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| I went to my local rose society meeting last night and while listening to the Rosarian's Almanac for the month and what to do and what should have been done, I wondered about things. Aren't some of you gardening like I do--under less than ideal conditions? Do you get everything done just right when and where you are supposed to? It has been my observation that whether or not you get the pruning done right now, or whether or not you don't have the perfect foliage without the mark of the cutter bees, that the sun is still going to come up tomorrow, and your rose is still going to live==with some help from you and just your love for roses, and frankly, for growing things--period. I feel sure you don't always have the perfect soil conditions, the perfect watering system, the perfect looking garden. Give me some remarks to help my trip down the guilt path. I carry some water, I carry my little stool around with me to sit down and pull weeds---but believe it or not, I'm happy and satisfied when I can do it. Barb |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| One thing you learn from reading this forum is that a lot of things that tradition says you need to do, actually you don't need to do--starting with "dig a hole 2' x 2'." |
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| Yup, I'm with you! I'm probably more serious than most about my roses, but a lot less serious than some people that I know. I'm happy when I can get the handfull of fertilizer close to the plant. I'm happy when I can pull a weed or two. I'm happy that they bloom despite my negligence. The rest of my life is way too stressful to let my flowers send me over the edge! It is supposed to be "relaxing"! |
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| Geez - what kind of person were you listening to? This is supposed to be FUN. And Therapy. If they made you feel this way, don't listen to them any more! Or deck them. Or something. I had a relative visit me a short time ago. One of those people who knows everything about everything. I took her through my garden, and she was clearly underwhelmed. Started giving me all sorts of input that I didn't want. Easy fix. I promptly walked her out of my garden, and she won't be allowed in any more. Takes care of that. You go girl. You enjoy your garden any way you want and/or can. Don't let ANYONE diminish that in any way. |
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| No, too lazy. Some years they don't get fertilizer, some years some don't get pruned. The "ideal" is nice, but reality rules! |
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| My garden is anything but perfect! The roses get blackspot and leaf drop in late summer, but that's fine with me.... The roses thrive anyway, and I don't mind seeing them with blackspot as I enjoy seeing what the roses look like naturally, with imperfections. My light pink roses live with thrips and wet weather damage; that's OK, too. The joy of the gardening is in the simple beauty of the roses as they grow and bloom; and though the garden never looks perfect, the roses are still aesthetically pleasing to me... |
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| Oh course I don't have perfect conditions or get everything done in perfect timing. I don't think anyone every does in a home garden. But if you're a speaker at a meeting (and I have been one) you want to express what the BEST conditions are and what the OPTIMAL schedule is. However, I also let everyone know that when those things aren't possible, for whatever reasons, their roses will still grow and bloom just fine! Mine do! |
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- Posted by karl_bapst_rosenut 5a, NW Indiana (rosenut@rosenut.com) on Fri, Apr 13, 12 at 13:10
| Barb, unlike me and many others here on the Rose Forum, Most who give those programs are exhibitors and go into detail telling you how to grow the perfect exhibition rose. My program tells how to grow roses the easy way, It's titled, "Growing Roses is Difficult or Easy, Which depends on you!" I try to tell people how to grow roses so it's fun and not to expect perfection. I mention not having a perfect leaf and flower phobia and the fact that Mom Nature seldom has perfect plants, although She has enough of them that many appear to be perfect. I'm often critized because I don't grow hybrid teas and exhibit more. That's not why I grow roses. Grow your roses like you want, not how others think you should and don't feel obligated to follow someone elses recommendations. |
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- Posted by jacqueline3 9CA (My Page) on Fri, Apr 13, 12 at 13:17
| I am afraid that many rose societies actually end up discouraging people from trying to grow roses, with all of the stated rules and regulations, and stuff you are supposed to do, when, and how. Unless you are trying to produce the perfect blooms for a competition, it is all hooey! The most important thing is to figure out which roses do well in your area, then plant them in adequate sun (which is much less than the rules tell you), then stand back - if they like your climate, that is 90% of the battle - mine are happy with a few hand fulls of time release food a year, and taking off the dead parts if/when I get around to it. Here is a picture I took yesterday of my banksaie lutea - it gets exactly the care described above, except that it never seems to have any dead growth to take off, and we did tie it up to some supports as it is growing up our house. It loves our climate - that is the important thing. Jackie |
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| Many of us just don't grow roses alone. When spring hits (and it hit very early this year) everything needs to be done at once. Often it's a decision about who receives attention first. This year it was my daylilies. They only bloom once a year and to delay dividing, fertilizing etc could mean a loss of a years worth of blooms. My roses on the other hand, despite still not being fully pruned or fertilized are leafed out and taking off and will continue to do so even if I'm late giving them my full attention. We won't even talk about my perennial borders, or my empty pots usually full of annuals. A gardener friend of mine many moons ago reminded me of this sage piece of advice from the Chinese when anxiety threatened to overtake me in the spring: "A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"......Somehow it will all get done, and if it doesn't I remember another of my favorite verses (from a song) "don't worry, be happy"...Maryl |
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- Posted by kittymoonbeam Sunset 23 So CA (My Page) on Fri, Apr 13, 12 at 16:50
| I have what I would call a natural looking yard and I plant the plants where they like it best, not according to a scheme. The local kids call my yard " The Jungle". Some months I get so busy working that all I can do is keep the plants off the walkways so folks can pass. The things I always do first relate to the soil because I feel if you work on the soil, you are going to have less disease and the water is going to stick around under the mulch. I finally got an idea to plant from the half moon to the full moon and weed and trim from the full moon to the half moon. This keeps me focused on the jobs that need doing and not putting them off. I would happily just plant with all the time I have otherwise. Now having said this, I am a big fan of the Sherman library in Corona Del Mar where everything is immaculate and looking like a magazine shoot every time you go. I go there for inspiration and for a kick in the pants when I feel lazy. So I decided to make my deck of potted roses the one place I keep like the Sherman. I can look out the window and it's like a postcard. Farther out, it's "the jungle". Actually I like having both going on at the same time. |
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| I grow roses to please myself and no one else. I enjoy their beauty and fragrance. Working on them can relieve stress. I don't need any so called 'expert' piling on the stress. That is why I quit my local rose society. They were too fanatical for me. Some of them were kind of scary. You know the type, ones you slowly back away from. Sometimes things get done on time and close to correct and sometimes not. I don't lose sleep over it. |
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- Posted by Kippy-the-Hippy 10 Sunset 24 (My Page) on Fri, Apr 13, 12 at 17:55
| You want some comments...I can give you some...lol First off, the garden has only become "mine" in the past few years. It was my dads space and under his total control for eons. The option was his way. It was his lab. Unfortunately age caught up with him and the garden did not wait for him to come tend to it. About 7-8 years ago, my parents realized they had reached a point that they had to ask for help and clear it out some. You might think I am joking, but I am pretty sure I took at least 100 trips to the dump over the past years. It was quite a day when we could look through the garden and see something, other than a green wall. Because we, mom and I, were not allowed to do much more than follow orders in the garden, following a schedule is new! We have 3 books, 2 same author with an updated version, on just what to do each month. One stays with mom and the other two pretty much live on my bedside table. No, I don't get too stressed when I miss what I am supposed to have done in a month. But I do try and think about how those "suggestions" will help my efforts in the garden. We have a big space with a mix of old and neglected and new needing extra attention. Having a book with what needs to be done helps me think about how to use my time in a way to make best use of my time. I gave my self a "deadline" of getting certain things done in the garden, it was the end of March, half way through April and I am getting close to the goal....lol While not the garden of my dads dreams, we have turned it in to an incredible garden. I think even he would appreciate the use and utility we are getting-although he would have probably planted more trees and fewer roses.... He passed a few years back, before we really tacked the lower part of the yard. But we both know he would have sat in one of the new areas and loved to supervise the goings on in the main garden. |
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- Posted by ken-n.ga.mts 7b/7a (My Page) on Sat, Apr 14, 12 at 0:04
| I go by the "KISS" method. Keep It Simple S----- (fill in the last word yourself) |
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| Concentrate on the basics: weed, water and fertilize. Buy big sacks of 12-12-12 on sale. Prune with a hedge clipper. Don't spray and don't winter protect. Mulch with fall leaves. |
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- Posted by melissa_thefarm NItaly (My Page) on Sat, Apr 14, 12 at 6:46
| I know nothing about exhibiting roses and don't belong to a rose society, so I'm not familiar with those pressures. I started gardening years ago with an idea that working with nature was better than working against it, so I learned about selecting plants suitable for my growing conditions, encouraging the fertility of the soil with mulch, and other basic ideas. I also accept that, if nature has a hand in growing my garden, there's going to be some bug damage and blackspot, years when the flowers are puny because spring has been dry, years when all the Teas will be cankered after a terribly cold rainy winter. But there will also be years when the roses are amazing and stupendous, just because rain and sun came in the right quantities and not because I did anything beyond throwing an armful of hay on the bed, and every year there are quite a few things well worth seeing in the garden, now matter how many disasters have also struck. Ornamental gardens with a lot of roses need an investment of information and thought; and they need some labor. But they shouldn't be like the rock of Sisyphus, ready to go to Hades if the gardener stops laboring even for an instant. Melissa |
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| I'm new to rose gardening, just started in the last few years. I hope you don't have to follow every bit of advice because it sure can get expensive along with time consuming if you have alot of roses! In early March I finished my annual pruning, removing mulch, laying down new bone meal and cow manure followed by a new layer of mulch. This took a couple days of work and about $80 in supplies. I had to do this especially this year because last year I did neglect my roses the good last half of the summer and they got a terrible case of black spot. In neglecting my roses they still lived fine without fertilizer, and watering, and deadheading. But it was the failure to spray that really ruined the season for them, and caused alot more work for me this year because I really had to trim them back alot due to alot of dead canes. So I've learned my lesson. For me, I don't have to follow every bit of advice, but I will definitly follow a spray schedule! |
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- Posted by barb_roselover_in 5a IN (My Page) on Sat, Apr 14, 12 at 22:04
| Unbelievable the responses, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. A lot of rose societies take a bum rap. Having been a member of ours for probably some thirty years, I have to admit they have undergone tremendous changes, but we have a common bond==we love not only roses but we all garden to some extent. When I first joined, we did have rose shows, but not to the extent where we were judged. We simply did it to show off our roses. We have a wonderful group of people. I'm not a sprayer and I won't change my mind on that because I have had a melanoma removed from my arm and I am not taking any chances. You know, what other people decide to do--well that is their business. I try to develop a good environment friendly to beneficials, plus I only grow shrubs now. I believe that takes care of the problems to a great extent. I do what I can when I can, thanks to my DIL who unselfishly helps me. I have learned to be patient until I receive the help. I just don't like to be made to feel guilty, but I explained that. I certainly have lost my share of roses. Thanks for your help. Sometimes we need to do some venting. Barb |
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