In early spring I took a leap of faith and ordered 10 bare-root roses from the online shop of a major supermarket here in Denmark. The price was ridiculously low, so obviously I was prepared for inferior quality and perhaps less than 100% survival rate. I ordered 5 New Dawn climbing roses and 5 Rhapsody in Blue roses, and if just one of each survived it would still be cheaper than if I had bought them directly from a reputable nursery, so I figured it was worth a shot.
Well, the New Dawn roses were duly planted around the hammock trees (a cherry plum and an oak), both of which could do with some decoration, and in spite of being planted as close to the trees as possible these roses are doing just fine. The deer took a nibble of them at first, but then they sprouted new shoots and even some flower buds, so all is well.
The Rhapsody in Blue roses, though, were destined to have their own section of The Ambitious Border, but… That section hasn’t happened yet. At all. So in order to keep the plants alive I heeled them in in a pot, all five together, and stuck it in a shady corner of the courtyard until I could get around to creating a place for them to live.
That was four months ago…
Much to my surprise, all five plants are still alive and well, and they are even flowering! Five roses, squashed together in a 10″ diameter pot, and they have survived and even thrived!
I’m amazed at how well they are taking their maltreatment. They’ve not had any fertilizer, compost or anything; I just stuck them in a pot and filled it with clay because I thought it would just be for a few weeks and clay has such great water retention, but clearly clay is all they want!
Eventually, though, they will go out into The Ambitious Border as originally planned, but considering how well they are doing in their temporary pot I may or may not end up leaving one of the five plants as a potted rose. (Though in a larger pot…)
It just goes to show that not ALL supermarket roses are bad – though most probably are… Especially the ones sold in-store in 3″ pots… Mind you, this particular supermarket chain doesn’t stock the plants themselves; they are just the middle-man; the roses came from a Danish nursery and were then shipped with an independent logistics company, so they were by no means the sort you’d find on shelves outside your local supermarket.
And though hardly any of my readers are Danish, just in case… Roses from bilka.dk are great value for money!
I am not surprised that your New Dawn roses are doing great – they are supposed to be tough roses. But I am surprised that your Rhapsody in Blue roses are doing as well as they are! I have always heard roses don’t like their roots to compete, and sometimes I have two roses together, but not five! What a gorgeous bloom. They’re obviously liking the treatment you’re giving them!
I’d heard great stuff about New Dawn, so I had hopes it would be all right, even if I did plant it between the roots of the two trees they will embellish. The Rhapsody in Blue roses, though, have really performed in spite of the odds; I really wouldn’t have imagined all five plants to still be alive and well after spending the entire spring and half of the summer squeezed together in a pot. Clearly they are quite sturdy as well, so this bodes well for their future in the garden.
How amazing to have these lovely purple blue flowers living, growing and blooming…fine stock and very hardy…how lovely they will be in the border!!
I forgot to mention that in the post, but the name is definitely if not misleading then a bit off… Blue they are not, but pretty they are. -And I knew they’d give flowers in shades of blueish purple when I bought them; I seem to have a large amount of purple in the garden…
Soren, As I read this, I found myself with lines from The Secret Garden (the musical version) running through my mind. When Mary Lennox finally finds her way into the secret garden, she is convinced that everything is dead. But Dickon questions this conclusion, “Did you take a really good look at anything? Mary, the finest roses fair thrive on being neglected….” It looks as though your Rhapsody in Blue roses are thriving in less than ideal conditions.
I will give them a better home soon, that much is sure; within the next two weeks they will be in the ground in a more spacious, permanent home.
-After that I’ll perhaps go back to neglecting them, but the deer will undoubtedly prune them back a little every spring… So many plants seem to survive just fine with little to no attention, and this is exactly the sort of plants I want in my garden.