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'Gentle Hermione' rose Reviews & Comments
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I bought this as a big bush with loads of fragrant blossoms and planted it in a good location, giving it standard rose loving care ( rose soil from a bag, rose fertilizers, etc). It looked healthy but didn't grow or do anything for months. Finally, contrary to advice I put some liquid acid fertilizer on it and it grew right away with many small buds on it. We have hard water and my guess is that the soil became too alkaline for it. I read that alkaline soils can " lock up" nutrients so they can't act. Someone wrote somewhere that David Austin roses like soil a little more acid than a person might expect. I wasn't going to use acid fertilizer again unless it stops growing in spite of kind care. The David Austin rep. said that hard water doesn't make a difference but she's in Texas and I'm in Calif.
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In treating tap water, municipals add calcium hydroxide, which is EXTREMELY ALKALINE. Calcium hydroxide is unstable and binds with potassium, phosphorus, trace elements .. making these elements less available to plants. Thus SOLUBLE FERTILIZER, with acid & nutrients are readily assimilated by plants.
I have hard-well water, and even SOLUBLE fertilizer can't dissolve in my tap-water, I have to add a bit of vinegar. When soil is hardened with high pH tap-water, minerals are locked up.
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I have this own root and it hates alkaline water or soil. Very yellow leaves, put acidifier on her and she is much happier. She's a pretty good back up, but small because the alkaline issue.
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Initial post
12 MAY 19 by
kgs
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Planted Gentle Hermione in late winter 2018 (Sonoma County, CA) and it had limited production last year. No disease, but just very slow to grow or bloom. This year it is apparently going to be the last to bloom, and that includes roses I bought and planted this year, such as Pinkerbelle, Grande Dame, Sheila's Perfume, Dee-Lish, and Princesse Caroline de Monaco, or two roses I moved in late winter (Easy Spirit and Violet's Pride). After soil-testing, I adjusted the soil for all existing and of course new plants, and two other DAs, Munstead Wood and Carding Mill, have responded enthusiastically. GH, you are on borrowed time!
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David Austin Roses lists Gentle Hermione as Zone 4.
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Thank you. Zone changed from 6b to 4b.
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Initial post
18 JUN 15 by
Hovman
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winter hardy in Toronto
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Good to know; a very simple detail that is immensely useful to our HMF community. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.
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Glad to hear it! Got this one by mistake (mislabel) but it's lovely!
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