Buying Roses

[olive]

I have had a look around a couple of local garden centres and have been less than impressed with their tired Rose stock left over from last year with no new stuff coming in understandably.

I am prepared to travel all the way to Malaga etc to get plants. Can anyone suggest a place with a good selection of ground cover roses and small to medium climbing roses ? What is the big grower (Dutch?) somewhere near Alhaurin like?

The alternative is to get them mailorder from the UK I guess!

olive

[El Cid]

The alternative is to get them mailorder from the UK I guess!

I did that 6 years ago when we built our house.

They have been a great success. We got them from http://www.fryers-roses.co.uk and the postage was very fair. They have a huge selection. I was unable to find any suppliers in Spain that could offer more than about 5 varieties and they were Red, Pink,White, Yellow and Butano (yes, you've guessed it - Orange ).

Sid

[Martin Page]

its still a little early for this years Roses to hit the shelves .. if you can wait till mid march time you should have oodles of choice.

Last year I bought 30 plants from Lidl for just 2.90 each, with only one casually. There not named but at that price you cant expect that.
Leroys will have them and so will Aldi, as well as all the garden centers, although the garden centers usually pot up dry rooted palnts and sell them as pot grow and charge alot more. I watched them doing it !

Dont for get that roses really do benifit from fresh estiércol, if you can get it !

[mhic]

I had some sent over from the UK which have done well but I bought three named varieties in Eroski five years ago which have done even better. They grow to 8 ft and flower all year round, if you were closer you could have some cuttings.

Mhic.

[Martin Page]

There just comming into ALDI - March 4th . 2.75E

[Martin Page]

Even Cheaper in Lidl - 1.99E ...out now !

[El Cid]

Avoid these cheap supermarket roses.

They are dipped in wax to stop them drying out and they will take a few years to do anything useful.

Look out for decent sized roses growing in pots and preferably in bloom or just about to bloom. These will be available in a decent viveros in a couple of months. Expect to pay over €4.

We bought most of our roses from suppliers in the UK and yes, they averaged out at about £6 each but they are brilliant.

We have about 75 roses and about 65 of them are individual varieties.

Roses will last for years and are well worth buying the best in the first place.



Sid

[Martin Page]

True ! ... you only get what you pay for, but mother nature catches up

[country boy]

Sid...I'm speechless with admiration, that is gorgeous. I know how much work and aftercare it must have taken...well done indeed.

[Sandramay]

Sid's rose garden is even better than the photo................. the perfume is a whole new dimension and the velvety texture of the petals mmmm.... They are a credit to Sid and his wife.
Will some be in bloom for Easter or has the weather delayed them this year?

[El Cid]

Will some be in bloom for Easter or has the weather delayed them this year?

They are pretty much the same as usual. I pruned then second week of January and they are growing strongly now.

The first blooms usually appear mid April so it is usually after Easter. Mid May is when the first "crop" is at its peak. They produce about 5 more "crops" until Xmas and then they get the chop!

They produce about 10000 blooms over the flowering season.

Sid

[Paula]

Resurrecting this rose thread Sid as I am in gardening mode at the moment.

Your beautiful climbers, are they quick growers? As for pruning climbers, how far back do you cut them.
Would the climbers succeed in a very large deep trough?
Any special tips on taking good care of them?

I've never, ever, ever, grown roses, always thought they were maybe difficult to deal with.
So I have come to the expert

[El Cid]

Resurrecting this rose thread Sid as I am in gardening mode at the moment.

Your beautiful climbers, are they quick growers? As for pruning climbers, how far back do you cut them.
Would the climbers succeed in a very large deep trough?
Any special tips on taking good care of them?

I've never, ever, ever, grown roses, always thought they were maybe difficult to deal with.
So I have come to the expert

Yes they grow reasonably quickly. It takes about 2-3 years for them to get to their full height which for a climber is 2-3 metres. Ramblers can go higher.

You don't really prune climbers. You cut out any dead wood and train the new shoots where you want them. It's a tidy up job rather than a prune. If you do cut them right back there is a risk they can revert to the non climbing variety and stop climbing.

Climbers can become almost like small trees with a really big thick base which doesn't lend itself to growing in a pot. That said they will grow but not to anything like their potential.

Best of luck with them. They are lovely plants and very rewarding.

Sid

[Paula]

Thanks Sid

[alisonb]

http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english ... ageId=1920

This page gives details about pruning. I have some climbers which I bought from David Austin. The first year they were a bit feeble, but after that they've been wonderful.

I agree that roses do really well here. I've had a few Spanish ones and most are OK, other than one which has the most beautiful dark red, really fragrant flowers, but puts out 2 suckers for every proper stem. It's for the compost heap

[oliveview01]

Avoid these cheap supermarket roses.

They are dipped in wax to stop them drying out and they will take a few years to do anything useful.


Sid

I bought a couple from Lidl this spring- waste of time/space/water. The roses I bought from the garden center are lovely, worth the couple of euro´s more, we will be buying more in the autumn.

[mhic]

AlisonB.
I have a dark red rose smells great grows well never found a sucker on it, your welcome to some cuttings.

Mhic

[alisonb]

Mhic. Cuttings would be great - have you actually done some? I tried in UK but never got anywhere. Haven't tried here, but now it's gone to the compost, I do miss it.

[mhic]

Sorry Alison missed your post.
Yes I've had a lot of success with cuttings and given loads away to friends. Roses are about the only thing I seem able to grow, I just dip in rooting powder and push into earth. The best one I have is highly perfumed and dark red. Let me know if you want any and perhaps we can arrange to meet up.

Mhic.