How are the Soul Mate roses going ?

Hi Betsy and Roseman , i think you have Julia Child / Soul Mate , hows it going ? i'd like to plant a yellow next year so am keeping my eye on how yours is going , especially for fragrance and BS ...... thanks

Maree,mine is in the ground, as I am a long way off a flower, I will not answer just yet, I have a commitment to report on it, this will be ongoing. It arrived here in what i call early/mid spring. I guess it is still settling in.

Thanks Roseman , i emailed Swanes about a standard for next year , Finbaar said they would probably do a few and to contact him next year , but before i commit to a standard want to make sure it is a good rose , look forward to the updates thanks ......

The thing you are asking is the We/I won't know for at least this growing Summer. We/I can't determine the plant yet. If it is something you want I would try to envisage all the growing conditions as a standard, as a standard that might be totally different to a bush form of it.

There's no such thing as Blackspot at Mudgee, it's a grape growing district.
I have given Roseman some of the worst roses for Blackspot here and later on Roseman claims they are clean up there.

This shot was taken yesterday. As you can see the foliage is glossy and clean. The flower holds well. Fragrance is still hard to distinguish. I still this rose is going to be a compact shrub.
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The grass in the photo comes free.

Well, mine is looking very like yours, except a trifle spotty around teh lowest leaves. Then again, everything here looks thataht way, post-deluge and with current high humidity. Not a big worry with SM/JC, though - unlike my brand new , and formerly beautiful Love Potion - the first and only rose this year to totally defoliate, and turn into twigs in a pot. Now THAT one has disappoinetd me.

Back to the little yellow. Have you tried taking a flower inside? I can detect some scent after it sits in a bud vase for a day. The scent pulses, is not enduring yet.

You haven't sprayed this one , have you, David?

When we finally do our Swane's pilgrimage, I will take as many pix as I can of their SM stock.

I have one , its a very healthy plant , but alas i cannot detect a fragrance at all , lovely little plant though , nice colour , blooms tend to fade in our hot summer sun too ....

This year I have noticed for the first time that almost all my roses smell much stronger inside, in an air conditioned room. Funny, I never did twig to that before. Last year;s summer was much cooler, but in this year's extended super-heat, the distinction between scent outside and scent inside is really marked,

Quote from Betsy, You haven't sprayed this one , have you, David?
To be honest none of my roses get sprayed.

My kinda guy

Here's my first-season recommendation on SM/JC:

This one is going to be a winner. Eventually.

If I were Swane's customer service people at the nursery, and someone who was new to roses looked at this one, I would tell them straight out: you need patience.

I wouldn't push Sm?JC on a novice, because they will probably want fast results in their first outing with rosa. If colour is not an issue, I'd point them in the direction of PJPII. A bullet proof rose witgh scent and a great shape, and who hates white?

Here's a friend's Swane's PJPII, grown in a pot for two years and never sprayed. No bs, blooming its head off, beautifully clothed. His Holiness is pretty heavenly, eh?

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and barely a month after an emergency post-43o heatwave prune by 1/3, His Holiness responded like this (taken last week) ;-)

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very healthy

PJP11 has proven to be a really good rose. Unfortuatly the Hibiscus Beetles like it a lot better than other coloured roses. 'Crystalline' is a recent white addittion now in it's second season here. The beetles don't seem as attracted, I have found it very healthy, I'm impressed.

'Soul Mate' may be the first healthy yellow to be bred but I'm sitting on the fence watching as I'm not an impulse buyer. There are other yellows around that have caught my eye, those being, 'Fresia'
'Midus Touch', 'Kings Ransom', 'Holtermans Gold', 'Helmut Schmidt'.
All these have spent a lot of years growing here with me. Unfortunatly yellows are mostly unhealthy. Pink is on the top of the health list though I would place yellow on the bottom.
Should anyone living on the coast between Berry and Bundaberg give it a five star health rating while not spraying then it may be for me. Please respond anyone fitting this description.

Always the pessimist, not the optimist, Bruce, have you been over to Dural and had a look at Soul Mate.

No David I haven't but will check it out before the season finishes.
Swanes have their roses planted in blocks of 12 or whatever quantity to show them to their best ability. They are pruned throughout the season to have blooms over easter and other holidays when nursery traffic is greatest. They are subject to consistant spraying to show the roses at their best. These are all best practices for anyone in that type of business. Swanes are to be congratulated for what they do and the roses they import. I'm delighted with 'Home Run' and other roses purchased from them which numbers possibly over 100.
I want to make it quite clear I'm not associated with them for hand outs and free samples so can tell it as it is warts and all. We don't want this forum to turn into a sales vehicle for any nursery. Should that happen it would be time to pack up and leave biased opinions to others.

David please read my post regards hearing from anyone growing 'Soul Mate' on the East Coast between Berry and Bundaberg in a no spray garden.
I'm pretty sure management at Swanes would like this information also.

I have read it Bruce and I think at the present time Betsy is the only member with it as it was one of there soft release roses last Spring.
It would be interesting to see if it needs spraying at Dural. When Betsy goes there we might get her to be a detective and ask some questions in relation to it.
As for a sales vehicle for any nursery, IMO we are not, we give credit to any nursery we are happy with and also vice versa if we are not happy

Look forward to Betsy's comments, though you should realise it is a commercial nursery doing everything to keep roses looking their best.
This includes constant spraying and pruning for best appearence and blooms. I drive past at least twice a week so can see them at their best and worst. I'll look at them over Easter and after that flush which shows a truer picture of their health statis.

It would be nice for Swanes customers to have 3 roses at the back of each group to leave, no pruning or spraying at all. I'd be very interested in number of hips and how well these develope, apples or peas?

As I mentioned further up this thread, I'll be taking many pix of SM/JC at Swanes - knowing full well that these specimens are groomed and sprayed for public view, but still ..

Maree has one, too, so there are at least three of us here who are trialling Sm/JC, under three different sets of conditions, I believe.

If ypu give me your questions ahead of time, I will seek the answers from anyone at Swane's who will speak to me ;-)))

Betsy, Ozeboy(Bruce) only lives around the corner, he could take his questions on the day you end up going.

Super!

Soulmate down here in Melbourne has been subjected to some pretty harsh conditions , as i intended it too , its still in its original pot , i have been watering it twice a day and it looks healthy ,blooms have been good , but they do tend to fade to white and as i'm a absolute perfume tragic , it just hasn't cut it in that area yet , but it is a young plant yet , it will be interesting to see it in 12 months time . I must say i appreciate Finbaars input here , its good that another rose grower takes the time to add some advice on this forum . I don't feel as though just because he does this that i am swayed to buy Swanes roses , i buy from who has the roses i want and my past experiences with them over the years . It would be nice if more of the big growers popped in , i did ask Magic , but so far they might have had a look but haven't commented .....

Maree, I would suggest deep watering to encourage roots to go deep when planted in the ground. Watering your potted 'Soul Mate' twice a day is the best way during these very hot condittions.
However having it in the original pot is no way to guage the roses real performance. If unable to plant in the ground then find the largest pot that fits your situation, an 18" to 24" pot would be very suitable.

I don't like being personal for various reasons but Finnbars conduct on the forum has been first class. It's usually others trying to be too chummy that creates a problem. Always nice to know what the importers are up to and what is coming from overseas. Would appear breeders ar trying to address health in roses for that's one of the main reasons for their decline in gardens.

For a pot size, 14" is plenty at this stage of SM's young life. In fact, 12" is enough. Take my word for this, all you inground gardeners: I have roses in pots of all sizes, from :12" to 29", and the young roses do better in smaller conditions, providing the pot is deeper than wide.

In fact, the best growing container in my experience for new roses, regardless of their eventual size, are those 12" x 14" flat bottomed soft black plastic sleeves/bags that young shrubs and trees come in when you buy them from a nursery.

I wish I had a million of these things, beacuse all the news roses absolutely revel in them. Don't know why, maybe the dark colour and the super drainage, but these plain-as-poop things are preferred 100-to-1 over my expensive pots, at least in the earl years. Size of the rose doesn;t matter. Too bad they are so undecorative.

Thanks guys , yes i will certainly repot SM , have been waiting for some cooler weather , it has been hot for ages down here although today is cooler , thank heavens , not planting it in the ground until i see how it performs perfume wise , thanks for advice ....