The highlight of my garden, the New Dawn rose, my grandmother's and my mother's favorite rose is dead! Don't ask me how or why, it simply died. This rose with a 17" diameter trunk on it, gorgeous blooms several times a year has done well until this spring. I am heartbroken. I truly expected this one to last over 50 years, not just nine. Now to get the thing off the arbor. This will be no easy feat. Most of the main canes are far to thick for even a heavy pruner and will need a chain saw. Most of them in my case are larger than both my wrists together. I'm figuring this will be the summer project. I think I do want to replace it with an own root New Dawn. The one on the other side was from Vintage Garden and is now three years old. They are harder to start, you need more patience, but maybe it will last longer than nine years. Right now, three main canes are over 12' tall but it doesn't have the mass yet as the other did. I will have to check with Vintage and Roses Unlimited about getting another. The problem with getting roses mail order, especially with Roses Unlimited, you need to purchase three roses and I'd want only the New Dawn. That is a downer. However, now that I think about it, Roses Unlimited also has Summer Wine which is another I would want, so with just one more, I could order three. I need to think about that quickly. All my roses in the back of the house took a hard hit this year. Many of my strongest roses froze to the ground. So far, I've lost just Ellen Wilmont that I can see. Even my most tender Crimson Bouquet survived. Then roses such a Marie Pavie, Charles Aznavour, Shaifra Asma, Ann Marie de Montravel, Rose de Rescht, Baron Prevost, Frau Karl Durschki, Bonica, Gruss an Aachen and all the climbers except New Dawn seem untouched. Even the very hard to root City of York, only two inches high when I finally planted it last fall, made it through the winter. It had just one 1/4" root on it after 4 months of diligently struggling with it to get it to root. Finally I had no choice last fall but to plant it. It's growing beautifully now. Go figure. I'll have to let you know what I do now, but there's no question that New Dawn is dead. Oh, I am heartsick about this.
Monday, April 18, 2011
New Dawn is Dead!
The highlight of my garden, the New Dawn rose, my grandmother's and my mother's favorite rose is dead! Don't ask me how or why, it simply died. This rose with a 17" diameter trunk on it, gorgeous blooms several times a year has done well until this spring. I am heartbroken. I truly expected this one to last over 50 years, not just nine. Now to get the thing off the arbor. This will be no easy feat. Most of the main canes are far to thick for even a heavy pruner and will need a chain saw. Most of them in my case are larger than both my wrists together. I'm figuring this will be the summer project. I think I do want to replace it with an own root New Dawn. The one on the other side was from Vintage Garden and is now three years old. They are harder to start, you need more patience, but maybe it will last longer than nine years. Right now, three main canes are over 12' tall but it doesn't have the mass yet as the other did. I will have to check with Vintage and Roses Unlimited about getting another. The problem with getting roses mail order, especially with Roses Unlimited, you need to purchase three roses and I'd want only the New Dawn. That is a downer. However, now that I think about it, Roses Unlimited also has Summer Wine which is another I would want, so with just one more, I could order three. I need to think about that quickly. All my roses in the back of the house took a hard hit this year. Many of my strongest roses froze to the ground. So far, I've lost just Ellen Wilmont that I can see. Even my most tender Crimson Bouquet survived. Then roses such a Marie Pavie, Charles Aznavour, Shaifra Asma, Ann Marie de Montravel, Rose de Rescht, Baron Prevost, Frau Karl Durschki, Bonica, Gruss an Aachen and all the climbers except New Dawn seem untouched. Even the very hard to root City of York, only two inches high when I finally planted it last fall, made it through the winter. It had just one 1/4" root on it after 4 months of diligently struggling with it to get it to root. Finally I had no choice last fall but to plant it. It's growing beautifully now. Go figure. I'll have to let you know what I do now, but there's no question that New Dawn is dead. Oh, I am heartsick about this.
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2 comments:
So sorry to hear of the demise of your "New Dawn". From your photo, in her prime, she was a glorious bloomer... The own root variety may serve you better with stronger roots and not graft to worry over. I lost a beloved "Just Joey" hybrid tea this Spring, broke my heart to dig it up.....
I found your post while searching for a reason why my New Dawn died this spring. Like yours, it was a prolific beauty in the past - I've enjoyed it for many years. This week as I was visiting my garden "children" I wondered why there were no signs of growth. To my horror, branches snapped in my hand. I have no idea what happened - it was healthy just last summer. (My Garden is in PA)
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