Gertude Jekyll Rose is not happy !

I bought a Gertrude Jekyll rose last year and it seemed to thrive;



I over wintered it in a sheltered corner by a brick wall of the house and gave it a rose feed last month when I put it back on the patio. It has given fragrant blooms but is very "lanky" and does not have much foliage. Should I give it another feed and maybe prune it back for the summer?

 

Hello Yorkshire Lass

'Gertrude Jekyll' can be grown either as a bush rose or a short climber, so I suspect it tends to have a lankier habit than some, whatever you do with it. However, perhaps it wasn't getting much sun during its stay in your sheltered corner and this has made it a little scrawnier than usual. From the picture I'd say it really doesn't look that bad; roses have lovely flowers but not even their biggest fans could say the plants have a beautiful shape.

How big is your container? Roses like a lot of leg room and Gertrude Jekyll is a fairly substantial shrub rose. Keep your plant well fed and watered, obviously, and don't be afraid to give it a good haircut if you think it has got hopelessly scrawny. You might find, however, that in the long term it would be happier in open ground rather than a pot.

 

We have one of these roses and have found it needs tying into wherever you have it growing as it does have a lanky habit of growth as it likes to climb so that could be the reason it isn't doing any good if it is stuck in a pot.My sisters that we gave her isn't doing to well either as it is in a pot but ours that is growing up our garage wall is doing well and full of flowers.

Perhaps if you try taking it out of the pot and planting it out this autumn and then see if it does any good.Our local garden centre had one that they had stuck in the ground and left to it's own devices and it wasn't doing that well but if they had got it growing upwards,I think it would have fared much better as ClaraLou has pointed out

 

Thanks to Clare & Kandy for your advice. I'll keep it in the pot for the summer and then plant it out in the Autumn. I have a south facing fence that could do with covering , do you think this would be a suitable spot?

 

I think your rose would love it, Yorkshire Lass, and you should get rewarded with wafts of that wonderful perfume throughout the summer.

Next autumn, when you're ready to plant it out, dig a generously sized hole and give your rose a good start by mixing in some garden compost or rotted horse muck if you can.

The great thing about roses is that, although they may sulk a little from time to time, they are great survivors and will generally perk up quite quickly with a bit of tlc.

If you want a rose which would be happier in a pot, choose a small one or even one of the patio roses which have been specially bred for the purpose. To me, however, there's nothing like a big shrub rose or a climber. Hope your rose gives you pleasure for years to come.