Feel new expensive hobby coming on.....

seven-day-weekend

We moved house in 2015 and are still stocking the large garden, which had been terribly neglected.

Last weekend we erected a pergola. It looks pretty bare and I just suddenly thought I would like some rambling roses over it.

We don't know much about roses so decided to go to David Austin Roses to get advice and buy one.

Now despite living five miles away from this place for nearly all our lives, (we're in our late 60s) neither of us have ever visited. We've never been keen on roses, they always seem to need a lot of attention and most of the ones we have seen are not bee-friendly as a bee can't get inside.

We expected just a few greenhouses in a field. They are there (more than a few!) but there arealso beautiful rose meadows and rose gardens all laid out, a lovely place to spend an afternoon, even though most of them are not in bloom at this time.

We then had tea/coffee in the lovely coffee shop, my Earl Grey came in a beautiful teapot with matching china cup and saucer and milk jug.

Anyway, we then went to get advice on buying the rose. We were directed to one of the rose experts who turned out to be someone my husband had taught before he retired. She gave us advice and helped us to chose a suitable rose. She gave us a beautifully informative catalogue too.

I actually never realised that there were so many roses, nor that David Austin had invented so many of them, nor that many are bee-friendly, nor that they are internationally famous:o (Apparently he did some for the recent Royal Wedding). Fancy living so close for so long and not knowing!

Anyway, we spent the rest of the weekend looking through the catalogue and fell in love with roses.

We went back today and bought a second one for our pergola, as one will not be enough

We have decided that our front garden, which we have not yet done to our taste, is going to be a rose garden. We will start this in 2019 and will ask my husband's ex-pupil's advice on which roses to plant.

So...as the thread title - a new expensive hobby coming on!

This is the rose we bought: https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/the-lady-of-the-lake-rambling-rose

tootallulah

I moved into a house with a beautiful rose garden at the front, the scent is wonderful - they are a huge pleasure. All hobbies are expensive when they become an obsession - enjoy.

Debbie_Savard

I have Rosa 'Madame Alfred Carrière' on the pergola, bought from David Austin in 2015. It's now more than 75% covered the woodwork

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

You think you've got the bug now?

Just you wait until you open the door/window in a couple of years and gradually get waves of scent drift over you, all slightly different, all absolutely perfect.

[NB - you have to have scented ones]

lessonlearned

I was never one for roses. And then I "discovered" them a few years ago.:rotfl:

I agree with Jo Jo I always get scented ones.

seven-day-weekend

Thank you all for your comments.

I think we will absolutely make sure we get scented ones!!

Will update as and when.

Waterlily24

We love roses and have got a lot, we tried to get as many different ones as we could preferably scented ones but have a few non scented. We've got a couple of arches and a pergola which some climbing ones are on.

We didn't bother with the David Austin ones even though there is a centre for them near the garden centre we visit.

shortcrust

I bought a couple of climbers from David Austin back in March. One, The Pilgrim, is growing at an amazing pace in a shady corner. The other (Blush Noisette?) is about to bloom with literally hundreds of buds. They're the healthiest roses in my garden and are so far are untouched by the plague of various bugs attacking the others.

phoebe1989seb

We were never keen on roses either, till we discovered the wonderful David Austin ones at our local nursery when we lived in Wiltshire. When we moved to the West Midlands in 2014 and realised that the David Austin nursery was just up the road we were in seventh heaven! We spent a small fortune there and went regularly during the flowering season to just enjoy the sight and scents!

Now we've bought; a cottage with land in Wales we're creating a large David Austin rose bed that I'm having huge fun with.......have just bought about forty roses (not done yet either!!!) and even went on a road trip back to the West Midlands specially to go to David Austin! You can buy online, but it's just not the same, lol!

Enjoy your new (expensive, but thoroughly rewarding) hobby

seven-day-weekend

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

We were never keen on roses either, till we discovered the wonderful David Austin ones at our local nursery when we lived in Wiltshire. When we moved to the West Midlands in 2014 and realised that the David Austin nursery was just up the road we were in seventh heaven! We spent a small fortune there and went regularly during the flowering season to just enjoy the sight and scents!

Now we've bought; a cottage with land in Wales we're creating a large David Austin rose bed that I'm having huge fun with.......have just bought about forty roses (not done yet either!!!) and even went on a road trip back to the West Midlands specially to go to David Austin! You can buy online, but it's just not the same, lol!

Enjoy your new (expensive, but thoroughly rewarding) hobby

We have lived only a few miles away from David Austin's Nursery all our lives and have only just visited! What a gem we have missed all our lives, will certainly make up for lost time

https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_C._H._Austin
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/plant-centre-and-gardens

seven-day-weekend

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

You think you've got the bug now?

Just you wait until you open the door/window in a couple of years and gradually get waves of scent drift over you, all slightly different, all absolutely perfect.

[NB - you have to have scented ones]

Resurrected this thread to say the expensive hobby has stuck

And we have now bought more roses for our back patio, all scented, and all from David Austin.

These are the ones we have :

https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/harlow-carr
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/lady-emma-hamilton
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/gertrude-jekyll

This one for the front garden :
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/tottering-by-gently

and this one for a trellis by the shed:
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/malvern-hills-rambling-rose

I am hoping to buy this one soon as I don't have a white one:
https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/desdemona

My husband says he is going to ban me from visitin David Austin Roses :rotfl: