One type of rose I am addicted to is a 1970's Grandiflora...............but somehow this one and I never clicked. It began as a "florist" rose and was deemed garden worthy and actually it truly, truly is for it does quite "well" in the natural light and soil, is surprisingly hardy, reblooms well, decently disease resistant as measured against its peers. But, for me, never a "stand out" and odd that it got (1) Big Press on/near release and (2) was assigned the GR class which was, then, nearly a marketing death/second class designation. It ISN'T really a GR, either. It is a hybrid tea with too small a bloom, albeit often a perfectly shaped and heavily substanced bloom. I don't think I ever had one cluster on this one! But yes, the bloom, perfect though it may be, is small and perhaps seeing the promise in the form and substance as per exhibition, Meilland/Star decided on GR since it sure doesn't fit FL and HT, with the blooms so small, would take it off the blue ribbon circuit. And it sure DID and may STILL win those ribbons! And it remains rather available, too but for me, personally, not a stand-out. Want a landscape shrub with almost tiny, perfectly formed blooms? Track down Little Darling from 1956. Want a "GR" that fits no class but has a notable color? Try Prominent. Or try Aquarius which shares that "Not a FL but too small for an HT" trait(s) and has a more interesting color (for me). Or Love, now in some resurrection phase and available everywhere it seems and is red/white and now probably getting some appreciation at long last as it was seen as a near-clunker when released in 1980. Sonia is around, 40 years later, for a reason but has never appealed to me................
A teenage friend of mine just purchased a Sonia Rose and would like to know how it should be planted and maintained.
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#1 posted
13 MAY 03 by
Unregistered Guest
When I plant my roses, I use blood meal, cottonseed meal, epsom salts, manure (cow or sheep - I've used both) and peat moss. in an older This Old House magazine, they gave the proportions, but I believe it was about 2 C. cottonseed meal, 1 C. blood meal, oh, and bone meal (1 C.) and about 1/3 c. epsom salts. You mix that into equal amounts of dirt, compost (manure), and peat moss. Where do you live? iN the colder parts of the country, plant the rose deep, and mulch good for winter. I usually plant DEEP and have the dirt built up around the rose, forming a "moat". when I water, I fill the hole and it gradually seeps in. In the late fall, after a freeze, I fill the hole in, with the dirt from around the bush, so the area where the canes grow out of - the crown -is totally covered! I then put leaves all around. A friend puts wire or fabric around hers, and fills it up with dirt and leaves, so most of the plant is protected. That's alot of info, but if you have any questions, I'll try to help!! Paula
I've had Sonia now for 2 years in my Denver CO metro garden. Went through the winter like a champ, survived the extreme cold snap we had (5+ days of -20deg) with about 4" of mulch at the base & the budunion is buried about 4" below the ground level. Only thing is that it STINKS! My smells horribly of pepper, so I'm sorely disappointed in that! Otherwise, great soft pink that's always happy to be blooming!
I notice that Sonia is listed for zone 7b and warmer. We have had a grafted Sonia rose plant in our zone 5 (Sunset zone 2b), Northern Arizona garden for about 10 years. it is a generous bloomer and a vigorous grower. It suffers no extraordinary winter die-back. It is in a rather crowded, open bed of roses and miscellany. It is a charming rose. Sandra
