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We export rose trees to Ibiza
Mattock’s Ibiza Rose Trials
and Drought Tolerant Rose Varieties
Significant
signs of Climate change and Global warming first came to our notice during
the early 1990s. In particular we began to see a reduction in the volume of
heating fuel we were using to heat the glasshouses we use for forcing roses
for Chelsea Flower Show. Back then we potted on rose trees destined for
Chelsea starting at the beginning of November and we switched on the heat
the week before Christmas.
Fifteen years later in 2009 we start potting in mid January and we
are using almost no heat and no fuel at all. More and more we are having to
hold plants back rather than bring them on so as to have them in flower for
that all important day of judgement the last Monday of May. That is when
the Royal Horticultural Society passes judgement on the exhibits at its prestigious
flower show.
Conscious
that we needed to be prepared for a long-term change in the conditions
under which plants were to be grown in the United Kingdom we commenced
putting rose varieties on trial on the Bonet’s small finca in Santa Innes on the Mediterranean
island of Ibiza. The island is particularly dry with temperatures rising to
25°C and above during July, August and September.
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Ibiza weather facts
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Rainfall (mm)
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36
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36
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25
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15
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05
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03
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00
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00
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08
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18
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38
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58
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Rainfall (inches)
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1.38
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1.41
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1.09
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0.59
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0.21
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0.03
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0.01
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1.04
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0.21
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0.7
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1.08
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1.72
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Min Temp (°C)
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15
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15
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16
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16
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16
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18
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20
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21
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21
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20
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18
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17
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Max Temp (°C)
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21
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21
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23
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22
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23
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25
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27
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28
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27
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26
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23
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22
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Min Temp (°F)
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59
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59
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60
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61
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62
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66
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68
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70
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69
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68
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65
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61
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Max Temp (°F)
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70
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70
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74
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72
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74
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77
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81
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83
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83
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79
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76
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72
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Under the sunsets, in among
the figs, the grapefruit and the onions on Toni and Antonia’s finca
we have been growing climbing and shrubs roses in trials since the mid
nineteen nineties.
Plants having been grown
under the’ Robert Mattock regime (described in detail on our web site
under “Roses Grown in Pots”) were shipped from Oxford and planted
during late November. The soil had been previously ploughed and rotovated;
holes were dug and the bare-root, root -pruned plants let into the holes
with a couple of handfuls of local proprietary compost. The plants were
heeled in and watered once only. No further irrigation was employed. Straw
mulch was employed each summer.
The results have been
illuminating to say the least. One might have expected the large flowered
hybrids to have suffered but we had held high hopes for the Tea roses,
particularly those bred from the tough Gloire de Dijon.
The climbing polyantha rose
‘Phylis Bide’ has proven to be the trial winner and one has to
wonder why? Although this is a very English rose bred by Bide in Farnham
1923 it is a cross between roses from sunnier climates, the parentage being
Perle D’Or (Polyantha x Tea Rose and Gloire de Dijon (Tea x Bourbon).
Interesting is the success of
the climber Dreaming Spires (Arthur Bell seedling x Allgold). Is the
success down to the robust under all conditions R. eglanteria which is in the parentage of Arthur Bell? An
examination of the table below indicates that drought and sun tolerance in
the parentage is the key factor for success.
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Drought Tolerant Climbers
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Drought Tolerant Shrubs
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Drought Tolerant Rose Species
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American Pillar
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Anne Aberconway
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Ramblers/Scramblers
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Chaplins Pink
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Fimbriata
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R. banksiae ‘Lutea’
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Crimson Conquest
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Frau Dagmar Hastrup
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R. multiflora
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Dorothy Perkins
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Hansa
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Shrubs
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Dreaming Spires
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Hunter
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R. foetida bicolour
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Dr. van Fleet
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Penelope
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R foetida
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Gardenia
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Rosearaie de L'Hay
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R. harison ’Harison’s Yellow’
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Mme. Alfred Carriere
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Scabrosa
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R. hemispherica
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Mme. Gregoire Staechelin
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Scheneezverg
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R. nitida
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New Dawn
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Tynwald
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R. rugosa Alba
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Paul Transon
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R. rugosa Rubra
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Phylis Bide
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R. spinosissima
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Sanders White
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R. spinosissima ‘Grandiflora’
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Sombreuil
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R. eglanteria
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Root Growth
The directors of the rose
trials ….
Antonia
Impact of Climate Change on Gardens in the UK
Garden management in a warmer world is
presenting a range of challenges and opportunities.
The impact of climate change in the UK
is leading to reduced frosts; an earlier spring, higher average
temperatures all year round, increased winter rainfall, leading to risk
from flooding and hotter, drier summers, increasing risk of drought.
The existence of the traditional English
country garden, parks, cricket pitches and bowling green’s will all
be threatened by summer water shortages.
In the UK, in the next 50 to 80 years,
the British lawn will be particularly affected and become increasingly
difficult and costly to maintain. Some traditional garden features may have
to be replaced by new ones, more suited to changing conditions. For the
professional gardener, the greatest challenge will be the long-term care of
historic layouts, plant collections and planting effects, originally
developed in climatic conditions that no longer exist.
However, there is an upside. Gardens
plants grow in very favourable conditions. They are usually propagated in
controlled conditions, planted into carefully prepared ground and protected
from pest and diseases and competing plants. Thus the elasticity of the
human response to climate change is very much greater than in nature.
Whilst the principal factors determining
climate change impacts on gardens are plant tolerance and water
availability (plus additional management costs such as irrigation) at the
same time there are new opportunities for gardeners to grow a wider range
of plants. Climate change is also releasing the potential for developing
the search for new species and varieties.
Export
of Roses to Ibiza
Deliveries run from Oxfordshire to Ibiza
every fortnight. The price of plants is as per those on our web page
‘The List’. Payment may be made on Ibiza. The cost of delivery
varies in terms of the number of plants ordered.
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