Look at this beautiful rose cluster. Who can resist such a gorgeous rose? This is the David Austin rose, Golden Celebration. It is fragrant, makes wonderfully full blooms, and has that deep golden color that I love so well. BUT, it's a very particular and picky plant. It demands lots of water, needs to be sprayed religiously to avoid the dreaded blackspot, and still may not thrive. This perfectly illustrates the point I am making with this post - if you are not willing to put lots of time and effort into a plant, then be sure to plant ones that need little care. If you are the type to plop a plant in the ground and then forget about it, do NOT plant a David Austin rose. For that matter, don't plant any hybrid tea roses either. If you live in the South you will be far better served instead planting one of the Knockout roses or one of the teas or china roses. They will be care-free and still look like champions. I went into this David Austin thing with my eyes wide open. I knew they would take a lot of care and I planted them anyway because I love them so much. You many not feel the same as me. Live and learn!
Below is a picture of my plant right now as it shows off blackspot-ridden leaves instead of golden blooms.
4 comments:
I feel your pain...usually minds in the rear.
Golden Celebration is a DA rose that I don't grow. I have a new test garden of DA roses, and I have found that they vary widely in their disease resistance and all-around diva quotient. Glamis Castle hasn't done particularly well, but The Miller, The Generous Gardener, and Sir Clough are among the ones that really like living in Virginia.
BTW, there are WAY better choices out there among the heirloom roses than Knock Out. You're on the right track with chinas and teas. Try a few nice polyanthas!
I agree with you on Knockouts and only occasionally "throw them a bone." I personally prefer chinas, teas, polyanthas, noisettes, and hybrid musks. I do love the David Austin roses, but the ones I have take much more care than the above-mentioned old roses.
Well Davy, to each their own climate. I think Golden Celebration does pretty well here in the dry flatlands. But thanks for linking this post to Thirteenth Tribulations!
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