Magic Garden Roses

Jardins de Bagatelle - okay, I need another pair of these. Thanks for the reminder. I think MG is one of the few remianing stockists of this beautifully perfumed creature.

Have you tried Best friend yet, maree? Has all the attributes that you like. I had one, and it was divine. I didn't give it proper care, and it failed to thrive (entirely MY fault)

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE , I DID IT , I POSTED SOME PICS , YAHOO !!!!!! LOL !!! Hi Betsy , i fell in love with Jardins , such a beautiful rose . Best Friend yes a great rose , really liked it , unfortunately i shifted it and it failed to thrive after that , great fragrance ....

Is this all your own work, maree? Well, a big BRAVO BRAVISSIMA to you!

That Jardins looks very blushed all over. Does your camera throw to the warm colours? Mine can turn every red and pink into fluoro. The decidedly white roses in my avatar are JdB (and, as it happens, they're from magic Gardens)

ALSO: How were the MG Fragrant Clouds looking to you?

Patrick , posted the photos that are close together , i posted the spacey ones . You are right Betsy Jardins wasn't as pink as that , my camera has brought out more pink in it , thats one rose i'm having , love it . Fragrant Cloud was in the planted stock /display garden , it looked healthy amongst trying conditions , with no rain . I have emailed Magic asking about roses for 2013 , and asked if they are interested in popping into a rose forum , haven't heard back yet .

Well done Maree! Great work! Gee that Jardin looks sumptuous, haven't got it on the list, maybe I should put it on. Fragrant Cloud sounds like one tough rose, so glad I bought 2, love, love, love it. Queen Adelaide ruffly petals do for me, she's on the list, beautiful. Looking again at Best Friend.
They all look so healthy.

Maree, how would Best Friend colour wise with Parole? Would they be compatible do you think? Hard to tell with with photos to gauge right tones. I know bright pinks can be tricky?

Silky , Best Friend is a deep bright pink , they would probably be okay if you had a softening colour in between , maybe a mauve or soft pink or white , i think . I stand back and look at the beds for colours and change my mind endlessly lol , what fun hey !!!! What does everyone else think ?

Parole + Best Friend = Frightening ;-))))) They share some colour characteristics, just enough to make each other look like mistakes. Don't trust BF to stay bright pink, either - it "muddies' into a mauve pretty fast Below are samples of two of my old BF flowers in first and second stage..
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Now that's what I call a colour change! Thanks for the heads up Betsy. This is why I really like to see the roses in real life, photos can be deceptive eh? What would you suggest as rose companions for Best Friend?
BTW Just found out Best Friend"s association with RSPCA - our pets are our best friends. Just another reason why this might be nice in my garden, my life would be so very much poorer without my dogs.

A dark red or dark wine coloured rose would be my suggestion silky. IF you decide to get BF. I couldn't get it to thrive, and now maree says the same thing. Too bad - the first blooms were beautiful and so fragrant. Then..... nothing much. You have to wonder.....

Hmmm, doesn't sound good. I won't get too excited then.

I encourage you to get excited about the exquisite and exquisitely perfumed JdB, then. If you're going to MG, you can pick up one there. Leave some for me to buy bareroot this year, though ;-))))) The two I have from MG are just wonderful creatures. Not many places sell it - in fact, I think MG is the only big grower that does, but I could be wrong.

Gee, I am beginning to sound as if I'm on the MG payroll. Only wish ...

OK Betsy, you've convinced me. Have heard so many good things about this rose, looks like it's going onto the list. Just don't know what to put it with... is it too creamy to go in my bed of reds? Better with Parole?
Suggestions please.

Got any yellows? Pale pinks? The paler, the better. Teamed with dark and forceful colours, she and her companions tend to look like the assortment you find in a bucket at the supermarket.

Edit: No messing around here: she goes wonderfully well with yellows, creams, other purer whites, palest possible pinks. That would be ideal. IMO only

Edit again: And soft apricots.

Ok, I see she needs subtle. I already have enough yellows and no room there.
Hmmm, design problems ahead. That might mean a whole new 'pale' bed. Jardins, Children's rose, Gemini, Warm Wishes, Professor Sieber, PJPII.
What do you think? Any other suggestions ? Maybe Abraham Darby ?(shape of plants may not fit together).

Exactly you have it, silky. Subtle, elegant, Audrey Hepburn. Remember that she is not a tall gangly thing, so front of house is good. Can't see her with Children's Rose because of height. Or Abe Darby. Others you mention might be good. Don't know Prof Sieber.

Or maybe you don't need her at all. She's a special rose, sophisticated, lovely and gentle. Like you.

But maybe not like her rosebed mates of possibility. ;-)))))

Oh Betsy, what a compliment you've paid me, thank you. Don't know how true it is, but I'll take it . Lol
I'm just thinking possibilities now. Can you tell me what rosebed mates you have her with?

I have her with Valencia at the back. Val is too tall to to be a side-by-side, but they are happy as front and back roses. Maybe soon to join with Margaret Merril, Young Lycidas. poss Baronne Ed de Rothschild, which is a calm and steady dusy watermelon colour.

Honestly, though, I would have JdB ith just Val and another white, or solo, as the best poss combination. Other roses should slot in to suit her, not vice versa.


Edit: Do you a have a neyron pink/white yellow rose?

Oh what the hay, silky, just get her , pot her up, and move her around until you are happy. . She loves being in a pot ;-)))

Edit again: Please always to remember that, apart from my Fat Ladies Overdressed and Doused With Perfume, I grow roses for the vase, not for enduring garden design.

JdB has always been a vase girl. She sorta qualifies as a Fat Lady, but imperfect in that role,so yeah, I grow her mostly for the vase

Thanks Betsy, you've been so helpful. Yes I tend to forget you grow roses mainly for the vase, unlike me. I've now got visions of JdB whirling in my head. I'm thinking she might look nice against the green elegance of a low box hedge. When you say she's imperfect as a fat lady, why is that? I haven't actually seen her so am unfamiliar with shape, form etc.