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Francis E Lester question

murasakimurasaki Posts: 76
in Plants
Hello, does anyone grow this rose? i am contemplating getting it and would like to know if it is self-cleaning or at least moderately so. i hesitate between this one and Lykkefund as i read Lykkefund drops its petals cleanly, buti like the FEL petals more... 
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  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,900
    Yes it drops clean.. it's single flowered.. it's the double flowered types that can have problems, but don't deadhead it as you will get lots of hips in autumn.. 
    East Anglia, England
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,967
    It is a very pretty rose


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • murasakimurasaki Posts: 76
    thank you, Marlorena, for your quick reply... yes, i read about the lovely hips!
    that's good news about the petals! it will be a bit smaller and thus more manageable than Lykkefund, no? though with more thorns, from what i have read. which one would you recommend from the two? i have to add that my summers are hot and dry... right now i am tending towards FEL, but i would be grateful for any additional info about them. 
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,900
    @murasaki
    ...which country are you in please?
    East Anglia, England
  • murasakimurasaki Posts: 76
    Southern Romania, this would be 7a/b, very hot and dry summers (it is flatland), cold winters but lately ever less cold, maybe just one snow episode per winter. 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 10,313
    edited September 2021
    I used to grow it on my pergola - not a great pic
    A lovely rose. It's extremely vigorous
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • murasakimurasaki Posts: 76
    @Dovefromabove, it is indeed so pretty, and such a lovely photo, thank you! 
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 7,900
    Oh ok, Romania,... you can grow superb roses there, I've seen them in pictures..

    Some nice photos of FEL, that's a beauty... here's a close up of the single flowers in a cluster.. I don't have it in my current garden, but I grew it elsewhere.. I have not grown Lykkefund.


    ..here are the pros and cons of both..

    They are both once blooming.. FEL is said to be scented of oranges and bananas, but I never could quite get that strength of scent by the windy seaside here.. the foliage is beautiful and it is a shorter bushier rose than Lykkefund... It is rather thorny and can be trained on a fence, like a short bushy rambler..  it develops small hips..

    Lykkefund is much larger, expect over 20 feet and to its advantage is thornless.
    It has a sweet musky scent but there are no hips on this rose.  The flowers are semi-single,  creamy yellow fading to white..  it is recommended for growing through a tree as it has a dense arching habit..

    Up to you which you choose... 
    East Anglia, England
  • murasakimurasaki Posts: 76
    @Pete.8, wow, so gorgeous! hard to resist it! is it true that the scent is so intense that it travels through the garden? this has sparked my imagination as well... 
  • murasakimurasaki Posts: 76
    @Marlorena, another marvelous photo (i have been quietly admiring your garden for a long time now, looking through the old threads). i am just at the beginning, hopefully some day i will also have such lovely images to post...

    how long were the canes of your FEL then? the infos on different sites are so contradictory, from 3 m to 6m (10 to 20 feet).
    my plan is a bit complicated, hopefully i will succeed, i want to grow it partly as ground cover, partly trained over a 6 feet tall wire fence, but i would like some of it to spill on the other side of the fence and continue as ground cover for a rather ugly spot. i imagine it this way at least :) would both work for this or should i prefer Lykkefund 's arching canes? 
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