Rounding up the Strays: Mme Plantier and Friends

Seen here: ‘Pierre de Ronsard’ or ‘Eden’

There are roses growing in our garden that were barely photographed last summer and as it turns out, ‘Madame Plantier’, the rose I promised to share next was one of them. My first thought, when I opened up the photo files this morning was, “Oh crumbs. Now what?” and then I realized this is a great opportunity to throw in other strays in the mix and talk about what went wrong for some of them. I don’t think a gardening blog should be all sunshine and lollipops. It’s misleading. Sometimes things go wrong, and I know for me, personally, when I read another gardener sharing these kinds of things it makes me feel better to know I’m not the only one. So, for starters, there’s ‘Pierre de Ronsard’ up top. This rose no longer grows in our garden and as much as I loved those gorgeous blossoms, I doubt I will be replacing. Why? Too much black spot and slow recovery. Too bad, too, because he’s a beauty.

‘Madame Plantier’

On the flip side, there’s ‘Madame Plantier’ an Alba hybrid (Noisette/China) and gollyoskies this rose can SHINE! If you love ‘Madame Hardy’, and of course you do, than you will also love ‘Mme Plantier’. In fact, you might love her even more. Their blooms are remarkably similar, but in my humble opinion, ‘Madame Plantier’ has a more graceful shape than ‘Madame Hardy’ which can get a bit rowdy. She has also shown a bit more vigour in our garden, and has far fewer thorns than ‘Madame Hardy’. (Actually, her slender canes are almost completely thornless.) You can read more about her HERE.

‘Dr. Van Fleet’

Sharing garden space with ‘Madame Plantier’ is ‘Dr. Van Fleet’ that Hybrid Wichuraina I first talked about HERE. This rose was the first to alert me to our midge problem, but sadly it took me a whole summer to figure out what the heck was going on because this was the only rose (that I saw) that was affected. ‘Dr. Van Fleet’s blooms have been sparing, at best, since then.

“Arcata Pink Globe”

Another rose with a similar shade of pink is “Arcata Pink Globe” which is one of the roses in our garden that I would do everything in my power to take with us when/if we move. I adore this Hybrid Setigera, and not just for sentimental reasons. Last winter, she suffered quite a bit of dieback. I wasn’t sure how she was going to recover, but she did, and even managed to bloom a little bit. This rose is one tough cookie! I hope that this spring I get a fine showing like I did back in 2012. And yes, “Arcata Pink Globe” is still in a container!

‘Georges Vibert’

Poor Georges. He got a booty kicking from that late April frost which killed off dozens of buds and then the subsequent blistering heat (darn this crazy climate!) was not helping the remaining flowers to look their best. We did see a handful or so, which I was very grateful for since I think ‘Georges Vibert’ is one of the prettiest Gallicas. Remember how handsome he looked in 2012? Georges is still in that great big container, but is suckering like crazy. I want to divide but have never done that before. If you have any tips for dividing Gallica roses, please share!

‘Aimée Vibert’

Speaking of Vibert…Here is ‘Aimée Vibert’ a Noisette rose bred by Vibert back in 1828. I have yet to get a decent photo of Aimée. She really is so much more charming in person. Since she blooms so late in the season (late July/early August) she awarded us with a wave of flowers when our other roses were not looking so great. However, I’m not sure she survived the cold winter we just had. She’s slow to get moving in the spring so I’ll give it a bit of time and see.

‘Rêve d’Or’

Another Noisette I’m not sure survived our winter is ‘Rêve d’Or’ which would be a real bummer because how gorgeous is that color? Even though supposedly hardy to zone 6b (our zone), I think this rose prefers a warmer climate and anyways, last winter felt more like we were in a zone of 3-4. Even without the cold, ‘Rêve d’Or’ had a rough go last summer. Her quickness to produce new, tender growth worked against her as it attracted midge.

‘Piñata’

‘Piñata’, a modern climbing rose, is the Vegas showgirl of our rose garden. It’s another one that looks like it may have been killed by the cold but since it’s also Madison’s favorite, I may be looking for a rose with similar flair and a bit more winter hardiness if that’s the case.

‘Dr. Huey’

Of course then there’s ‘Dr. Huey’ which couldn’t be killed if I tried. No, I didn’t plant this one. I inherited it, just like everyone else. Sure looked pretty last spring, though.

‘Julia Child’

‘Julia Child’, that smart-looking Floribunda, showed real promise last summer–even graduating from her tiny pot to the garden (with winter protection.) Yeah, she gets spotty. You’d be hard-pressed to find a yellow rose that doesn’t. Still, I’m excited to see what she does this year.

‘Iceberg’

Julia’s neighbor, an equally spotty ‘Iceberg’. This rose is so ubiquitous there’s not much more to say on the subject but personally I’m still on the fence with this one.

‘Jacques Cartier’

A rose that I’m no longer on the fence with–in fact fell out of my good graces rather quickly– was ‘Jacques Cartier’ (also known as ‘Marchesa Boccella’.) This is the one flower I got out of it all last season. The midge damage was ridiculous and it never recovered. The whole plant was removed in autumn.

‘Rosa Mundi’

‘Rosa Mundi’ is truly the most forgiving rose in our garden, bless her. She has been moved so many times and even now sits in a horrid section of the garden and yet is still alive and kicking. My one regret with this rose is that I purchased her from Austin and for some odd reason it came grafted. I would prefer she was own root. Might try to propagate. {Edit: Of course, Gallica roses sucker–but I think all of Austin’s OGRs are grafted. ?}

I hope you enjoyed the rose roundup! Next up, I’ll be sharing what’s actually going on here and now, with an explanation, for those who follow my jewelry creations, as to where I’ve been. 🙂