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'White Ensign' rose Reviews & Comments
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I'm curious to know if 'White Ensign' sets hips. Could anyone here who grows or grew it please comment on this?
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None on my small plant. None that I can see on photos recently taken by ozoldroser of a big plant at Renmark.
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#2 of 6 posted
25 MAY by
 HubertG
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Thanks Margaret. I couldn't see any hips showing in any of the photos here, and there are plenty of flowers that could be fertilised. I was thinking it might be triploid given its introduction as a Hybrid Tea but as a reputed seedling from 'Niphetos'. George Knight thought of it as a Tea in his 1931 reference and as the foundling "Monty's White Tea" it was obviously thought to be a Tea. Perhaps its parentage is actually more complicated than a simple T x HT but in any case it probably isn't a standard diploid Tea or tetraploid HT.
Givemecaffeine's photos show it flowering with good growth in winter too. I think I'll be ordering this rose to replace my lost 'Marie Lambert'. Thankfully it's still commercially available.
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It's a terrific rose.
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#4 of 6 posted
16 AUG by
HubertG
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I wouldn't be surprised if one of the parents is 'Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria'. I can see similarities in the flower form, bud, habit etc.
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My untrimmed old plant hasn't set any hips to date, HubertG
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#6 of 6 posted
16 AUG by
HubertG
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Thank you for that, Billy. I suspect it does have a funny ploidy that makes it not produce hips, possibly being a T x (T x HT), or something like that. I wonder if the pollen is fertile though. I've ordered a plant of it and it should be coming very soon. I'm rather excited because it does look like, as Margaret says, a terrific rose.
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Updated information:
I think this rose may require more cosseting than I'm prepared to give it.
Foliage cover is not great. Can lose a lot of leaves at time.
Bush form isn't that wonderful either. It seems to straggle a bit.
I'm prepared to prune for overall size, but really am not into constantly pruning for form.
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This rose is getting small amounts of blackspot now that spring has hit. Given the warmth and humidity lately I'm not exactly flabbergasted by this.
So far it's not bad enough to bother anyone bar the perfectionists. Overall the bush still looks good, and has plenty of healthy growth, so I'm not losing any sleep over it.
Has not been sprayed since it got here, and doesn't seem to need it. Then again, I've said similar things about other roses which later turned into a hopeless mess, so at this stage White Ensign's approval rating has to be provisional. Nevertheless, it is still looking like a winner.
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Put a couple more photos up. The blooms appear to be very slow to open once the buds are developed, but look good at all stages. Creamy tones are visible in the centre in #286520, even though they weren't evident before (see same bloom in #286251).
It seems the buds start out creamy, lose that and turn white on the outside once the sepals peel back and the petals begin to unfurl, but the creamy tones are kept in the centre of the bud and become visible later.
There's not a lot of scent, but what's there is pleasant enough. It's the simple fruity Tea shared by a lot of roses*, with no special distinguishing notes. Strength is light to moderate (at best). A sniff won't be totally disappointing, but you'd basically grow this one for looks.
*A lot like Meilland's 'Peace', in type and strength.
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