Lady of Shalott rose
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.
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.
0
Posts
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..
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?
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 ...