Orchard Roses - Early Days
Phyllis Bide
In my early gardening days I was allowed to plant a collection of climbing roses, many of them old-fashioned, on thirteen metal archways in the middle of the Hazelnut trees. I thought that the roses would look very natural in the orchard. But they had to be able to look after themselves.
Slowly but surely my thirteen rose archways in the Hazelnut Orchard were planted and covered with climbing roses. But even in their second summer I had a few problems. Patience and strategies were both required.
Rabbits! Aargh!
A few of the roses immediately misbehaved (rust, and/or black spot on their leaves) and had to be sprayed. I knew that some old-fashioned rose varieties were susceptible to diseases. Other roses that should have grown well didn't - I suspected that rabbits had been digging around their roots, causing the plants to rock in the wind.
And one rose, who shall remain nameless, was in total disgrace for having balled buds and being almost leafless. Hopeless.
Rose Roll Call
The roses include Meg, Sombrueil, Lady Hillingdon, Ueterson, Parkdirektor Riggers, Etoile de Hollande, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Gloire de Dijon, Phyllis Bide, Ghislaine de Feligonde, Madame Caroline Testout, Chevy Chase, Eastlea's Golden Rambler - it was hard to remember them all.
The Roses in the Orchard
A so-called nurseryman at the specialist rose nursery helped me choose them. He assured me they were suitable for archways, and that they were healthy growers. Hmmm. Not so.
My Not-Handel Rose
Progress, five years after planting...
Here are some notes I made on the orchard roses :
The unknown rose on Archway Five came with the label Handel. It is definitely not Handel. Since I love his music, I've planted a real Handel next to him. Other unknowns were donated roses from a friend's winter garden clean-up. I think one is Bantry Bay, another is Westerland, and then there's a complete mystery rose.
The fruity rose which looks like Abraham Darby - well, I guess it could be, though I have no record of planting it. It's growing well, getting taller and taller, and has beautiful flowers.
Lady Hillingdon is hanging on to orchard life by a thread, so to speak. I have vigorous hopes for Bloomfield Courage, and, naturally, Sir Edmund Hillary. Smaller shrub roses like Bonica have been planted to cover up any rose with bare ankles. This rose season I've seen rust on Madame Caroline Testout and Etoile de Hollande. They've both been sprayed a few times.
Souvenir de la Malmaison Rose
Souvenir de la Malmaison has looked disgracefully ugly on the last archway, and I wonder:
- Can its rotting, balled flowers ever be forgiven?
- Is this rose suitable for an archway anyway?
Anyway, I've pruned it severely, and planted two replacements at the back of its archway.
Looking back now, my notes were overly optimistic. More changes were to come, as more of the specially chosen roses became more unhealthy (I didn't want to have to spray them) and the orchard Hazelnut trees became bigger and bigger. Some roses (like Chevy Chase and Eastleas Golden Rambler) were definitely not archway suitable. Oh well. Sometimes it's the survival of the fittest, right?