The extraordinary silkiness of Monsieur Tiller

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


Monsieur Tiller, Tea
Planted 1 June 2012
Photos taken from 8 August 2012 and ongoing

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I can’t go past this rose without taking photos, and it’s near my front door, so I’ve got hundreds already and keep on taking more. No photo can do justice to the extraordinary silkiness of MT. Imagine a piece of pink silk at twilight, and that’s the sheen I’m getting here; in certain lights it appears metallic. I’m totally besotted with MT, even though it doesn’t have a very strong fragrance.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It’s a good lighter fragrance that travels; more warm and spicy than sweet, quite sharp at first close up, and there are no high notes that tickle. Sometimes it smells a bit like herbs, and I finally get what people mean when they say they can also detect freshly cut grass or hay at some stages. Some of my strongly fragrant roses still smell nice, giving me quarter strength fragrance when the sun disappears, but MT’s fragrance vanishes completely on cooler or cloudy days.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][img][/img]

Just beautiful Jackie. I love your description of silk at twilight - you've got a real way with words! And great skills at photography! Thank you for sharing Monsieur, he has made such growth already. I'm getting impatient for my roses to grow, grow, grow - but it continues to be cold, wet and miserable here in Melbourne. Spring is just around the corner and the sun can't come fast enough for me!
Can you describe how tall, wide and type of growth MT makes? I have read quite a lot about it but have never seen it in the flesh. When it gets warm I'm going to go out to Werribee to have a good look at the rose garden there to see all the beauties I've just seen in books and websites.

Jackie
MT is a great rose. Never have any problems with it. Thogh I hope you haven't planted it too close to the door as MT can grow quite large up our way.
With Teas always allow at least 50% more for growth in Qld.
Marie Van Houtte is sold as growing 1.2 -1.5 metres. Our old girl was up to 5 -6 metres across and 3 -4 metre high.

And they say you can't grow roses in SE Qld

Honey call Dave to bring over the backhoe and we will get rid of those darn roses and camellias and all the other stuff we have that doesn't grow here. Oh and ring the Palm Nursery and tell them to send over a couple of hundred to go with the Budda statue and Bali hut I ordered!!!

Well said Gary, I hope you have success with the Balineese theme

Well done Jac2, you are very observant and appear to be a keen student of nature. You mention things the average gardener would miss out on. Excellent growth in that short time.

Silkyfizz, I thought you might like MT, being quite silky yourself. I’m looking forward to seeing lots of photos of your roses, as soon as they start to bloom and hearing about their fragrance; and that must be soon with spring just around the corner. James burst into laughter when I told him I got a compliment for my photography skills. I’m only just in the process of learning how to use this camera and the other day took hundreds of photos, and they were all white. So thanks for the encouragement.

Very healthy and large and a prolific bloomer is the general description, as well as comments on the exciting colour, which is quite different from mine (see below). I didn’t find as much info on MT as on other rose, but comments were consistently positive. I took him, to hold true to my aim to have one of each of the main groups of roses to get some balance into my garden. In the end he was the only Tea on offer where I ordered; so that was a very lucky shot in the dark for me.

The MT you see in the photo is 60 cm tall x 80 cm wide, so he’s wider than tall. The dimensions I gathered from www varied quite a bit, but I only recorded the greatest, 105 to 200 x 120 cm, because I live in QLD where everything grows magically.
But wow, look at the dimensions Garry provided. If I was happy before, I’m ecstatic now. Hope so!

Garry, does your MT turn lighter and pinker over time as well? Lots of people say theirs turn darker and brick red as the blooms age, but mine do the opposite. Not that I complain one bit; just wondered, if there are a couple of different roses sold under MT, because the brick red comments are consistent.
Have you had any luck with propagating MT from cuttings? I think I need more of this.

David, there are lots more buds everywhere and roses are positively thriving here in Brisbane.

Ozeboy, your comments made me smile. I believe the good growth is in part due to our climate, but I also put a lot into building the soil and finally added well-rotted horse manure. After planting, I divided my compost bin among all roses and put a layer just on top, and then lots of leave mulch. I haven’t done a thing sine, except watering and spraying my home made bicarb soda solution, but have been getting lots of ideas, and will definitely start brewing some teas.

Jackie
Ours are turning a darker colour at present but when it is warmer they go a lighter colour.

If I rememebr correctly MT was voted (by rosarians all around the world) as the best performing tea. Probably overall the vote is correct but it would vary week to week for me.

Two metres probably tops off the height as they tend to spread more than go high. One of ours is now three separate plants. Its branches bent down and touched the ground and have taken root so you could say that the "one" plant is about 5-6 metres diameter and 2 metres high.

The lighter colour must be, b/c I have MT in direct sunlight all day long; I just love it. I’m not one bit surprised this rose has received high votes from rosarians everywhere, just surprised to see only two voters on HMF; usually if a rose is this good, I see lots more votes.
I left room for him, and he’s not right next to my front door, so the wider than high habit is fine, and will definitely peg this rose to get more.

Jackie I am definitely putting MT on my wishlist. I'm not usually a 'pink' rose sort of person, but this rose has me intrigued. Some pictures I have seen suggest nodding blooms (which I'm not a fan of, unless they're climbing) but your blooms seem to be on strong upstanding stems Jackie. I too am a great believer in soil health and encouraging beneficial insects, worms etc (except spiders - hate em!) so will also be using contents of my 2 compost bins on the roses, topped with lucerne. Also will be giving them some seamungus tucked in. Just hope the dogs don't start investigating, as they often do. I can't use Dynamic Lifter or blood and bone for that reason because then I'm just left with big holes!
In the meantime I'll just enjoy your pictures Jackie!

seamungus is good for wintertime between june and august...then the winter prune and after growth appears the sudden impact comes in if you are using that companys fertilizer...............this is where compost teas come in, because you can't OD rose bushes or any other bush/flowers with this...great for building up the soil microbes

Mmmnn i think i might have to plant a couple of teas , i'm being converted , MT , looks beautiful , really beautiful , any suggestions on a small medium sized tea in either pink or red , that is healthy , no spray , excuse my ignorance , know nothing about teas , thanks ....... Neptune , have always been going to have a worm farm , i think i better start one soon ..... Oh i forgot , fragrance , it has to have beautiful fragrance , i think i better start reading , thanks ......

Maree you don't need a worm farm to make tea........you can have a manure tea(worm/cow etc) or compost tea. The compost tea is just getting your best developed compost or buy some and turn that into a tea... you can have a compost tea one fortnight and a worm tea the next fortnight

Thanks Neptune , yes i do have a compost bin , i have seen this tea thing done on gardening Australia , just never ventured to do it ....

beautifull rose.. mine has few buds on it..

Silkyfizz, I’m not that into pink either and MT is actually a bit more watermelon here in direct sunlight with deep, deep intense raspberry pink buds. I was ready for brick-red over time and some of the photos I took on overcast days looked a bit redder than pink, but that was only because I don’t know how to use that camera just yet, and MT never looked like it in real life (so maybe some of the pictures we see on www …?). If that’s brick red there must have some funky looking houses somewhere.

The blooms definitely don’t nod here, and stayed nice and crispy from the day that photo was taken until yesterday, when I noticed a little dehydration around the centre petals whilst the outer, folded over petals stayed firm. Only today (14 August) did the petals fall, and they were still silky.
Will check out that Seamungus. There are not dogs here (so I won’t lead anybody into temptation) just the Catgirl. She helps me a lot in the garden (fertilising) and also in many other situations. E.g., if I ever post long lines of gibberish, that’s where she helped editing my text (or if I post something really stupid; that was also my cat).

Maree, I know nothing about Teas myself yet, but was going to suggest Comtesse de Labarathe (or The Shell Rose), which came so highly recommended to me, but that sounds a bit larger than you need. I’m very keen to plant one, and will definitely have more Teas and specifically more MTs. And there is that book ‘Tea Roses - Old Roses for Warm Gardens’, which also came recommended to me here. I googled it and it looks nice.

Hey, Jordan, it’ll be interesting to see, if your blooms turn brick-red in cooler Melbourne.

yes jac will see what turns out like in melbourne

Jackie, thanks for the feedback re blooms and colour of your MT. I really really want one now. It would go well right at the end of my garden where there is room and I can catch a glimpse from my kitchen window. It sounds like it would 'glow' there and not get lost in the distance like a red could. Are the roses suitable for cutting do you think? Not that I bring many inside, too busy admiring them on the bush. Still, if it blooms as well as I've heard, it would be nice to think they were cutting quality.
As I just posted on another thread, I have just borrowed ‘Tea Roses - Old Roses for Warm Gardens’ from the library, so am looking forward to learning about this group of roses, of which I am very ignorant. Jackie, while I have it, I'm happy to look up any descriptions of roses for you.
Your poor cat, blamed for so many indiscretions! LOL

Maree, good luck with your search for a smaller tea suitable for a suburban garden. Please let us know what you decide. It's hard isn't it to limit yourself when you have limited room? I know that feeling so well. I want a beautiful garden, with fragrance and lovely flowers, to enjoy, that transports me and soothes me and feeds my soul. Maybe I just need a few acres in the country and a bottomless bank account!

Jordan, I will be most interested to see how you find MT in Melbourne when it starts flowering, and how it compares to Jackie's.

Mmmnn Silkyfizz , i'd like to transport myself to a parallell world in Tasmania , away from nasty people and with a big garden and chooks , ahh , keep dreaming Maree , still got number three son at home and at Uni , my little suburban garden will have to do for now. If only i could convince my husband to let me dig up his patch of lawn ... Lol !! Thats what gardens are arn't they , soul food !!!

Yep, absolutely Maree, soul food! And I'm with you about Tassie, I'd love to live there, small property, couple of horses. I hate the cold though. Apparently gardening releases endorphins which makes us feel good. Better than a workout in the gym, as good as chocolate!

i will take a shot or two when my MT Has few flowers and u can be the judge sillky

Silky, normally I’d say ask some of the more experienced rosarians about good roses, but with Garry’s comments and MT being on rosarians’ top Tea list everywhere, it’s a pretty sure bet. In any case, you’ll also have the benefit of Jeff’s report before your next order.
I’m very excited again, because I finally got something red(ish) of MT after some very cold nights and cold windy days. The blooms that developed during the last week are still not quite brick-red, but what I call raspberry, like the deeper tightly closed buds. You can see how different the hue of the darker new flower in the foreground is to the older lighter bloom behind it.
I don’t equate the colour difference to fading, they still lighten a little overall when the petals unfold and let more light in, of course, but essentially the blooms retain their particular hue. I’m thinking maybe the colour is sensitive to temperature rather than light, and the reported “changes” from light to dark over time are really two different flowers that developed under different conditions. I have to add here that with the recent bully wind, later blooms do not display quite the same record staying power as the first, and have started to dehydrate a bit earlier.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


Thanks’ for offering help with checking out other Teas in your book; I’m not quite ready to look for new roses (too busy with following up on worm-farming and expanding my cottage garden border that has burst out of its seams), but you’ve given me a great idea, and I might secure a copy at my local library. My cat is blamed deservedly for many indiscretions.

Maree, be careful with chooks. I’ve wanted them for years and James would never agree, but with increased need for good fertiliser as well as eggs, I thought I might sneak a couple in when he’s not looking. So I spoke to somebody who keeps chooks about their care, and they’re totally incompatible with growing roses: they’ll dig up all your beds and eat all your seedlings and herbs, and fertilise your terrace as well as everywhere else; and they’ll fly over the fence and do it to your neighbours’ gardens, too. You can cut their wings, but they’ll get away anyway or you can build a tighter enclosure, but then you don’t have free range anymore. I changed my mind very quickly, about 5 minutes into the conversation.

James is cheering me on when I take more and more of the lawn: less for him to mow, and our lawn is not exactly a showpiece. I’m definitely a much easier person to be around when I have a garden, and he’s worked that out, too. He said to his mother, who carefully commented on the amount or roses that start appearing in our garden: they make her happy, they really make her happy; so I don’t care.

Chooks!! come in all types and sizes. There is a Chinese breed of bantam called Pekin Bantams. They were bred to eat insects in those beautiful Chinese Temple Gardens and not knock valuable plants around. They are classified as Ornamental Fowls and would be available from a fancier in your area.

Isa Browns are very industrius lay an egg a day and dig the hell out of gardens.

How many would I need to produce a reasonable amount of manure and eggs for a largish suburban yard and two-person household?