On 21/2/07 17:15, in article
,
" wrote:

On 21 Feb, 16:44, Sacha wrote:
On 21/2/07 16:10, in article , "Alla





Bezroutchko" wrote:
Sacha wrote:
On 20/2/07 14:33, in article , "Charlie
Pridham" wrote:

"Alla Bezroutchko" wrote in message
...
Could someone recommend a rose for the following situation:

My choices would be Madam Alfred Carrier which is white
or Veichenblau which is rather optimistically called violet blue!
There are a number of very good pinks with a few thorns but none that I
can
recall that are completely thornless
HTH

Zephirine Drouhin is good with regard to thorns and I see that the
Australians have a range from Wallara (sp?) which they call Smooth Touch.
I
don't know that they're available in this country, though.

Charlie, Sacha,

Thanks. I'll have a look at Madame Alfred Carrier and Zephirine Drouhin.
I'll have to see the thorns myself. Pity about the blackspot.

Alla.

Some roses are more prone to all the ills than others but location might
have some bearing on it, too. Down here in the soggy south west they get
black spot more easily, for example and it seems that the cleaner the air,
the worse the problem! In the 'good old days' of smoggy London, roses used
to do wonderfully, apparently or so the legend goes.

- Show quoted text -

Sacha, can you recommend a good spray for black spot and mildew on
roses that can be purchased retail? Many thanks.

Judith at home

Judith, I'll ask the gurus but while we do sell roses, our range is limited
for the very reasons I've outlined above! For example, my son has New Dawn
long-established on a trellis on a granite archway but it gets nasty brown
leaves here and there - not black spot, just 'nasty'. His gardener asked
Ray about it and Ray said it was simply because the rose was so close to the
wall that no air could circulate freely around it. I think he did suggest a
spray but will check on all this.
Both Ray & Matthew hate using sprays both in terms of ecology and time.
David Austin sells what is, apparently, a good range of comparatively
disease free roses and I've read elsewhere that Portland roses are less
prone to disease. I may say that one of the best we have (though it's not
repeat flowering) is Mme. Isaac Pereire which is outstanding for colour,
form and scent. We have that growing on a trellis and pillar set up in the
nursery and it captivates everyone who encounters that fabulous scent.
However, I'll ask them for their recommendations and what that would
translate into non-commercially.
Can you grow roses in your French garden, or is it too cold for them in
winter? I doubt many diseases would survive, anyhow! But I remember going
to the Lot for a holiday and going round a vineyard owned by our hosts
where, at the end of every few rows of vines, roses were growing. At first,
I thought 'how charming' and then it was explained to me that these were a
sort of sacrificial anode and that if they showed signs of mildew, they knew
it was time to spray the vines - another sort of companion planting, I
suppose!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)