Forum home› Plants

Lady of Shalott rose

GrumpymumGrumpymum Posts: 77
in Plants
I am confused about the rose Lady of Shalott.  I bought one last year to grow around an obelisk as it was labelled as a climber.  However on the David Austin website it says it is a shrub rose, getting to 4  x 4 feet. I'm not sure that is correct as mine is now about 7 feet tall!
The stems I wound around the obelisk don't seem to be all that happy, very few flowers, however new stems sticking out of the top are flowering beautifully.
So, is it a climber or a shrub, or maybe something in between? What is  the best way to prune and train it? Am I wasting my time trying to train it around an obelisk? Would it be better to liberate it and let it do its own thing, maybe tying some stems in to the wall behind if they get too floppy?
I would be grateful for any advice!
Thank you.

Posts

  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,435
    ok... A number of DA roses are two dimensional, sometimes 3.. in that they can be grown as a shrub, which is the 4 x 4 foot you see.. or as a climber where they will get much larger...some can even be allowed to ramble... it's up to the gardener as to which way they want to grow these roses...  they are costly to buy, but in lots of cases, we have more than one choice as to how to grow it..


    If you grow Lady of Shalott as a climber, against a wall or fence, it can easily attain heights and width of 10 x 10 foot...in my garden I kept it to about 8 foot by 6 foot..  

    ...if you want, with hard pruning during the season, you can probably keep it to 4 x 4 but the tendency is usually to grow bigger..


    ..in my opinion, this rose is not suitable for an obelisk, by winding canes... it needs to be let loose to form a large shrub with support.. but not constricted by obelisk training..

    East Anglia, England
  • GrumpymumGrumpymum Posts: 77
    Thank you. I will set it free and fix some trellis behind it for support instead.

    I have some cuttings of New Dawn that are growing quite nicely. Would  one of these be suitable for my obelisk if I move it to another part of my garden?
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Funnily enough I was just checking the name of the standard roses I bought last year from DA. They are in fact Lady of Shalot and they are magnificent even in their first year. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,435
    ...such a versatile rose... with great colouration if you like orange, as it can be very orange at times, with bits of pink and yellow mixed in...sometimes more buff yellow... and in very hot dry weather, like 90F.. it can turn pink..

    ...New Dawn is a monster rambler, some 20 foot... I wouldn't try on an average sort of obelisk personally...  but best of luck with whatever you do....

    East Anglia, England
  • GrumpymumGrumpymum Posts: 77
    That does look lovely Hogweed. 

    I have set mine free now and I think it looks happier already.

    The New Dawn is indeed a bit of a monster and is growing up around the upstairs windows at the front of the house. It's either some tough pruning this winter or more trellis and a longer ladder ...
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    @Marlorena I had a rose bed outside my cottage which I planted up with scented pink roses when I moved in almost 20 years ago. Two years ago I dug them all out and replaced with orange coloured scented roses - Lady Emma Hamilton, Roald Dahl, Summer Song and Port Sunlight. I added 2 Lady of Shalot standard roses to it at the end of last year. It's been lovely this month with tall purple alliums still going and the roses just coming out. I have impressed myself! In another few weeks I will have orange and yellow cosmos coming up to join the party. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,435
    @hogweed … I love the theme.. and a great choice of roses... 
    East Anglia, England
Sign In or Register to comment.