Rambling Rector rose, Bowles Mauve, Diascia Breeze & hardy osteospermum

Guernsey Donkey2

I have just received a glossy catalogue from Hayloft and I would like to order some of their plants. Has anyone grown any of the above, are they fairly easy to grow and would the bees be attracted to any/all of these plants?

pansyface

Can’t speak for anything other than the Rambling Rectum.🙂

The first one I ever lived with was there when I arrived. It was on a six foot high by forty foot long fence and it covered it. Pruning was a nightmare  because it has champion sized thorns and it throws out new shoots that can grow fifteen feet before you can blink.

The second Rambling Rector in my life, I bought, more fool me.  Planted it at the base of an ancient pear tree thinking that it would look pretty and could do its own thing and not need pruning. It has grown so much that it has almost toppled the pear tree and has begun to colonise a forty foot high cupressus that was some distance away and minding its own business.

From time to time, lengths of the RR die off or get twisted by the wind. They hang there like bodies on a gibbet, too high to be removed, slowly mouldering and disintegrating.

The flowers are pretty for a week or two though.

Guernsey Donkey2

R.Rector sounds like a garden thug - it looks lovely in the brochure but unless I have a large area to cover i.e. a couple of tree trunks then it isn't worth the bother.  Does it flower just once a year for a week or two - if so that is another good reason not to buy it. Thanks for your input @pansyface

pansyface

Just the once to my knowledge.🙄

Obelixx

Rambling Rector gets huge, flowers once and then has hips.  I'd go for a less thuggish repeat flowering rambler such as Snow Goose if you want white flowers or Malvern Hills if you want a soft yellow that fades to cream.

Bowles Mauve is a short lived perennial that can get tatty looking by the second year so be prepared to take cuttings to renew it.

I never succeeded with Diascia in my last garden - deep, alkaline loam and hard winters - and haven't tried it here.

Hardy osteospermum - I have one here which is flowering now but it's been a very mild winter after a stressful hot and droughty 2019.   It may be less hardy where you are so be prepared to take cuttings.

Guernsey Donkey2

Thank you for sharing your experience of these plants Obelixx - I think I will pass on the R. Rector, I just don't have a large enough area available for it.  My neighbour has a Bowles Mauve which has masses of flowers during the warmer months and does attract bees - so that will have a place in my garden this coming summer.  It is a relation of Wall Flowers, so I wonder if I can grow it from seed perhaps? I also have a hardy osteopermum flowering in a pot at the moment, so I think they would be a good investment. I must admit that I had never heard of Diascia, they look to be a good strong plant and perhaps would grow nicely in pots outside of south facing cottage.

Buttercupdays

I love my Bowles' Mauve. It flowers nonstop - mine still had a few flowers on Christmas Day and is covered in buds now. It took ages to deadhead it, but is looking good at the moment. It roots easily from cuttings and I always keep a few on the go for replacements or additional plants when it dies of exhaustion.

Fire

My oesteo seems to flower only in December. The B Mauve does get leggy quite fast, but takes from cuttings easily.

Guernsey Donkey2

You have inspired me to order the Diasia, Bowles Mauve and my oesteo also is in  flower now and was during summer 2019, so I feel I am on the right track with those three plants - thanks Songbird, Buttercupdays and Fire and perhaps as mentioned above the Rambling Rector may be too prolific for my garden.