Visit to Silkies

Glorious day so I choofed off down the highway to Silkies. I wanted to have a look at their roses and had a lovely chat with Diana. And whoohoo put in my orders for Firefighter, Valencia, Ashram and Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. I wanted to see Firefighter so she gave me a bloom, whose fragrance just about overpowered me on the drive home.Wow! Love, love, love it.
Also bought a Lowe anvil pruner, which I've been looking for for ages, while I was there. It's a ripper. So glad I went!

Such a friendly nursery Silkies, i have found , bought many roses off them , and Diana is lovely , last time i was there they had heaps of potted roses , how were they at this time of the year Silky and those pruners sound fantastic , are they better than Felcos's ?, i'll be interested in how you go with them ...

silkyfizz wrote:
Also bought a Lowe anvil pruner,

Are these the by-pass ones, silky?.....

Maree they had heaps of potted roses although many were sold out. (eg. Firefighter, Dame Elisabeth, Valencia wouldn't ya know?) Still I was able to see Valencia against Ashram using their standards, so I was happy. They look good together, almost a Byzantine effect.
Maree, I agree Silkies is very welcoming. Yes these pruners are easier on the hand than Felcos I think, smaller, but not cheap. I first saw them at the Werribee Rose Show when I was talking to Diana's husband who happened to be using them. Been looking for them ever since, had no idea they sold them! I'll let you know how I find them following the major prune.
I was going to order Soul Mate too but Diana thought there may be better options. It's not high priority. I remember there was a discussion here on the forum about it. If anyone out there has it, how have you found it?

Neptune, label just says small anvil pruner. I'm not sure what a bypass pruner looks like.

Okay, have read back over past threads re Soul Mate. Betsy, Marie and Roseman have this one so am interested as to what your verdict is now. Worth getting or give it a miss?

Bypass pruners...
 
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Anvil pruners.....
 
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Ah thanks Neptune. Anvil pruners it is then. These are much smaller than any pruner I've used previously, which have been the bypass design.

Silky, Soul Mate doesn't even figure in the power triumvirate you just ticked off - Firefighter, Valencia, Dame Elisabeth (no scent to speak of, but what a great rose). I have no experience of Ashram, but the reviews are great.

Back to Soul Mate: I'd say go for it, if you have ground room. Me, I'm not impressed with it for my purposes, ie the vase. The others on the list just knock it out of the ballpark.

I am getting severely selective this year, with a top quota of 24 plants. No so-so's, no long-term nursing, no what if I just add this or that. These creatures have to hold therir own at my rose dinner party;-))

Good feedback as usual Betsy. I always find your comments useful as I think we have similar tastes in our roses. Besides you always make me laugh!
24 roses? Wow! Are you going to share what these are?

Silky , i planted Soul Mate in my mums garden , i ran out of room here , its a nice rose , nice colour , unusual licorice /aniseed fragrance , healthy , would i plant it in my garden , mmmnnn  probably not , i like the more damask/traditional fragrances i think ..but other people might just love it ....

silkyfizz wrote:Ah thanks Neptune. Anvil pruners it is then. These are much smaller than any pruner I've used previously, which have been the bypass design.

Just a bit of information, silky.......

Anvil pruners actually crush the cane when cutting, while bypass actually cut the cane cleanly......

Silky and maree: Here are the roses I don't hate tonight: Firefighter, Valencia, Fragrant Cloud. That strange little Ebb Tide plant that's producing, too. Also teh boring but beautifully clothed Summer Memories...Sightsaver, maybe.

The rest are appalling. Love Potion just breaks my heart. Baronnes are virused and hateful.

The rest... lost interest.

My Butterfly Ginger is swoon stuff, though.

Silky here is a link to all the comments about Soul Mate. Mine is in a bed of "odd" yellows under/beside a large fig tree, as the fig hogs water it gets its own dripper line. It is sheltered from the sun, which in my opinion it likes, dappled to mid sun I reckon. Because of it's parentage, it will be a small floribunda, may reach medium, hope this helps.

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silkyfizz wrote:Okay, have read back over past threads re Soul Mate. Betsy, Marie and Roseman have this one so am interested as to what your verdict is now. Worth getting or give it a miss?

silky I also have soulmate , and I love it . fantastic colour and its not a big rose

Okay, roses i just love at the moment Camp David , i simply adore this rose , beautiful colour and fragrance , i want more of this rose , will probably remove a rose  just to have another one , PJP11 , this rose just keeps on going , and of course the amazing Fragrant Cloud , where oh where can i fit another of these in , i ask myself ....  interestingly my love affair with Baron de Rothschild has somewhat dimmed too ,which doesn't mean it isn't a good rose but  it does seem to succumb to b/s , i think i much prefer Olde Fragrance , different growth habit , similar colour but much healthier plant ..

I would love Olde Fragrance but she's a big girl. Is yours a standard Maree? Speaking of b/s, Barbra Streisand is looking very bedraggled at the moment, almost bare of leaves but I love her anyway, her blooms earlier in the season make up for it. I may not be so forgiving further down the track though. Still can't bring myself to yank out a rose. I'm hopeless.

Lol ha ha Silky , my roses have to perform , limited space here , although maybe now i shouldn't have binned Ebb Tide in disgust , after reading it takes 4-5 years to mature , maybe that should be on the product description .   Olde Fragrance way too big for a standard , have noticed though just in the last few weeks roses that hadn't succumbed to B/S suddenly have , but then i haven't been spraying regularly with Seasol , been busy tidying the garden up , i'm still thinking of Babs so its good you have her ...

I also have Soul Mate, what it lacks in height truly make up with its lovely semi gloss foliage, the most intense buttercup yellow blooms, the flowers last ages and when fading get a lovely pink edging. If I had room I would love to have a bed just made up with only Soul Mate.   

Thanks paul. I'm still undecided. One rose Diana at Silkies suggested as an alternative to Soul Mate was a nice yellow that fades to soft creamy apricot was Shooting Star (Tantau. Low growing shrub rose/HT, with supposed licorice type fragrance (although I couldn't smell much).

Silky have you thought about Cote d Azur by Delbard , its one that i have on order this year , its a fragrant yellow rose ...

Thanks Maree, yes I've been looking at that one as well. It sounds good, especially fragrance and size of blooms. I have a possible spot in front of 2 other yellows so I want a low growing plant that smells and looks good. If I put something there it might be tricky getting access to the others, but you know how it is, just one more. Lol
Delbards roses appeal to me and I seem to have a quite a collection of them now.

I agree Paul, I love Soul Mate