Well, I’ve been trying to grow some Modern Mosses. I don’t know why, but they seem to hate it here.
I have a five-year-old Cee Dee Moss that’s never gotten more than 6 inches tall. A friend of mine’s is 4 feet! My Mel Hulse proliferated something fierce, then just plain upped and died. Only the minis seem to be happy…
Once-blooming mosses, on the other hand, grow fabulously.
All the roses here are treated alike, and everything seems to grow happily with the exception of this entire class of roses. (And rugosas, they don’t seem to want to thrive.)
Any ideas?
Mel Hulse will proliferate in weather that’s warm, then cold, warm and cold again. But once the weather stablizes, then you shouldn’t have any problem.
Why not grow the older mosses?
I have had Scarlet Moss and Rose Gilardi forever. The act like pernnials – nearly carefree and of identical size in the beds year after year.
I don’t know about the mosses but I would say that maybe your problem with the rugosas is the alkaline soils around here.
Paul,
Haven’t tried Scarlet Moss, but it’s something worth looking into.
Enrique,
I do grow older mosses–breed them, too. Trouble was, I miss Mel (the man, not the rose), and really wanted to grow Mel Hulse here.
Jadae,
Rose Gilardi does well here, even though I’ve got it in a less-than-salutory place. May try breeding from it this year.
Adam,
Yeah, the alkaline soils are a nightmare here. I’d love to grow Hansa but it just won’t do a thing. On the other hand, Fimbriata, which I thought hadn’t overwintered, is growing up just fine.
Roses… oy…