I planted a Redoute in late fall, putting it in dirt right up to the
crown to make sure it survived the winter (or at least what passes for
winter here in Hotlanta).

It threw out a new cane from below the graft, so even before it
bloomed I knew it would be Dr. Huey. A quick search for pics
confirmed it.

The kicker is that I like the Dr. Huey part of the bush much better
than the Redoute part. It's healthy, vigorous, and a really nice
purplish bloom (very similar to Outta The Blue). The Redoute part is
kinda ho-hum - a nice English rose form, but the color fades easily.
What's really cool, though, is having both the pink and the purple on
the same bush at the same time.

We hear about it all the time since it's so common as root stock, but
seeing it bloom made me wonder - does anyone here intentionally grow
Dr. Huey?

torgo wrote in
:

The kicker is that I like the Dr. Huey part of the bush much better
than the Redoute part. It's healthy, vigorous, and a really nice
purplish bloom (very similar to Outta The Blue). The Redoute part is
kinda ho-hum - a nice English rose form, but the color fades easily.
What's really cool, though, is having both the pink and the purple on
the same bush at the same time.

We hear about it all the time since it's so common as root stock, but
seeing it bloom made me wonder - does anyone here intentionally grow
Dr. Huey?

I do. I think it's a terrific rose. I have one large Dr. Huey in my back
garden and two smaller ones (volunteers from the base of Scentimental) in
five gallon pots waiting for an opening in the garden somewhere.

The contrast between the deep burgundy petals and yellow stamens is quite
remarkable; so is its floriferous display in springtime.

The once-blooming factor is only a small drawback. The trick to having
once-bloomers, I've found, is to have enough constant bloomers in the
garden to offset them. I have a small apartment garden with just a little
more than 100 roses, some in the ground and some in containers, so a non-
blooming rose immediately calls attention to itself.

When I had far fewer varieties I felt more impatient about plants that
bloomed only once a year and didn't regularly grow them. Now that I have
others with a near year-round showy display, once-blooming varieties like
Dr. Huey and Madame Hardy (which just finished for the year) provide a
certain expectant drama to the garden, and I find that I rather like it.

Another once-bloomer that gave a spectacular show was Indian Love Call, a
dark pink with bright yellow stamens. I'm sorry this rose isn't in
commerce yet because I think it would do marvelously---clean foliage,
resistant to mildew (in Zone 10B at least), delicate arching branches...a
really nice shrub rose.

But Dr. Huey's terrific, as far as I'm concerned.

----

"torgo" wrote in message
...
[snip]
We hear about it all the time since it's so common as root
stock, but
seeing it bloom made me wonder - does anyone here
intentionally grow
Dr. Huey?

I got one as a reversion and when it bloomed
kept it, moved it to a spot in front of the metal
shed. DH put up a trellis and now it's a very
nice display about 3/4 of the way up the shed.
I'm not sure I would buy one on purpose, but am
happy to have a volunteer that is pleasing, even if
it only blooms once annually.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

We grow it as a source of rootstock cuttings, and I do like the flowers.
However, in our hot, humid climate, it is a martyr to black spot and powdery
mildew. So I don't think I'd choose to grow it here, for its flowers, if I
didn't have another need for it.
Malcolm Manners
Florida Southern College
Lakeland

"torgo" wrote:
[...]
We hear about it all the time since it's so common as root stock, but
seeing it bloom made me wonder - does anyone here intentionally grow
Dr. Huey?

English rosarian Peter Beales thinks it's worth growing.
I have a couple bushes of it, neither bought on purpose
but the result of the rootstock surviving when its charge
did not. I've read that it is surprisingly resistant to attack
by soil nematodes, though not as tough in that respect as
Fortuniana, the preferred rootstock for Florida. (I probably
have less of a nematode problem than most Floridians have,
what with much clay in the soil and with hairy indigo as the
principal exotic weed on my land -- it's supposed to suppress
nematodes. Also I'm fairly far north, in the middle of the
peninsula when it starts to become a peninsula.) The flowers
are attractive and the growth vigorous, and at least it bloomed
this year, unlike the Leontine Gervais (on Dr. Huey rootstock,
yet!) that just keeps getting bigger and bigger and after 4 years
has not bloomed for me so far.

Mark., one can do worse

torgo wrote:

I planted a Redoute in late fall, putting it in dirt right up to the
crown to make sure it survived the winter (or at least what passes for
winter here in Hotlanta).


I don't grow it but I admire it every year as it puts on a spectacular
display at the NC Governor's Mansion in Raleigh. It grows on a wall, and
although it might be a once bloomer, that "flush" lasts for more than a
month. It arches in a beautiful way and makes big red hips in the winter.
Also, it has a nice albeit light, scent.

You Floridans could grow Dr. Huey on Fotuniana rootstock...

-- Patrick