Even with the legion of negatives against this thing, out of probably fifty leaves on it, only three have any indication of black spot on them. NO mildew, NO rust and only three leaflets with spots on them. Not bad considering it is surrounded by rust, mildew and black spot! It isn’t growing, but it isn’t shrinking, either. Two whole flowers in three months and it is BUDDED. Thanks, Paul, these two plants are ones you budded for Burling. I’m going to see what Fortuniana does for it. Kim
Mine’s been on fortuniana for years. Works out great.
Love the color on her
That’s what’s kept this bitchy thing going for sixty-six years! It’s always different, and always the same. I would have loved to have grown the climbing sport. I had it in my hands from Gandy in the 80s. Unfortunately, they couldn’t read. All the imports were sent in May when our temps were over a hundred for most of the month. There is no way to bring thirty imported bare roots out of dormancy in that kind of heat and sun. Made me sick.
It IS amazingly healthy. It just won’t grow much no matter whose roots are under it. I’ve honestly had a three foot can develop, break into a dozen magnificent flowers then die to the root. Only Fantan is more suicidal.
If you plan to grow ‘Grey Pearl’ for years on end, then you have to learn to do your own budding, because you will need to keep a continuous supply of new budded plants coming, to replace the older ones as they die. And yes, they WILL die. Every single plant of ‘Grey Pearl’ I have ever grown has died after a maximum of five or six years. By year three you start to see a lot of older wood dying badly, and by year five, it just never wakes up, or is down to one measly cane. When it is good, it can be amazing, but I tell ya, I get real tired of having to bud it anew every other year, to keep a supply of new ones coming. I wish it was possible to cultivate a plant of it long term, and have it actually gain in health as it ages. sigh
Alas, it is what it is!
I think it likes the climate here. I’ve never had a problem with it dying.
I’ve had the budded one now close to 10 years and it just keeps plugging along. I never do a thing to it but take a photo once in awhile.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone mention St. Exupery when discussing mauve/purple roses. I’ve had one something over 30 years. It gets BS like the worst I’ve seen, but is reasonably winter hardy when covered with leaves and snow in winter. Flowers can be magnificent with right temperatures, tending to pinkish in high heat. Easy to propagate from cuttings. The photos on HMF are true to color and show the large size. Has very abundant pollen but I’ve never tested it either direction.
Rob, or others, let me know if you’re interested.
ldavis at ksu dot edu
Stark Brothers, the fruit people who succeeded Luther Burbank’s fruit distribution, was the only source for this in the early 80s when I bought it. At that time, it didn’t even exist at Vintage. In the hotter areas, it grew well and flowered OK, though the blooms didn’t last well in the heat. It had more fragrance than as described.
‘St Exupery’ did fine here too. As Kim mentions it didn’t like high heat. It was fine in Winter.
Btw, I went out earlier and noted an OP hip on ‘Grey Pearl’. I’ll try to get a photo and post it to HMF.
What about ‘Vol de Nuit’, one of 'Saint Exupery’s offspring. Has descendants (all Australian) but I’m not familiar with any of them.
Vol de Nuit and Crepe de Chine were heralded as being so fragrant and maintaining that fragrance upon drying they were supposedly great for potpourri. It black spotted quite badly for me and the flowers most often balled. I didn’t grow Crepe de Chine.
Yeah, I imagine it’d like any climate similar to where Rosa foetida is native.