought, heat, etc.

I can't imagine how DD survived.

--
Theo in Zone 5
Kansas City