Buying Roses

So you would say even if they are not the cheapest on the market it is worth buying there...

 

It's worth checking the Garden Centre Group website in January as last year the had all of their online stuff at half price. If you live near one you can order and collect and pay when you go get them.

 

At long last I have finished the bed, well, the digging out anyway. I was supposed to go in search of horse manure today, but something more important came first, my grandson. I will be out there tomorrow though. I will also have to settle in front of the computer and sort out what roses I'm going to order. That's the best bit!!!





I'm estimating eight to ten roses at the moment. But I need to ask a question first. Can you tell me how much space to leave between roses when I plant please. I will be buying Floribunda's.

 

Can't wait to see it up and running Sheal.
re: spacing advice- best await advice from the expert

 

It's been hard work on my back Jenny as I have muscle issues throughout my body, but it's been worth it.

Wiseoldowl is online, so I expect the man of our rose dreams to appear anytime soon.

 

He's spinning it out like an X-Factor presenter !!

 

Oh undoubtedly the big marketing budget has put them at the forefront of people's minds

I wouldn't necessary advise buying from their website (because you can buy their roses cheaper elsewhere) but I would definitely buy more DA roses (even though they are relatively expensive) now that I've seen and smelled their beauty They are still trying to bloom for me now, but unfortunately the wet weather is scuppering their efforts.

 

But they won't smell or look any different to a rose of the same variety from another supplier (critical is that the other supplier produces good quality Roses of course ...)

I think that's the bit that Armandii and I don't fully understand - why in the knowledge that the identical product, and equally as good quality, is available at half the price do people choose to buy from DA, or a supplier of DA roses?

I'm glad that your roses are top notch though. They are a great plant to enjoy, when they flower well, and I love our rose border - its the plant that I choose to have surrounding where we sit out the most.

 

A lot of the DA roses are subject to patents, so other rose growers wouldn't be able to grow them in any case (unless under licence?).

This from the DA website :

WORLDWIDE LICENSING
David Austin Roses operates an international licensing system using approved, high quality growers worldwide. Protected varieties can only be propagated commercially by licensed growers, who are inspected regularly by members of our UK team. Potential licensees may contact us for information.

Not sure how much the licence would cost, but I imagine it wouldn't be cheap and they would have to recoup the money somehow, possibly by charging a higher price for the DA roses

I've had a look at the Fryers website (which is the only rose nursery I know of round here) and they don't appear to breed them, although they are slightly cheaper at £13.45 for a potted rose (though by the time I'd spent the extra on petrol there would probably be no difference in price to me).

 

Yes, good point about Plant Breeders Rights - stands to reason, to me, that someone who goes to the trouble of breeding a smashing new variety shouldn't have it copied by everyone else for nought! So where DA have bred a winner then it won't be readily available elsewhere.

Lots of good varieties out there though. Not worth shopping around for a few pennies, as you say ... although my local specialist rose grower (Cants) is around the £8.50 mark, as are quite a few others that I looked at.

 

Thank you Woo, that's roughly what I was thinking, it's over twenty years since I last had roses, so I'm a bit rusty.

I'm going to start off with eight or nine roses of mixed colours. I started on a short list earlier, it's so difficult to choose when space is limited and I can see myself expanding the bed next year. I will let you into the secret of which roses I've chosen tomorrow, when I've placed my order.

 

Woo You have lost me

What is the spacing between each "root" of the roses, suposing the spread from the top of the rose is 60cm

The way I read your instruction is 3 feet between roots, in which case the roses would intertwine by six inches each forming a hedge ?

Or should it read roots five feet apart allowing for each rose a 60cm spread with a foot between spreads ?

Jack McH

 

So, the deed is done! I have ordered my roses and now I have that awful sinking feeling. Having gone backwards and forwards between three sites, it took me about four hours to make my decision and I'm now thinking are they all going to clash terribly. If push comes to shove and they do clash then I have room for a couple elsewhere, but only a couple. Ohhhhh, I just hope I've got it right!

The Roses............all Floribunda's

Rob Roy
Ebb Tide
Lucky!
Iceberg
Brushstrokes
Lincolnshire Yellow Belly
Super Trouper
Purple Tiger
Blue For You

Armandii, my apologies to you, I changed my mind about 'Kings Ransom'.

I had to have a red rose in the list and Rob Roy had to be it! I love Scotland and it's history, so there was no competition with this one.

Okay everyone, what do you think, have I made the right choices?