The first lingering frost arrived this week. A scraping the ice off the windscreen and frozen bird bath sort of frost. A ‘don’t walk on the grass frost’. But another of the bare stem roses arrived too. So I did walk on the grass in order the plant the rose. Here’s my six:
One
The frost came on a clear sunny day and as I was scanning the garden front and back for suitable greenery for the house I remembered that I have a rather large fir tree that sometimes deigns to drop a few fir cones. I gathered two and looked longingly up at the rest.
Two
I periodically wail about the lack of shrubs in the garden but whenever I get the chance to put something into a newly cleared space I choose a rose. This week ‘Souvenir du Docteur Jamain’ arrived. I must thank the good folk at Ulting Wick garden in Essex who tweeted about this rose for a north facing situation. It’s a climber and I’m hoping it will romp away all over that brown fence of mine.
Three
I just got my photo of the cotoneaster and the ivy into last week’s six in the nick of time. This week the berries have been stripped and the leaves have all gone. My festive offering for this week is holly. But no berries.
Four
I still have a drop of colour in the garden. The hydrangea is turning down its bracts (I think I’ve got that right but please correct me if I’m wrong!) and showing off the pink undersides.
Five
My neighbours’ viburnum are beginning to flower quite beautifully now. Ours has one single solitary flower head. All suggestions as to how get more will be gratefully received.
Six
The buds on the rhododendron are forming. This is a very large specimen on the north facing border. The north facing border is the focus of my attention for 2019. Watch this space for indecision, digging and hopefully, developments.
All the links to other SOSs from gardens around the world can be found at our genial host’s site The Propagator Blog. If it’s cold outside stay inside and have a good read!
n20gardener 
I googled to discover about the rose you purchased ( Souvenir du Docteur Jamain)
It will be a beautiful climbing rose! For the rest, I see that we are almost at the same stage, there are a few remaining colors, many promising spring buds … and the cold weather!
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I am beginning to realise that I really like roses. TS has recommended me another lovely one and so two more are coming soon!!
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Great !…. more room… more room…
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Had a similar thing happen with our berries. All gone.
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The rose sounds wonderful! It is always good for the soul to see buds forming, just waiting for the spring. Not long now …… 🙂
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It’s amazing how quickly the birds strip the berries from holly etc once they find them! I missed my photo window for my beautifully berried holly
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One of the good things about SOS is that it makes me appreciate how quickly change happens in the garden!
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What a beautiful blue sky behind those desirable cones! I also had to google your new rose as I’ve never heard of it before. Those sumptuous blooms will look stunning on your wall..I look forward to seeing it in your summer.
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That new rose is planted too deeply. If it is grafted, the graft union is buried.
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Over here standard practice (as recommended by the rose growers) is to bury the graft. I aim to get it just below the ground but up to two inches is fine. If you buy a potted rose from a reputable breeder/grower, the graft will be buried in the pot. Of course the American Rose Society advises differently but, among other things, there are climatic differences between the two sides of the pond.
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Nowadays, more ungrafted roses that were grown from cutting are becoming popular. For those that are still grafted, what is the point of grafting if they will grow their own roots anyway?
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Looks like I’ve started a great debate here!
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(I have to reply to myself to reply to Tony as comments here are limited to a few levels)
The rootstock onto which the rose is grafted will be stronger growing than the rose itself, of course. That’s the point of grafting. If the union is above ground then it needs to be maintained and often there’s a need to stake the rose as well. But we’re talking roots here. True, the rose might root above the union if it’s buried but that’s never happened to me. I guess, as the grafted rose is getting everything it needs from the rootsock, it won’t expend energy on producing its own roots. But if the graft is above ground then some of the more vigorous rootstock is also above ground and that can branch. And any such branch will be stronger than the grafted rose and, unless removed properly, will take over and deny nutrient to the plant you want. Some argue that the union should be as deep as 4″ below ground and that this discourages the rootstock from suckering. There are thus pros and cons to either approach and, at the end of the day, it’s really down to personal preference.
But this is one of the good things about SixonSaturday – it encourages discussion about different practices in different places and it does seem in this instance that there are differences between the way it’s generally done on the opposite sides of the Atlantic.
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Interesting that you say that. Here the latest advice is to plant roses with the union 1 – 2 inches below soil level. . I’ve done it this way for a couple of years now but I think identifying suckers is not so easy now.
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Well, I will continue to grow mine with the graft union above grade just because it is what works for me. Except for one plant back when I was in high school in 1985, I never had a problem with suckers (on my own roses). (I was actually able to peel the suckers off, and they did not regenerate.) The plants are always firmly rooted. However, the problems that I see in other roses would be consistent with those that planting deeper is supposed to remedy. Some get suckers, which would not be much of a problem, except that no one peels them off properly. They instead cut the suckers and leave stubs that regenerate for all eternity. They also do not prune their roses back aggressively enough in winter, so that they get tall, overgrown and sometimes wobbly. Watering too much certainly does not help.
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I’m toying with a getting couple of climbing roses at the moment. Just Googled (not using Google but then we all Hoover don’t we?) your rose. Looks like a potential stunner but, damn, not for me as the location will be in bright sun. The birds finished stripping the berries off my cotoneasters this week. Must get some photos of the holly I suppose.
There are lots of causes of poor Viburnum flowering. Though I no longer have any, having got fed up with the annual beetle battle, I remember that they need full sun to flower properly. Then you have to make sure to keep them away from nitrogen-rich fertiliser (too close to, say, a lawn which is fed is a no-no in case of run-off), prune very carefully (they flower on old wood). Add to that a young plant won’t flower (or only flower sparsely) for a few years. Though I never tried praying daily in front of them for flowers. 😉
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I have a virburnum tree in the garden which is completely infested with the dreaded beetle but it does flower much better. Sounds like this one could be too much in the shade and now I have just mulched it – i have no idea what the nitrogen content is!
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Mmmmm that new rose looks gorgeous. Suitable for a north facing wall you say? Hmmmm.
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Yes a couple of mornings of frost but still pretty mild here in N6 for December. Lovely blue sky some days and heavy rain on others. My salvias are still alive – will they last the winter??????
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