On Sun, 06 Apr 2003, "groober" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
. ..
: Woo- hoo! I went to the nursery that's just a 5 minute drive from my house
: to look for a b-day gift for my Dad and they have OGR's this year! They
had
: Belinda's Dream, Cecile Brunner, Cherokee Rose, Albertine, Lady Banks,
: Fortune's Double Yellow, Old Blush, Dortmund, Ballerina, Buff Beauty,
: Francis Dubreuil, Monsieur Tiller - and lots more! They were all very
: healthy looking grade 1. This is very cool because I use to have to drive
: into Austin to find OGR's.
:
: I'm going back tomorrow with my wish list. Hooray for me!
:
: Mike
: z8TX
:
:

I recommend Buff Beauty. I'm in Austin (Oak Hill), so we probably have
similar climate. First year I had it, I had only a handful of blooms, and
it looked pretty scraggly, compared to several other OGRs from ARE I planted
at the same time. That winter, it kept growing when others slowed down and
the second year it was the largest by far, with tons of lovely and fragrant
blooms in the spring. I was just out looking at it (third year) and each
cane has about 7-10 clusters of five buds. There has to be 500 buds on the
bush! No blooms yet, but it's going to be something special next week.
After the spring show, it has blooms all year, but never more than a few at
a time. Still, blooms both in August and at Christmas is enough for me.

The soil is lousy, I forget to water, I rarely fertilize, but I did mulch it
with a thick layer of shredded oak.

Hi Groober,

I'm in Georgetown, so we do share the climate, other than the fact that
Georgetown always seems to be under a dry hole in the clouds whenever we
get any rain in the area.

I almost ordered Buff Beauty earlier this year, and went with another
climber instead. I have so many new climbers this year I hesitate to get
another one. I do have a large expanse of fence to work with here, but I do
hate digging through the limestone in the ummmm...uncultivated areas. I
know I'm going to end up with every square inch of that thing covered in
roses, though - so why fight it? I have three Abraham Darbys climbing up
and over it now in one spot. They're putting on a similiar show as to what
you mentioned regarding your Buff Beauty. Just covered in buds. I can't
wait for that display.

When you say the soil is lousy, are you referring to the "choked with
limestone" effect we have here? I actually think the little pockets of soil
trapped in the layers of caliche is pretty excellent though. Once you dig
and dig and dig and get rid of the limestone, things seem to go
gangbusters. I mulch heavily as well. I use what they call Texas Native
Hardwood Mulch. I'm sure that means (mostly) live oak. :-) If you have a
truck and the time, you can go to the recycling center in Round Rock and
pick up truckloads of mulch for free. They let landscapers and homeowners
dump brush there and they shred it up and let the public come and help
themselves. They have big huge steaming piles of the stuff, and it is
excellent. Can't beat the price!

Mike
z8TX