Rose clinging.

[mm]

I have a big beautiful rose bush on one side of my fence gate. I dont' tend it but it just gets bigger.

I wanted to buy a yellow rose for the right side, from Miller Nurseries. I've tried before in that part of my yard, bought locally, and they just die. Lots of clay in the soil might be part of the problme.

I live on the uphill side of Baltimore, on the border between zones 6 and 7, maybe on the 6 side.

Is yellow a fragile kind of rose? Golden Showers or Graham Thomas?

If I buy a climbing rose, will it over the years damage my unfinished wooden picket fence?

Would it in your opinion clash with the free-standing rose bush on the other side?

"Roses shoudl be mulched 6" in mild climates, up to 12 in severe climates". I gues baltimroe is somewhere in between? I don't think I've ever seen anything with say 8 inches of mulch. Am I just blind?

Thanks.

If you are inclined to email me for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

[Eggs Zachtly]

Drainage is probably a part of the problem. Have you had the soil tested?

Yellow is another color of a rose. Nothing more. =)

Golden Showers, I've not heard of (roses aren't my "thing"). Graham Thomas is a fairly new cultivar (1980's), but I've seen a couple specimens. One was very nice, about 4-5' tall, and full of blooms. The other looked like it was struggling. Both plants were the same age, but in different beds, so soil differences may come into play. It didn't look diseased, just slower. That's pretty much why they aren't my "thing". I've found roses, while tough plants, they're too damn finicky for me.

Depends on the rose. How's the one on the other side holding up?

That's a matter of taste. Yours, not mine. You're the one that's gotta look at them. =)

Yup. It says "up to" 12 inches, according to your reference. ;)

[mm]

I tested it with a cheap little kit, and the previous owner, who was very into bushes, did so before me. After my kit, I realized why he had left the bag of something something behind. It's the stuff they sell to turn an alkaline (or acid, whatever I've got) soil neutral. And I use it when I plant anything, but maybe not enough.

OK ;)

Well, when I bought this house, as little as an end-of-group townhouse lot is (1/20th of an acre, if I calculated right, counting the part the house sits on), he had lots of bushes. I managed to kill all his berry bushes, and 7 of his 8 rose bushes. I killed the rose bushes in less than 10 years, maybe less than 5, but it's 23 years since I moved in and the one rose bush is still good. Very good actually, maybe 12 feet tall, and might be taller if the pine tree wasnt' in the way. (He planted a couple pine trees too, and some other stuff.)

So that's why I want to balance the rose bush that is there.

That's the problem. I don't have any taste. I used to say that at least I knew bad when I saw it, but I'm not even sure of that anymore.

OK, if it lives until the fall, I'll do it. I never do anything to that one rose bush that is still alive. That's why the others died, I guess, and maybe other reasons too. Something about Tanglewood or Tanglefoot. I think it is a outdoor concert location near Boston, but it seems to have some effect on my plants.

If you are inclined to email me for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

[Eggs Zachtly]

And the results were?

I would definately find out what exactly what that "something in the bag" is.

[...]

I it's a balance you want (which doesn't necessarily mean symetrical) a 12' plant on one side of an opening, and a 4' plant on the other side, may not achieve the balance you seek. Unless there's something else, larger, on the side opposite the 12' red rose. You wouldn't need something 12', but something only one third as tall, may not achieve the look you desire. Just something to keep in mind. =)

So, the advice you sought here, was more 'after the fact'. Looking for some reinforcement? =P

That could very well be a lucky guess. Some roses bloom on old wood, and some on new wood. It all depends on the cultivar.

Yup. Probably a combination. You can't just let everything "go", without pruning or care specific to each individual plant's needs.

Heh. =)

If you plan on including the above, at the end of each post you make, could you please put it behind a proper sig-delimiter (dash dash space)? Thanks.

G/L with your roses.

[MANIC_D]