Autumn Delight

Well autumn is a delight around here. The pleasant weather lasts much longer than our short springs and the roses bloom into June. The liquidambers are just starting to turn.

And the Hybrid Musk "Autumn Delight" (Bentall 1933) is just that - a real delight in autumn. I first saw it at the rose gardens in Mildura and was smitten by the large trusses of heavily perfumed creamy-white flowers. Got a plant and it promptly grew smaller instead of bigger, so I ignored it for a few years. Yesterday I pulled it up - all 20 cm of it - and cut of a few lovely blooms to photograph. The rootstock looked dead BUT just above the union was a nice healthy root. So it's potted up and with a bit of TLC should recover. Proving yet again the value of planting below the graft.
Here's Autumn Delight to wish you a Happy Easter!
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It's really nice Dave... I think the HM are one of my favourite groups of roses!

I have had the same experience with AD. After about 8 yesrs it is a stick about 300mm high which gets a flower or two on it each year. Its in a spot that I don't need at present but its life span is limited.

Dave/Simon/Garry, do HM set hips.

Lots do Dave... some don't. I have one here called 'Pax' and it doesn't set hips for me (and is a known triploid). I have 'Cornelia' and 'Buff Beauty' and they do set large amounts of hips. 'Buff Beauty' is also a known triploid that has pretty good fertility. The only rose I want to buy this year is one called 'Trier'. It has been intrumental in breeding very large numbers of roses and is one of the better ones for the garden too. They tend to grow BIG but have a beautifil lax habit that builds up to a lovely soft informal shrub if allowed to grow unsupported. Supported they can often be grown as a climber. 'Pax' is a large shrub and 'Cornelia' is even bigger. A lot of them are multiflora based and get they growth habit from it too.

I bought Autumn Delight a long time ago from a grower up Bruce's way who was going out of business. The (autumn) flowers it had then sold me on buying it. But planted in cold Katoomba it was a waste of space. Hardly any spring flowers and most of the autumn buds were too late to flower year after year. I eventually pulled it. Your picture, Dave, almost tempts me to try again in Sydney.

Lovely photo, Dave.