Roses in mid-September

[@VanNguyen-cz4kg]

Đẹp tuyệt vời ❤❤❤👍👍👍

[@rosegardengems]

A beautiful garden in mid-September Nik. I just read a question in one of the comments and your answer. It is very helpful. I used a 6 months slow released organic fertiliser and didn’t really water my garden enough this summer, a lot of my roses didn’t have a good second of third flush. AM is amazing and lovely Marigolds. Thanks for sharing!🌹

[@nikkonch]

As I said, I am always worrying that I water too much - I think that probably caused my spring cuttings to fail, but being in constantly damp/wet ground doesn't seem to worry established plants and it seems may even be beneficial, so I can continue watering away my early evenings without any misgivings - although the huge downpours of rain here over the past week or so mean that task has become totally unnecessary. That "beautiful garden in mid-September" is now looking very bedraggled and sorry for itself. But I tell myself that all that rainwater sinking to the roots must be encouraging growth for the future.

[@peterhaymaker7562]

Your roses are certainly looking very healthy and happy Nik. I find it hard to believe we live in the same Country sometimes. All looking lovely and colourful. So much with me is now giving up for the year because it's been so dry down here. My tomatoes have just about finished too. Enjoyed the look around. Ta, P.

[@nikkonch]

We'll see how good my roses look by next Monday, Peter. We have thunderstorms predicted for the next three days!

[@Vgardener]

so beautiful roses. it seems that you have a collection of beautiful flowers! Thanks for sharing! hi from Canada, Vgardener

[@nikkonch]

Thank you.

[@ЕленаБельчина]

Ancient Mariner

[@wendybartlett6717]

So much colour from your roses and annuals Nik. I'm so glad that I bought Ancient Mariner this year but I bet mine won't ever look as good as yours! Your Marigolds and Zinnias are doing well. I've been enjoying the lovely weather this week but my goodness the evenings are getting chilly. My Zinnias haven't liked the drop in temperature and I've pulled up a few but other things like the Cosmos are doing well. Can't believe that we are almost in October. They say the older you get the faster the time goes and it's true. Have a great weekend but I think rain is forecast.

[@nikkonch]

For once the forecast seems to be right, Wendy. At the moment we have thunder, lightning and heavy rain. It'll be interesting to see how the garden copes with that. My best Ancient Mariner is about 7 years old now, so you never know what might happen to yours over that length of time! Yes, it is getting to that time if year when we start pulling things up ... but we can plant again next year!

[@Beautifulflowers-05]

These roses are so beautiful ❤

[@nikkonch]

Thank you. Glad you liked them.

[@thebeautyoflifesjourney4740]

You Ancient Mariner so beautiful! Mine not doing well this year

[@nikkonch]

I do have another AM in my front garden which has not flowered so well this year despite being in a sunny position, maybe because it is surrounded by other plants. Let's hope yours and mine all flourish next year - that's the good thing about gardening, you can always hope for better next year!

[@yuexiangwen7478]

Wonderful garden and beautiful ancient mariner.

[@nikkonch]

Thank you.

[@agbtg6292]

How much fertilizer do you use on your roses? Some of the darkest green leaves I've seen on roses. I'm always afraid of burning them but you sure seem to have the touch. Thanks for the tour.

[@nikkonch]

All I have used this year is one handful of Toprose granular rosefeed on the ground around the bushes at the beginning of the season and a second handful after the first flush, plus one watering around the plants late on in the season with a diluted liquid plant food, probably Phostrogen. I do seem to have mainly roses with darker leaves and my videos tend to be done in gloomier weather, so that might account for your perception? I do water obsessively (and I always worry I am watering excessively), but the roses seem to like having moist roots. I pot my roses in basic compost from the garden centre and my clay soil has been gradually enhanced by thousands of litres of that and mushroom compost over the 7 years we have lived here.

[@whitejasmine5514]

Beautiful garden as usual. ❤❤❤❤. I would like to ask about ancient mariner ans austasia vye roses, aretheu hood for vase cutting?

[@nikkonch]

Thank you. I do not usually cut any roses to put in a vase, but I suspect that these two roses are not really suitable for vases because they have multiple (8-12) flowers on the top of quite short stems, often with other stems growing out just below the top flowers. But, as I say, cutting for vases is not something I normally do. Eustacia Vye would probably hold its petals and its shape for longer and be less likely to droop and shatter if you did bring a stem into the house.

[@ambut_nalang]

What are your repeat blooming flowers from David Austin roses?

[@nikkonch]

I am not sure I understand exactly what you are asking. All my David Austin roses repeat. In my experience Eustacia Vye, Gabriel Oak, Dame Judi Dench, and Lady of Shalott seem to repeat most often - they are seldom without flowers. The tall Ancient Mariner at the beginning of this video has a long gap between repeats. Desdemona is one of the most beautiful David Austin roses but maybe not the most consistent flowering. Princess Anne is a good repeater too. But this is my experience in my particular local climate.

[@ambut_nalang]

@@nikkonch thank you

[@MegaMoflis]

why you don't like Silas marner ?

[@nikkonch]

A very good question. Not sure I have a good answer. I recommend you watch Ben Hamilton Anderson's video from a couple of years back for his glowing appreciation - and read the comments people made on that. I seem to be out of step with the general opinion. But it just hasn't performed well for me at all in terms of flowering. Maybe it would do better in the ground and in a sunnier spot. For me it is just an uninspiring rose in terms of small flower size, colour and shape, with flowers too crowded on the stems, not having enough space to open properly. People do rate its fragrance, but that is not something I am particularly sensitive to. I always tell the story of my Ancient Mariner which I had in a pot and was going to throw away because of its performance, but it went in the ground and now is, as you can see in my video, an amazing rose - so maybe if I did the same with Silas I would "see the light", but as it is I am unimpressed. I am prepared to give it another chance next year, I think, since the weather over the past two summers has been poor, but other roses have flourished in that weather, so why not Silas? I would not dream of saying don't buy it, but I see nothing to recommend it from my own limited experience. I know that there are other roses I would prefer to have and I slightly resent the fact that Silas is taking up space which could be used for a rose that I find more instantly appealing.

[@kenvoong5977]

I’ve had silas marner for two years now and like you Nik I’m so far not impressed. The flowers are small and fragile under the sun. This year I didn’t recall seeing much blooms from it. Way too highly rated by Ben.

[@nikkonch]

@@kenvoong5977 That's reassuring to hear. I'm not just a total oddball then! (But there was a similarly positive video about Silas Marner posted by Overdevest Nurseries a few months ago, so it has its fans)

[@MegaMoflis]

@@nikkonch yes actually I bought Silas Marner few weeks ago based on the review from the Overdevest Nurseries, I was so impressed how beautiful was the rose in their video. My plant is very small right now, but the branches are very floppy and the flowers doesn't last in the full sun. I will give it a try and see next year how it will perform.

[@gavinparry5426]

Your AM's are amazing! I think The Poet's Wife is ideal with a small obelisk as support Nik. You still pleased with BMS ?

[@nikkonch]

Yes, Gav, I thought the Ancient Mariner was looking pretty spectacular at the moment, but there was a long gap between flushes. The ones under the decking seem to have been more continuous with their flowering, and I have one in the front garden which is still to produce anything much after its first flush, so I don't quite know what to make of that. If someone asked me what its repeat flowering was like, I wouldn't know what to say. Bring Me Sunshine? - well, I like what I'm seeing but it's still a baby with only occasional flowers, however I have high hopes for it next year. I have bought a couple of obelisks, so it looks like one for The Poet's Wife and one for BMS.