Tuesday, August 30, 2011

‘Perle d’Or’

Sadly, this lovely poly-tea (having one parent that was a polyantha and the other a Tea rose) from 1884 is one I dearly wish I could grow in my garden, but my soil is just not acidic enough to suit her. I don’t even have very many flower photos to show for the time she was here. You can see from the chlorotic leaves in the second photo that she was not happy or healthy, but her peachy-pink, strappy petals were so darling, growing in large clusters of small but numerous flowers. I was always thrilled to see her in bloom. If I were more dreamy-eyed about roses as I was early on, I’d be eager to try her again in a different spot. ‘Perle d’Or’ is an Earthkind Rose, so designated for her health and vigor with minimal human intervention. I understand she can grow into a 6x6 bush, but I suspect she can be kept smaller with no problems. I would encourage you to give her a try. She’s a sweetie.

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18 comments:

  1. Sherry, interesting how yours looks rather pinkish and mine was completely apricot. I didn't know Perle d'Or liked acid soil. It did really well in my decomposed granite and grew to be very large.

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  2. Very pretty. I love Roses but tend to keep the no fuss ones. :)
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  3. Perle d'Or is one of my very favorite roses, and I have mine planted in a very prominent spot on the side of my house. There's just something about those little apricot-colored bursts of petals that make me smile. Do you love Perle d'Or enough to baby her a bit?

    From your photo, yours looked very unhappy ... what is your pH? The mix in my pots is way too alkaline (Sunshine #4 is what my supplier had instead of my usual Promix) and I have been fighting chlorosis in some of the roses all year. (Tausendschoen was nearly white.) I have been treating the pots with sulfur, and watering with dilute Miracle Gro for Azaleas (same as Miracid), and things got better.

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  4. I had this rose for awhile and was sorry when she croaked on me. I love her delicate beauty and sweetness.

    FlowerLady

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  5. Ingrid, these pics were taken in June and September – hot months here and the blooms probably weren’t brand new so they were pinker, but I don’t think she was ever true apricot. Don’t know if chlorosis effects flower color.

    Connie, my native pH is in the low 7’s. PdO was located right at the edge of the amended bed that I expanded without further amending. I lost 2 azaleas on either side of her as well. I’m thinking other areas are definitely not as bad as that spot, but alas, as roses are aging and putting their roots deeper down, I’m afraid they’re ending up in the native ground – not good. Sulfur isn’t helping much for one rose (Bermuda’s Anna Olivier) next to PdO’s old spot. We will see.

    Sunray, “no fuss” is exactly what this rose can be called. For the Earthkind trials in Texas they don’t even feed or water them. My problem is the lousy soil I have. The horses like the limestone in our soil but some of the roses don’t.

    Too bad we have so much in common, FlowerLady. Maybe she’s worth a retry.

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  6. Sherry - I just came in from my daily walk around the garden, and Perle d'Or is looking so beautiful in my garden. She really is a source of joy this year. So sorry you didn't have good luck with her. Isn't it frustrating when something we want won't grow in our garden?

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  7. Sherry, is there a chance that something nasty has been buried in that spot before? I have a bad spot like that in the middle of my yard where no grass or weeds grow.

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  8. She looks like a cutie ~ ~ such a soft delicate pink. By the way, how was the cake?

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  9. Oh, HolleyGarden, I know she can be a beauty. Maybe someday.

    Amber, that area is within 10' of the curb, so it's either road bed or the native soil is just cement-like sand with lots of limestone rocks in it. Ugly stuff.

    Silly woman! Susan, I started to make it. Didn't have enough eggs, butter was frozen. Then upon closer inspection I didn't think the recipe was what I was looking for, so I went online, googled "creamy white cake", spent half an hour (or more) reading the reviews. By then I was exhausted. So my answer is "what cake?" I still have hope though, but don't be holding your breath.

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  10. PdO does very well here at the nursery, she is over 6 ft by 4 ft. Her color this morning is just about like your photos. Could be the heat this time of year. She is wonderfully "no fuss" for us and I believe there are a couple more left in the stock, large I noticed, if they don't go on Sat., then I'll trim them back. Wish I was closer, I would bring you some farm fresh eggs for that cake! There's your excuse, DH I'm dropping by the nursery to pick up some eggs for us~

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  11. Sherry, too bad that she didn't want to grow for you. I have heard that soil sulfur takes a while until it really becomes active. How much time did you give it to show an effect? I am treating my hydrangeas with soil sulfur to make them flower blue instead of pink and even after half a year I don't see any changes in the color of the flowers. It is also hard to determine how much soil sulfur you need to proper acidify the soil.
    Christina

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  12. Christina, it IS hard to know how much to use, but there are tables online that tell how much it takes to reduce pH. In fact, here’s a link I just found to an actual calculator: http://www.garden.org/calculators/?q=form&type=sulfur

    It takes a lot more than I was/am applying. I was being pretty stingy about it because I’ve read that “too much” is harmful to plants. I guess I’ll use more! Also, I’ve read that it’s aluminum sulfate that changes the color of hydrangeas. Here’s a good link: http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html

    One thing’s for sure. I’ll never get my pH down to 5.5. I’m doing good if it’s 6.8.
    Thanks for raising these points, Christina. I learned something!

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  13. I like that they seem to need little human intervention to thrive. They are beautiful.

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  14. Wondering gardener, I think this rose was almost the first one I fell in love with when I first started looking at OGR photos online. Those glamor shots are dangerous.
    Thanks for commenting. I enjoy hearing from you.

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  15. I wish there was more information about which roses really dislike alkaline soil! My Reine Des Violettes OBVIOUSLY did not like my garden soil. She's grown 3-4 times her size once I potted her up... within a few months, while in the alkaline ground, she didn't grow at all for 2 years.

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  16. I am so sorry it didn't do well for you... I add sulphur to the soil for my acidophile plants, and it works very well. Have you tried Rita Sammons and bush Cecile Brunner?

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