|
Tue, May 29, 12 at 11:36
| I have a miniature rose bush "Magic Carousel" that has lots of flowers but hardly any leaves this year. It seems like for the past couple of summers the number of flowers has been increasing and the number of leaves decreasing. It kind of looks like a tumbleweed covered in roses.
I bought the plant about 15 years ago and it's done well wherever I've lived, blooming from May until December. For the past three years it has been in the same full sun location. I haven't used fertilizers. I don't see any signs of bugs eating the leaves--the leaves that are present are intact and look fine. There just aren't many. Most branches have none at all, just flowers. I would like the bush to have more leaves if possible. What should I try?
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by karl_bapst_rosenut 5a, NW Indiana (rosenut@rosenut.com) on Tue, May 29, 12 at 15:06
| After it blooms cut it back by half. New growth will have leaves. Do you prune it regularly? |
|
| Fertilizing and watering. The nutrients that have been in the soil may now be depleated, and need to be replaced. Find a good organic-based fertilizer (Espoma Rose-tone or Flower-tone are good) and try two applications this season. Then, let us know if it helps. The other thought is that the plants have blackspot, sometimes they can have the disease without the leaves spotting. However, if you don't see leaves at all, that's a different issue. |
|
| Trim it and feed it but if it's blooming that well that it's a mound of flowers it can't be all that unhappy! |
|
- Posted by karl_bapst_rosenut 5a, NW Indiana (rosenut@rosenut.com) on Tue, May 29, 12 at 22:24
| I was thinking that also Seil. Glad you said it. Leaves make the food that make the flowers. There must be enough leaves for so many flowers. |
|
| Well, it may be happy, but it looks scrappy. It's in a highly visible location beside the front walk and it looks unsightly even with all the blooms because the entire structure of the bush is so bare. I'm hoping some feed and water will bushy it up some. |
|
- Posted by roseblush1 8a/Sunset 7 (My Page) on Wed, May 30, 12 at 17:03
| I am having the same issue with another Ralph Moore rose, 'Pink Poodle', and plan to give it a harder prune next spring to encourage it to grow new canes. However, the lack of leaves on PP is really not an issue in my garden. For the next several weeks, I am disbudding all of my roses to prevent curculios from breeding in the garden. I have found that when the roses are disbudded, they push out more foliage and blooms. By the time, I allow PP to bloom again, the plant will be full of foliage. Smiles, |
|
| I wanted to thank everyone again and provide an update: I pruned Carousel back by about half over the course of three trimmings, gave it some food and have added it to the list of things that get watered a couple of times a week (we are in a drought). The little trooper has in fact sprouted many fresh leaves--and also several buds--it seems there is no way to keep this rose from flowering. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Roses Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.