Truly wonderful. Rather small blooms but so many of them and often when other bushes have no blooms for a bouquet. My large bush has now made a lot of dead twiggy material and there is varying advice on whether to leave it or remove it. The dead stuff doesn’t look too good and I can’t do anything about it right now (too busy watering to keep them all alive) but I think I will have to clean it up eventually.
Maybe wait until the dead sticks can be broken, so no scissors are needed and no new wounds are made. But when You think of a disease, maybe earlier and cleaning + sterilizing the tools afterwards.
I think the description "Does not do well in warmer climates" must apply only to foggy / soggy ones. It is clean in my mediterranean climate (rain mainly in winter).
A rosarian friend has alerted me to the fact that the rose we all grow as ‘Mme. Berkeley’ may not be the original rose. Some of the early references say:
1903 huge shell-shaped petals, semi-double, and upright. 1906 erect habit 1910 good seed bearing kind 1922 (bloom) very large None of those things apply to the rose I grow.
I believe we should separate this file into pre 1970’s for the original ‘Mme. Berkeley’ post 1970s when Arthur Wyatt found and reintroduced his foundling - ‘Mme. Berkeley in commerce as.
Hello Pat Just a note on my experience with this rose Vigorous upright growth Produces viable seed but not many (I started a couple of seedlings but they died) Blooms can be large but normally average size Never Semi-double
Thanks John, I am going to separate this file as mentioned in my initial comment, hopefully tomorrow. If your seed at least sprouted, then it has to be a different rose to the "Mme. Berkeley in commerce as". Would it help others to know the provenance of your rose? Do you have any photos?
