I have a little 4" band with Mutabilis that I got for free. I'm thinking I'll plant her by herself in a lawn area of the property (no gardens there) as a specimen in a sunny spot in front of a property line wood fence. she's such a large bush, so how far from front to back should i dig the little hole? Naturally i want to dig it kind of close to the fence, but i think here in zone 8b/9 she will get pretty big. And I'm feeling lazy so don't feel like clearing lots of grass in between her and the fence. (The further from the fence i plant her, the more grass i have to pull up : /

I know i know, I'll do it right ; )

Put cardboard over the grass and you won't have to dig it up. Put mulch on top of that to hold it in place.

I saw a Mutabilis in public rose garden here in Zone 9 that was 8 ft. tall and probably 4-5 feet wide (at least how I remember it), against a fence, but it would take years for a 4' band to grow that big. That's probably over 20 years of growth from when the Rose Garden was first established, and the rose plant may have been larger than a 4' band to begin with. But who knows.

reh0622 said:I saw a Mutabilis in public rose garden here in Zone 9 that was 8 ft. tall and probably 4-5 feet wide (at least how I remember it), against a fence, but it would take years for a 4' band to grow that big. That's probably over 20 years of growth from when the Rose Garden was first established, and the rose plant may have been larger than a 4' band to begin with. But who knows.

I don't know. These roses go crazy down here. This climbing souvenir de la malmaison is Only 2 years old. She was shipped to me in a 2.5 quart pot. This is her 3rd spring in the ground. And these pics don't show a 10 foot lateral that shoots across to the left with blooms bursting out. But this is a climber and Mutabilis isn't. Still though, she gets big, so should put her 3 feet in front of the fence? Is that far enough?

I have several Mutabilis and they are all big. I would call them sprawlers. One is about 6' tall and 15' wide. Yours might benefit from a little support from the fence.