Just yesterday the first bud finally opened fully on "The Generous Gardener" (Austin 2002). It is a lush, pale rose with (to my nose) a distinctly old rose fragrance, perhaps with a bit of centifolia. This first bloom is exquisite in its lavish, peony-like feathers.
The buds are perfect, with just a touch of pink to them. Later blooms may well prove a bit more pink.
Foliage is medium green and glossy. The growth habit so far is wider than tall, but this variety is expected to grow to around 5 ft (1.5 m). It is also said to work well as a climber.
One very helpful feature of the David Austin Roses catalog for the US is the included lists of roses recommended for the various climates. They even have separate listings for Hot, Humid and Hot, Dry. Very useful here! Happily, "The Generous Gardener" was one of the varieties said to thrive in our hot, dry conditions, which was a good excuse to go ahead and order it after oohing and ahhing over the pictures! It has been very robust so far, putting its energy into settling into its new home. Now it is loaded with buds...
...and one open flower.
Very pretty. I did not know that the David Austin online catalog listed roses by climate one. That is very helpful. Thank you for the reference. I have Tamora which is a very reliable performer, plus it actually is fragrant.
ReplyDeleteThe climate information is simply a "recommended for" list near the back of the catalog. While I'm sure it's not exhaustive, it's very helpful when weighing choices. I've never grown Tamora - the pictures are always fantastic! Good to know it's reliable too :)
DeleteTruly beautiful. I love the David Austin roses, they are almost always perfect :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%, Matt :)
DeleteAbsolutely beautiful rose!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rebecca! I'm sooo glad I decided to go ahead and order this one :)
DeleteExquisite indeed! It's a beauty Amy. Hot and dry - it would not be happy at home here in my garden. Although I have seen it for sale here in GCs. All my roses are DA, they do well don't they?
ReplyDeleteI've generally found the DA roses very reliable too, Angie. Gertrude Jekyll tended to get a bit of blackspot in my earlier garden, but she always powered through it anyway. This one is a real winner, I think...! I doubt that it requires hot, dry conditions; but some roses simply will not want to grow here, so it's nice to be given a list of those that will ;-)
DeleteI'll have to take a look at the David Austin roses - it would be wonderful to find some that actually like it here!
ReplyDeleteWe'll see how these take the summer! But my cousin has a gardenful of DA roses in inland San Diego, and most of them grow very well. She has the quintessential Graham Thomas growing to 8 or 10 feet tall, and her James Galway is magnificent too. Curiously, the catalog does not list either of these for "hot, dry" climates, but I'm trying them anyway... I'll try to keep you posted ;-)
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