A hint for once-bloomers

Garden Forum » Archives in the Garden Forum » Roses in the Garden-Archives » Roses-Archives #3-2004 » July-December » A hint for once-bloomers « Previous    Next »

Author Message   Zephirine  Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 11:01 am EST :    About one year ago, I met "THE" french specialist for OGRs. We became friends, and he came to visit my garden one day in March, and gave me a few very useful advices... Here is one, which I did experience, and which proved incredibly succesful..(maybe you all know it already..I didn't, I confess). Here it is : Most non-repeating OGRs (Gallicas, Albas, etc..) flower on old wood, and should be pruned immediately after their bloom (July), ok... BUT...they bloom mainly at the end of each stem (the bud at the end of the stem drags most of the food). Try this, then : when it is time to prune your repeating roses (in march, here), take the time to cut all the ends of your "end-of stem flowering" non-repeaters too ! I mean, cut each branch right above the outermost lateral bud ! What happens then? Instead of having one flower at the end of each stem, you will have two, one at each of the two outermost buds...And it works perfectly ! Isn't it a good idea to double your number of flowers? I immediately did that on Charles de Mills, Celestial and a few others, and the result was exactly what he had told me : twice as many flowers as I normally had... Example : Charles de Mills, beginning of bloom, this year : Warning : this isn't valid for non-repeaters which bloom all along the branches, of course ! (such as Canary Bird, R.Hugonis and the sorts, or Complicata, Nevada, Marguerite Hilling for instance !) Try it, and you'll tell me next summer ! Now...If I "smash an open door" as we say here..forgive me, please...I just wanted to share ! ;o) Zephirine France zone 8   Gardenfiend  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 02:34 pm EST :    Not an open door here. I've never heard of the method but will definitely give it a try next spring. I have very few non-repeaters: one of them is an alba rose (Félicité Parmentier). It blooms so heavily that I can hardly imagine where there will be room for more flowers. But since you say it worked well for your Celestial, I'll try it. Can you divulge the name of the French rose guru? Mara Germany zone 6-7   Zephirine  Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 03:22 pm EST :    Yes, Mara...he is now retired, and a very, very sweet man. His name is André Eve. Zephirine France zone 8   Gardenfiend  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 03:35 pm EST :    I've heard of him, of course! Doesn't he run a rose nursery - or at least isn't there one with his name? Mara Germany zone 6-7   Zephirine  Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 04:08 pm EST :    Yes, Mara...He sold the company a few years ago, but still has a part in the promotion activities, gives lectures, etc.... He reads us at this very moment (hello andré !), and has given me permission to post the following pics where he is in his private garden (several thousand people visit this place every year): and with his humble servant: Zephirine France zone 8   Gardenfiend  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 04:39 pm EST :    This is indeed an honour. The André Eve nursery is an important source of unusual OGRs for German rose enthusiasts. My garden is too small for me to indulge in that sort of collecting, but I know (on a virtual, digitalised level) a number of German rose maniacs who regularly order from the André Eve nursery. So it is a thrill for me to have a glimpse of M. Eve himself, in his own garden! Together with my new virtual friend Zéphirine... :-) Mara Germany zone 6-7   Zephirine  Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 11:28 pm EST :    Thank you Mara...I owe him a lot, he has been my enabler for so many OGRs when I had a large garden...he could spend hours on the phone, talking of his favourites... Another hint or two , maybe? - When he plants a climber, or a rambler, he only keeps two main branches, never more...the plants start stronger, and the ramifications start above... (I'll probably reduce the number of stems of last year's plantations this winter...) - never plant perennials around a newly planted rose...Leave her alone for one year, then you will plant the perennials ! (I'm sure he's absolutely right...but I can't...my garden and my patience are too small...) One of his favourite sentences : "once bloomers? yes they only bloom during one month...but then you have 11 months to dream of them...". He never sprays the hundreds of OGRs in his 1000 m2 garden, and they are the healthiest I ever knew... I wish I could show you his garden better, it's a jewel...even when the OGRs have faded away... A true gardener indeed...one of the best here, for sure... Zephirine France zone 8   Gardenfiend  My Weather Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 04:47 am EST :    I'm grateful for any special tips you can pass on! When does he remove the excess branches on the climbers or ramblers? In their first year? Having failed that, does it make sense to do it later? Another question about the once bloomer trick (I love his little saying: indeed, dreaming is a large part of the joy of gardening): Are the resulting two flowers smaller than they would otherwise have been? I'd expect they would be. I can't wait to try it out on my once-blooming 'Bourbon Queen' which blooms poorly anyway (not enough sun). Thank you for introducing us to André Eve. Any more pictures or news of his garden and work would be greatly enjoyed (at least by me)! Mara Germany zone 6-7   Susanq  My Favorite Photo My Garden Journal My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 11:11 am EST :    Thank you so much for the tips Zéphirine and Monsieur Eve. I found this website that shows some lovely photos of his gardens. http://www.roses-anciennes-eve.com/ SusanQ - Zone 4b-5b Wisconsin   Zephirine  Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 11:16 am EST :    Unfortunately, Mara, if Andre can read english fairly well...it is not as easy when writing is concerned... He is presently preparing a new book which will be published before christmas, so he is very busy these days, as you imagine. But if you have any particular question, I'll be glad to pass it to him for you, and translate his answer if necessary (though I know you have very good notions of french...). I know he removes the extra-branches during the plantation process itself. What I intend to do, for older climbers, is to suppress one branch per year, until I reach the same result, but I have no experience to share, yet... I used to grow Bourbon Queen myself, and had very interesting results when I started to bow each branch outwards, fixing the end of the branch in the ground with a tent stick and a smooth link (old english "bowing" method). Then the plant started to bloom all along the branches, and the result was really quite a show... But I guess you don't have enough room to proceed like that, nor have I any more (it ends up with a fairly large bush, of course), so it might be worth trying Andre's method, I agree... I haven't noticed any significant difference in bloom size, no ! Well, it's difficult to say, as there is no possible direct comparison with/without end cutting. Zephirine France zone 8   Gardenfiend  My Weather Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 11:48 am EST :    Oh, Zeph, that was a misunderstanding. Of course I didn't expect him to write here: I meant if you had any more pictures etc. On the other hand... I read French without problems... :-) Actually, one of my favourite rose books (bedtime reading these days in fact) is Marie-Thérèse Haudebourg: Roses et Jardins. I suppose you know it. I like it because she writes from a very personal perspective and has wonderful suggestions for combining roses with other plants. Also the roses she lists and discusses include many by French breeders that are less familiar outside of France. That's always interesting. I have tried pinning down the long 'Bourbon Queen' stems too - but as you guessed I ran out of space. Now I'm trying to wind them round a small obelisk, which might have a similar effect. Mara Germany zone 6-7   Gardenfiend  My Weather Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 11:56 am EST :    Susan, thanks for the link. I imagine the garden shown isn't his own private one, but rather belongs to the nursery. Pity their catalogue isn't online. Mara Germany zone 6-7   Zephirine  Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 12:09 pm EST :    But, Mara, no misunderstanding at all..Andre would love to come and discuss roses here, as he does on some of our french forums, I'm 100% sure ...particularly with so nice a lady as you are, believe me ;o))) I wish I could show you how "very-very-frequently-used" my M.T. Haudebourg book on roses looks like...lol...it's my favourite too! ;o) Yes, the obelisk is a good idea. I remember those long stems were a very good support for clems, too...late ones like texensis, were ideal to replace the rose blooms in late summer. I love Bourbon roses so much, even the non-repeating ones...as you might imagine from my name ! Mine are over now, but as I was asking permission for the pics, yesterday, Andre showed me a late Mme Isaac Pereire flower, still blooming in a vase on his desk... sigh...what a shame that perfumes cannot be e-mailed.... Zephirine France zone 8   Gardenfiend  My Weather Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 12:26 pm EST :    Could you tell me which forums he participates in. I would love to read along. I promise I'll be very quiet and not disturb anyone. Your namesake is still flowering here. It is the first one in spring and usually still has a bloom or two in December. Mara Germany zone 6-7   Bluesibe  Posted on Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 09:36 am EST :    What a fascinating thread. thank you for the wonderful information Zephirine, is his personal garden open to the public? I am thinking about/planning a trip to France next June and hope to see many gardens. I am thinking about a week in the Loire Valley and a week in Paris. Carol Bluesibe   Zephirine  Posted on Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 09:56 am EST :    Mara, I've sent you a private message to answer your question about french forums. Please feel free to participate in any of them, (or all, lol..)...you'll be most welcome !!! The pics above are in Andre Eve's own private garden, yes. The nursery's garden, which he also designed a few years ago, is a superb rose garden too, but hasn't as much charm, to my eyes, as the "older" one, probably because it is more an exhibition garden, and not a garden where someone lives everyday... The nursery's garden is open to the public, naturally, and Andre also opens his garden very freely. Carol, if you decide to come, do tell me, I'll try to arrange a visit for you (both gardens are about one mile one from the other). Do you know that there is a special "open private gardens" in France, usually the first Week-end of June? Many, many gardens open everywhere... But the place with the highest density of splendid gardens per square kilometer is undoubtfully Normandy....hmmmm... Oh..Just another good news : The "Andre Eve" nursery's online catalogue should be ready and on the web in the coming weeks, maybe even days, Mara ! Zephirine France zone 8   Bluesibe  Posted on Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 03:43 pm EST :    thanks! I'm waiting for the bike trips for 2005 to be posted so I can make up my mind and see how the pricing is. I'll let you know when I know. Carol Bluesibe

Add Your Message Here Posting is currently disabled in this archive.

Topics

Legal

Pass Through These Garden Gates ---------------Administration---------------- F.A.Q's Report Bugs and Fixes Suggestions and Comments Test Post Area --------------Pastime Favorites-------------- Crafts and Hobbies Garden Recipes Home Repairs and Questions Lifestyles of Gardenbuddies My Favourite Book Photography and Software Subtopic of the Month Who Am I? ----------------In The Garden---------------- Advice and Makeovers in the Garden Annuals and Perennials in the Garden Forum Aquilegias in the Garden Forum Archives in the Garden Assignments in the Garden Birds and Their Environment in the Garden Forum Bonsai in the Garden Bulbs in the Garden Campanula in the Garden Clematis in the Garden Container Gardening in the Garden Dahlias in the Garden Daylilies in the Garden Decorating in the Garden Delphiniums in the Garden Forum Edibles in the Garden Euphorbias in the Garden Ferns in the Garden Fuchsias in the Garden Geraniums in the Garden Grasses in the Garden Greenhouses in the Garden Hellebores in the Garden Herbs in the Garden Heucheras in the Garden Hibiscus in the Garden Forum Hostas in the Garden Indoor Plants in the Garden Irises in the Garden My Journal in the Garden Forum Nature in the Garden Orchids in the Garden Penstemons in the Garden Peonies in the Garden Forum Pest and Diseases in the Garden Plant and Seed Resource in the Garden Ponds and Waterfeatures in the Garden Roses in the Garden Salvias in the Garden Shade in the Garden Shrubs in the Garden Soil Amendments in the Garden Starters in the Garden Forum Succulents in the Garden Trading Plants and Seeds in the Garden Trees in the Garden Tropicals in the Garden Vines and Climbers in the Garden Wishes in the Garden -----------Gardenbuddies Galleries----------- Déjà Vu Gallery Garden Gallery House and Town Gallery Identify This Plant Gallery Meeting Gardenbuddies Gallery Noah's Ark Gallery Social Gallery Vacation Gallery