Old style Rose recommendations

#NewbieGardener

Hello Gardeners 

After a recommendation for a heritage or old rose. We have acidic soil so is there any roses that will tolerate this? If that's a no....what other flowers could I try that could make nice cut flowers.  I love double peonies but they look high maintenance 😄  ... happy to do in pots if I can't plant out in thd garden 
Thanks peeps x

Cambridgerose12

Roses should be OK as long as it's not too acidic. Double peonies are good and not all that high maintenance--a good feed and remembering not to crowd them out or plant too deeply, and they will go on for many years. It's good to look for upright varieties that don't need staking. Try Binny Plants or Claire Austin for peonies, but be aware they flower very fleetingly (unlike roses). 

There are hundreds of Old Roses, some of which are repeat-flowering, and many of which have better disease resistance and fragrance than modern varieties. You have to be a bit patient as they will take around 4 years to form a decent-sized shrub, unlike the David Austin varieties. David Austin stocks a lot of of old roses, although my favourite suppliers are Peter Beales and Trevor White Old Roses. The toughest forms tend to be those quite close to a species rose. With acidic soil my first thought would be anything descended from Rosa pimpinellifolia--there are some repeat flowerers at David Austin, like Stanwell Perpetual, but the once-flowering varieties date back to the 1820s and are very cute, especially with their hips in autumn. 'Double White' is good, or there are pinks and yellows. However, with plenty of organic matter dug in, I'd have thought you could manage many Old Roses. FWIW the most disease-resistant ones I have grown have been the Alba group, a particular favourite being 'Jacques Cartier'. Hybrid Musks ('Felicia', 'Buff Beauty', 'Cornelia'), a number of Gallicas in warm soil. For repeat-flowering, Portlands are another excellent group--check out 'Rose de Resht' and 'Indigo'.

#NewbieGardener

What amazing knowledge. Thank you thank you. X @Cambridgerose12

edhelka

I garden on acidic soil. How much acidic is your soil?
Unless it is very acidic (pH 5.5 or less), it should be ok for roses.

Busy-Lizzie

I was just about to recommend Stanwell Perpetual, Felicia, Cornelia, Jacques Cartier and Louise Odier, which I have and so does my daughter, but @Cambridgerose12 has beaten me to it!

I had acid clay when I lived in Kent, it grew rhododendrons and azaleas, and the roses did brilliantly.