Roses, David Austin and other

[@wendybartlett6717]

Wow, Bring Me Sunshine is beautiful Nik. I keep wanting to buy this rose. Desdemona has become one of my favourite roses too. Mine is relatively new but she's been flowering her socks off and still has loads of buds. Your Gabriel is doing much better than mine. You're right about plants that grow where they want to always do well. I had some self seeded poppies growing between the cracks in my block paving and I didn't have the heart to rip them out.

[@nikkonch]

Hi Wendy. The BMS was an impulse buy after seeing so many positive comments and reviews - I wanted a yellow rose and that seemed to be the one to get. Since it was only 18 degrees in the greenhouse this afternoon, the bright colour should cheer me up! My tall Gabriel is 4 years old and is finally beginning to sprawl less and be more upright. I'm with you on being reluctant to pull up poppies and other pretty self-seeded flowers, even if, like my antirrhinum, it's growing in an awkward spot.

[@Raj-45a]

Beautiful garden and stunning roses. BMS looks beautiful and healthly. I am very much tempted to order BMS as several very good reviews on KZbin. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful video of lovely roses.

[@nikkonch]

Thank you. Yes, there are lots of good reviews of BMS. I think it was Ben Hamilton Anderson's review that finally pushed me into buying it, but it was a few other people mentioning BMS recently that made me look for that review. Then I just decided that if I wanted that rose I should buy it straight away to get to enjoy it this summer and have a stronger plant at the beginning of next summer instead of a younger bare root. Ken here recommended it to go in the ground, so my only problem is finding a gap to plant it in.

[@Lin_Greenfinger]

Hi Nik. Your garden is still very much in full bloom and foliage is lush. What do you feed your roses with ?

[@nikkonch]

They have each had a handful of Toprose Rose and Shrub food bought from Toolstation - one before the first flush and one before the second. I do water almost daily and this area seems to have avoided sun and heat pretty successfully this season, so nothing gets a chance to dry out. And I've sprayed twice with Roseclear. The banana skin water I have used only on the roses in the front garden.

[@soulgirlktf]

Hi Nik, Bring Me Sunshine I have heard great things about and looks like you have a lovely example of it there. Your Desdemona's are looking superb, mine is only a baby this year I can't wait for her to develop she's so lovely ! Eustacia Vye is gorgeous too. I need to catch up on your videos I have missed recently, your garden is full of colour and looking fabulous, your stunning view at the end of course ! Lovely tour, thank you.

[@nikkonch]

Hi Linda. I just nipped out for a final look and sniff at BMS, but it was too chilly to smell anything. I have high hopes for her though after all the recommendations by various people. As I said in the video, the rose that has really surprised me with its growth this summer is Gabriel Oak, but it doesn't compete with Desdemona, Eustacia or others in terms of looks.

[@putuandplants]

Hi! New subscriber here and also film my collection for a channel. I have started to buy a handful of roses for container planting. What would you say are your most compact and bushy roses? Not ones that grow too tall and twiggy/octopus caney.

[@nikkonch]

Hi, and welcome! I have just posted a video and highlighted a few roses for container planting. Of course, container can mean different things to different people. I have a lot of 15 litre containers and a good number of 45-50 litres too. "Compact" is also a term with many interpretations. The roses I highlighted on the latest video are floribundas which grow or can be cut back to around 3 feet tall. The ones in the video are in 30-35 litres, except for Super Trouper (15 litres), which is a very bushy compact bush. "For your Eyes Only" or "Peter's Persica" may fit the bill too. I have a "short climber" called "Blush Noisette" which I am growing as a small bush in a container - which shows you can keep some roses under control by cutting back - but not the very vigorous ones. If you can have the 50 litre containers you might want to try some David Austin roses - Eustacia Vye is a fairly upright variety and flowers very well, and it can always be cut back to keep it compact.

[@peterhaymaker7562]

I don't tire of a look around your garden Nik as I'm sure you don't either. All looking lovely and so green. Very little rain down here in Kent, a bit a couple of nights ago, and none forecast for the coming week and more either. If you've got any spare you know where to send it. Your roses certainly make me want more. Cheers! P.

[@nikkonch]

Thanks Peter. We only have possible rain forecast for 4 days next week - I never thought I would make people jealous by telling them how wet it was here. But the lack of sun means we have hundreds of green tomatoes and are barely self-sufficient despite my having about three dozen plants in pots. Last couple of years my wife was giving away pounds and pounds every week in the summer - but I think the rain has really benefited the roses, so I can do without the tomatoes.

[@peterhaymaker7562]

@@nikkonch Wow! Three dozen tomato plants in pots Nik. I thought I had a lot/too many with six in the greenhouse and six outside. They are certainly liking the sun and all get watered every day so we have lots of tomatoes this year. I'll keep my fingers crossed that we don't get blight. Your roses certainly don't object to the weather conditions do they? They look really good. I keep thinking where could I put a E. Vye rose in my garden as I'm rather taken witth yours and other peoples'. Mmmm? P.

[@nikkonch]

@@peterhaymaker7562 It wasn't supposed to be 3 dozen Peter. After gluts in previous years we agreed a dozen would do. But I like to plant half a dozen or so different varieties and deliberately plant too many seeds in case of failures, but when they all grow I think it's wasteful to throw away perfectly viable plants and end up planting the lot. Eustacia Vye is one of the most consistently productive and attractive roses in my garden, with strong mainly upright growth, a good scent and health, so I would definitely recommend it.

[@peterhaymaker7562]

@@nikkonch Hi again Nik, Like you I grow too many tomato plants. This year I had about 100X of different varieties. Also like you, I think they won't all make it but most do. The ones I keep for myself and the ones I give away to friends adds up to about 30+. The remainder I put on Facebook Market Place and sell for £1 each. So, they don't get wasted and I make a bit of money to go towards compost or whatever. I've don that for several years now. Thanks for your opinion on E.Vye. I hope you have a good week with your bit of rain. P.

[@kenvoong5977]

Why is your garden looking so green? Good choice you’ve made Nik, I think BMS would do better in the ground if you have any space . Probably one of the top performers next along side Gabriel, eustacia ,desdemona in my opinion. Blame me and Gavin if for any reasons it under performs 😅

[@nikkonch]

I think living on the edge of the Welsh hills we catch a lot of the rain, but I wouldn't mind seeing more sun and some grass parched by the lack of rain. I have great hopes for BMS and I will find somewhere to plant it in the ground, probably with an obelisk frame support since I hear it's tall and floppy? But I think my plan to distract my wife worked - the rose arrived while she was out, so I didn't mention it until after the new TV arrived, and I think I got away with it!

[@gavinparry5426]

Nice one Nik ! You won't regret this one imo. Certainly my overall best performer for flowers in 2024, just ahead of Emily Bronte and Sweet Honey. Good choice, enjoy 👍 ATB Gav

[@nikkonch]

I'm feeling very positive about BMS so far Gav - and it's always a delight to buy a new rose when it's in flower, even if this one cost an arm and a leg. Your Sweet Honey I am not surprised about, but putting it in the same bracket as Emily Bronte did surprise me. My EB has performed decently, but it hasn't been outstanding - is yours in the ground or in a pot like mine? We just visited a garden centre, and I was delighted not to feel tempted to buy any of their roses (well, OK, actually, to be 100% honest, they did have a nice well-established Sweet Honey which might look good in our front garden ...) - two roses in two days might be testing my wife's tolerance too much. I was quite intrigued by the colour of Summer Song as well, but maybe not quite right for me.

[@gavinparry5426]

@@nikkonch haha Funnily enough I have SH, EB and BMS all next to each other in that order IN the ground. I must have had around 80 flowers each on SH & EB during 1st flush. Maybe try her in the ground Nik?

[@nikkonch]

@@gavinparry5426 Yes, that could be the explanation.