Lady Hillingdon

Lady Hillingdon, Lowe 1910

Tea 

The most well-known Tea rose and an unsurpassed classic. Unlike so many other Teas Lady Hillingdon has remained popular and that's because she's a bit more Hardy than other Teas. Of course, her climbing sport is even more popular, but also this shrub form is really really worth growing. 

Her parents were Papa Gontier X Madame Hoste and when you read these names you know she's special. These two roses were immensely popular in the 19th century but now they are almost completely forgotten. That's why their Child, Lady Hillingdon, is so important. Thanks to her we'll never forget these parents.

Lady Hillingdon blooms prolifically with very large, loose, double flowers with this exceptionally warm, buttery golden yellow color. When fully open you can often see their yellow stamen. They stand in clusters on a very bushy plant with slender, thin canes and they are as good as thornless. She blooms non stop so no periods of no flowers in between. She can reach 120X100 cm or 5X3 feet. Maybe a bit more and she's very suitable for pots, which is also a nice plus. She's hardy 6b to 11b so she can also cope with heat. And then her fragrance: She's a Tea rose and this time this rose honors that name with a very strong pure Tea fragrance which is very refreshing. Probably the strongest Tea fragrance of all roses. One more thing: She HATES pruning as so many China descendants so just don't. Only deadhead.

This queen is nothing more than stunning and she deserves a place in every garden. 

Humus: The life force of our soil

Roses need lots of nutrients, they are very needy, greedy, hungry garden plants, especially the reblooming roses. Than one might think that fertilizer is the most important thing for our roses? Wrong! Fertilizer is useless without the real life force of our soil: Humus

Humus is the most upper layer of our topsoil and is made up of decomposing or decaying dead organic material. Dead plants, leafs, wood, insects, animals.. when they die billions of good bacteria go to work and transform them into this dark brown or black soil: Humus.

This humus gets mixed with our topsoil (the first 30cm or one foot of our soil) and makes that topsoil airy, with lots of oxygen pockets. It gives the topsoil an advanced ability to retain moisture and it enhances the ability of our roses to take in nutrients.

So to make it short: Humus allows our roses (and all other plants) to eat more goodies. 

A soil without humus is dead, it isn't alive. You can throw in tons of fertilizer, without humus your roses won't be able to eat from it. 

Getting a thick humus layer isn't difficult. Each Autumn and April you can mulch with compost, composted manure, worm castings, mushroom compost, cow and horse manure etc... In essence it's covering your soil with organic decaying Material. Don't me a Scrooge and give plenty of it, you can't overdose. 

So before we ask ourselves which and how many fertilizer we're gonna give its most important to ask ourselves "is my topsoil rich in humus"? If the answer is yes then you can start talking fertilizer. If it's negative you first increase the humus layer. A very good indicator of plenty of humus is the presence of earth worms or rain worms as we call them in Flanders and Holland. Earth worms are our soldiers as they eat the decaying material and poop 💩 out pure humus. If you see plenty of them when you dig a hole you can be sure that your soil is very healthy.

So don't forget how immensely important that black substance is. 

Oenosan: revolutionary Calcium based fertilizer

Oenosan is the first biological certified Calcium fertilizer. It's a sustainable solution for shrubs, trees and other plants. Oenosan is applied in the morning as the leafs open their pores. This way a maximum intake of the product is ensured. What makes Oenosan different from other Calcium based products? Oenosan has the smallest particles of calcium thanks to Nano technology. They are between 0,1 and 61 micrometer. Besides Calcium Oenosan is made up of essential minerals and spore elements. Calcium is extremely important for the cell structure of plants and it regulates nearly all processes of plants. Oenosan increases the intake of nutrients considerably making the plants and especially the foliage much more healthy and more resistant against fungal diseases. Also it reduces drought stress with 60%.

Made in Flanders, Oenosan today is used all over the world to reduce the use of chemicals significantly.

Dosis: 1,5 grams of Oenosan per liter of water applied in the morning every two weeks starting in April when the foliage is developing. Can be combined with seaweed foliar spray.

Why synthetic fertilizers are poison ☠ for our gardens and ourselves

People often ask me if their store bought fertilizers are any good and especially people from English speaking countries tell me they use Miracle Gro fertilizers for their roses. Sadly I have to disappoint them by telling that Miracle Gro is in fact poisonous to their roses, their gardens and even to us. Not only Miracle-Gro is a bad choice but all synthetically made fertilizers are hazardous to the soil and the environment in general.

Why? Let me give you a brief history of synthetic fertilizers: They became extremely popular by the end of the 19th century. They were first made by the Germans who, at first, used chemically made Nitrogen, Urea and Ammonium sulfate to make chemical weapons. When exposed to these weapons they destroy the human body. Later, these ingredients were used in the "Green deal" to revolutionize agriculture. But in fact it wasn't that green at all. Yes, it gave us heavy crops rapidly but the long term effects were devastating as synthetic fertilizers destroy the soil by killing all good bacteria. One of the most harmful effects of these fertilizers is that they spill into our waterways, oceans and aquifers making them toxic. Plants only absorb 1% of these fertilizers and the leftover 99% leaks into all our water resources. But that's not all as unbelievable amounts of fossil fuels are needed to make synthetic fertilizers. Today, they are a real threat to the environment and the climate.

Miracle gro is also full of heavy metals like Arsenic, lead and Mercury and we give this to our soils.

Organic fertilizers however are made from natural resources as manure, feathers, seaweed, blood etc... They are the natural food of the good microorganisms in our soils. These microorganisms are like nutrient factories, they mediate the nutrient cycling of minerals for plants to eat. These ecosystems “feed” plants through biogeochemical cycles that have happened on earth since ancient times. Synthetic chemical fertilizers alter and inhibit these natural microbial cycles that are so vital to healthy plants. Miracle gro and all other synthetic fertilizers act like an IV drip of nutrients to the plants. An IV drip in the hospital bypasses your digestive system by flowing directly into your bloodstream so it bypasses your mouth, stomach, intestines etc.. making us (or rather the agricultural system in our case) dependent on the IV. Soil is like the external digestive system of our plants and when we feed them Miracle gro or other synthetic fertilizers we are bypassing their digestive system. It might give our plants a quick boost but soon the soil and its ecosystem collapses. It is what we are seeing today all over the globe.

If you want a healthy soil full of life you want to use organic rose fertilizer, real, honest food for our roses. 

These brands are the best alternatives for Synthetic rose fertilizers:

Neptune's harvest 

Down to earth fertilizers 

Jobe's organic fertilizers 

North country organics 

Mme Grégoire Staechelin

Mme Grégoire Staechelin, Dot 1926

Climbing HT 

Frau Karl Drushki X Château de Clos Vougeot 

One of the great treasures of our rose heritage this Mme Grégoire Staechelin. Very big, loose, cyclamen pink flowers with a strong fragrance. A giant climber that can reach more than 6 meters or 18 feet. Overwhelming late spring blooming with some scattered blooms later in the season. Very healthy foliage and Hardy zone 6b and higher. An old aristocrat from bygone times but 1000% worth to be grown today

The benefits of seaweed foliar spray

We all know that seaweed based fertilizer is great for roses and the past 10 years there has been a major development of plant products based on organic seaweed. Agriculture companies are always searching for ways to improve their crops by making them stronger and more resistant against fungal diseases. As foliar spray plants can be helped immediately as the product is absorbed through the leafs the moment it touches the foliage. 

Seaweed foliar spray contains a whole range of good nutrients, amino acids, minerals and spore elements. It will enable our roses to grow stronger and make them more resistant against blackspot, mildew, rust and drought.

There are different brands on the market. For Belgium, The Netherlands, France and Germany I would advise the product I use: Algovital plus. This is a groundbreaking new product to strengthen roses and all other plants. It can be bought at Lens Roses or online stores 

The UK, the USA but also Australia and New Zealand have several Seaweed based foliar sprays which can be purchased online. I'll show some products in the pics.

Always remember to carefully follow the instructions on the manual. Normally you will have to spray once every two weeks when it's dry and in the evening but always check the manual to prevent failure or damage. 

Together with our organic fertilizer, our liquid organic fertilizer for pots, our Rock dust and lots of compost or other humus creating products the Seaweed foliar spray is another great tool to ensure that our roses will stay healthy without deficiency diseases.

Fertilizer schedule

March is typically the month we start with fertilizing our roses as soil is warming up, temp are rising and daylight is increasing.

It's always good to remember that roses are heavy feeders so they need a lot of food to provide us with lots of beautiful flowers in late spring and summer. That being said: Once flowering roses and once flowering ramblers don't need as much fertilizer as reblooming roses. They are satisfied with one gift of organic fertilizer in March and compost in Autumn. 

So we will generally focus on our reblooming garden roses and roses in pots. ALWAYS use an organic based rose fertilizer in granulated Form. There are many good brands and it's easy to give. A good organic rose fertilizer is normally rather low in nitrogen and high in potassium with extra magnesium. 

So by mid March we give each rose about two good handfuls of fertilizer at the base of the rose. Just spread it in a little circle around the roots. Always be sure to water your roses if it doesn't rain. The fertilizer needs to get dissolved and transported to the roots of our roses so water is essential for this to happen.

Also our pots need to get the same amount of fertilizer and water if needed. 

We repeat this fertilizing each month as long as August so in April, May, June, July and August we give two handfuls of fertilizer again and water if needed. You can add your annual portion of rock dust (Volcano rock dust) in March too and one handful of dust is enough for one rose. 

Potted roses need an extra portion of fertilizer each week. For this purpose we use organic liquid fertilizer. Organic tomato or vegetable fertilizer is perfect but liquid seaweed fertilizer is just as good. Dissolve the needed amount of liquid fertilizer in your watering can and give it to your potted roses on a weekly basis. How much is enough? One liter per pot is OK, a bit more if it's dry. Never let your potted roses dry out! During hot weather it's essential you check your pots on a daily basis. When it's really hot summer weather I water my pots every two days. I give plenty of water till it comes out at the bottom. Don't put a water container underneath your pots, a rose isn't an oleander or a Canna, let the excess water drain out of the pots. 

That's it! 

Sweet Juliet

Sweet Juliet, Austin 1989

English rose 

Graham Thomas X Admired Miranda 

An early variety with gorgeous apricot, very full blooms, starting as orange buds. They stand mostly in clusters and exude a strong uplifting fragrance. Graham Thomas is a great dad, just like Charles Austin. Graham Thomas has Iceberg or Schneewittchen as a parent which explains its strength.

Sweet Julliet makes a rounded shrub 150X100 cm or 5X3 feet. Blooms in flushes throughout the season and health is quite good but Blackspot can occur. Hardy with 5b to 9b

The early English roses, in my opinion, were stronger and more healthy than those from the past 15 years.

If you can buy Sweet Juliet, don't hesitate.

Sonnenwelt ®

Sonnenwelt ®, Kordes 2012

Modern Hybrid 

A magnificent, strong rose with a rounded, bushy growth 130X80 cm or 4X3 feet. It's flowers are big, very double and start yellow but in hot weather they turn apricot with pink edges which is very attractive. They exude a very strong delicious fruity fragrance. Reblooming is terrific and health is more than good. Zone 5b to 9b

In essence this is Kordes take on Golden Celebration. Highly recommended rose 

Joanna Hill

Joanna Hill, Hill 1928

Early Hybrid Tea 

Madame Butterfly X Miss Emelia Gude

The parent rose of the extremely popular Peace rose. Joanna Hill is a very attractive early HT with typical HT high centered buds unfolding into a rather flat bloom. They open light yellow with darker center but turn to almost cream with aging. Moderate fragrance. Good rebloomer. Zone 6b to 9b and 120 cm or 4 feet tall

Rather hard to find nowadays but she's a rose we shouldn't forget.