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It's About Thyme tel: 512-280-1192 April 15, 2011
Nursery Notes: beautiful new metal art, windchimes, seeds, hats, talavera
pottery and more in the Gift Shop this week.Fresh shipments of stunning
bougainvilleas in 4 gallon containers for just $19.99. All the roses in full
bloom, from antiques to earthkind to knockouts. For hot pepper aficionados...
we have ghost peppers, Scotch bonnets, and Sandia - one of the
hottest hatch chiles known to mankind. Ouch!
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Amanda Moon on Central Texas Gardener this weekend! Tune in to
KLRU on Saturday or Sunday to hear our very own Amanda with host Tom
Spencer discussing a variety of herbs that you can plant in your garden land-
scapes. Lots of interesting info about the 'mojito,' pineapple and chocolate
mints; scented geraniums, bright lights swiss chard, and salad burnet.
Free lecture this Sunday at 2 p.m. Success with Olive Trees: how to
grow them, and make your own Olive Oil. (April 17) Our special
speaker Jim Henry has over 40,000 trees and is the olive expert in Texas.
Favorite varieties? Arbequina, aubosana and koroneiki. More info
Hudgeons on ponds and water features.)
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Multicultural Gardening in East Austin: A fascinating article from The
Statesman by Renee Studebaker on the refugees' Festival Beach Community
Gardens in East Austin. Festival Beach
The wondrous, ever-changing mutabilis rose
Roses: Antiques and the Knockouts
by Chris Winslow
What are the best choices of roses for the Austin and central Texas area?
For me I always try to choose one that requires the least amount of care,
For me I always try to choose one that requires the least amount of care,
and provides the greatest amount of beauty in the landscape.
Most often I choose an old-fashioned or antique rose. Unlike the modern
hybrids, these have stood the test of time. Many of the varieties have their
origins dating back to the eighteenth century. Often they were found along
roadsides, next to abandoned homesteads, or in cemeteries. Without any
care, pruning or fussing, they have flourished through the ages.
These old garden roses often come with a history. Souvenir de Malmaison
dates to 1843 and was found at the Empress Josephine’s estate in France.
Another great antique is Old Blush which dates to 1752. Also known as
Common Monthly and Common Blush China, this rose just keeps on putting
out beautiful pale pink blooms during the spring and summer months, and
seems to resist almost any disease that comes its way.
There are tons of these old garden roses to choose from. Some of my favorites
are Louise Phillipe, Caldwell Pink, Kirsten Poulson, Mutabilis, Champneys
Pink Cluster, Cramois Superior, Archduke Charles, Mermaid, Marie Pavie,
and Martha Gonzales. These ‘no fuss–no muss’ roses perform with little attention.
Most don’t require the weekly spraying with fungicides to combat common
rose diseases like black spot and powdery mildew. Planted in good garden
soil blended with rich compost and given an airy, sunny location, these roses
will reward with showy, repeat flowers.
It's also worth considering some of the more modern roses, such as Knockout.
This hybrid was introduced in 2001, and it has rapidly risen to become a star
in the world or roses. It is compact and tidy, resistant to powdery mildew and
black spot, and blooms a vibrant fire engine red in the spring, and cherry red in
the heat of the summer.
Foliage is dark purple-ish red though spring and summer, and turns burgundy in
the fall. The flowers are seven-petal singles with a slight tea fragrance. Also,
amazingly, Knockout is a ‘self-cleaning’ rose: you don’t have to ‘deadhead’
it (remove spent flowers and seed pods) to get it to re-bloom.
On top of all this, the incredible Knockout is believed to have the longest observed
bloom cycle recorded to date for a rose plant. We planted Knockouts at the Fergus
entrance at Plum Creek in 2003 and they have been blooming ever since. Knockout
has also shown great shade tolerance but can also stand up to our full sun exposures.
If you have ever wanted to grow roses in your garden but have had bad luck, please
do yourself a favor and give these roses a try.
Happy gardening everyone!_______________________________________________________________
olive photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chanycrystal/sets/72157623095537443/
