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Alistern Stella Gray climbing rose
For 6 years I have been trying to grow this rose. It is described in
the David Austin catalogue (from whom it was bought) as "truly repeat flowering." Now in my mind that means it should flower repeatedly and really do it. Simple. Not so. After 3 years I phoned DA roses as my plant was only flowering once per season. They sent me another saying that sometimes the plants are wrongly labelled. I think what they actually indulge in at DA roses is "truly wrongly label," as the second plant they sent me 3 years ago only flowers once per season. It also does not "truly repeat flower." What exactly does "truly repeat flowering" mean and why doesn't my Alister Stella Gray rose do what DA roses say it should? Anyone else got one of these things and what does it do? John In limine sapientiae |
#2
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Alistern Stella Gray climbing rose
On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 16:20:27 +0100, Janet Baraclough..
wrote: The message from John Edgar contains these words: Anyone else got one of these things and what does it do? Mine is only in its second year here, grown on an L shaped trellis windbreak. Last summer (warmer and drier than this) it flowered for months, late into autumn. There was a steady succession of smallish sprays of very beautiful flowers, not large, well scented.(I wouldn't expect the huge flush of flowers you see on once-flowering climbers like Kiftsgate). I deadheaded them as soon as each spray finished. This year (cooler and wetter) it started flowering about two weeks ago. Janet (Isle of Arran). Well I'm jealous! At the moment ours shows no sign of 2nd flowering having finished a wonderful display about 3 weeks ago. I will stick with it and see. John In limine sapientiae |
#3
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Alister Stella Gray climbing rose
John Edgar wrote:
What exactly does "truly repeat flowering" mean and why doesn't my Alister Stella Gray rose do what DA roses say it should? I think I prefer the term remontant flowering ie. flowering, then if conditions are right, producing new growth that subsequently flowers. Austins are quite right, it is a repeat or remontant flowering rose. However, to compare it with modern repeat or perpetual flowering climbers leads to disappointment. Depending upon weather conditions, there can be a considerable gap between flower production - nothing like the seeming perpetual flowering of many modern climbers. Anyone else got one of these things and what does it do? Not now, but I grew it about 30 years ago (bought it from David too) and in some summers it had 3 or 4 flushes, which for this variety is pretty good. If I was into growing roses today, it would still be close to the top of my list despite its minor lapses in this respect. The flowers are superbly formed and for the uninitiated, rich deep yellow within, fading to paler at the edges. The fragrance is wonderful on a warm, still day. John, 'Alister Stella Gray' is a hybrid noisette, raised and introduced towards the end of the19th. century. Like a fair number of noisettes (the most famous being 'Marechal Niel'), it really needs a nice, cosy sunny spot, preferably one that doesn't get much frost and a good, rich fertile soil. Given masses of summer heat, it will flower well and produce good subsequent flowers. During the fiercely hot summer of 1976, my plant was almost constantly in flower and grew with almost embarrassing vigour. The following year was much cooler and it gave only a single flowering. 'Alister' takes a few years to get established and I wouldn't expect to see a lot for the first 3 or 4 years. Mine took 6 to settle down well and unfortunately was killed by the severe winter of 1981/2. It is not the hardiest or most vigorous of roses. I think the only noisette that still lives up to its promise is probably 'Mme. Alfred Carriere', but that is a white with pink flushes. Despite being an older variety, it is possibly more typical of modern climbers There is also good reason to suspect that 'Alister', along with 'Gloire de Dijon' and 'Marechal Niel' have run out of steam. None of these varieties are as good as they were - no doubt due to generations of propping from a limited materials source. Roses do change, not surprising when you consider that they all arise from a single plant - the ultimate in mass-cloning. If a shoot with non-visible, degenerative tendencies is propped, eventually many thousands will enter the trade. We saw this with the highly fragrant 'Ena Harkness' during the height of HT popularity in the 1960's. It lost its scent. A single stem had regressed to producing unscented flowers. That stem must have been used for bud wood, giving 4 or 5 new plants. Those plants must have also been used for stock purposes and in no time, hundreds, if not thousands of unscented 'Ena Harkness' entered the trade. The newspapers were full of it back in the late 60's. If I recall correctly, Woolworths (infamous purveyors of wrapped bare-root roses) struck it from their lists due to complaints about the lack of scent. The comparatively scrawny grower - 'Josephine Bruce' was subsequently promoted to centre stage as the fragrant red-red rose to grow. Although I didn't make the connection at the time, I suspect the mistake occurred at Wheatcroft Roses - Harry Wheatcroft himself told me all about it and then went on to detail the efforts they made to eradicate the unscented form and re-establish the original. Wheatcrofts could not be blamed for this and nor can anyone be blamed non-visible, degenerate forms of old roses entering the trade. Even nowadays with their popularity well past its zenith, they are still mass produced and mass production does lead to rogue plants. Dave Poole Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C. Growing season: March - November |
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