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Roses
nickjoseph

Strange Dick Clark branch

nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
9 years ago

I planted a Dick Clark rose bush a few days ago. When I planted it, I noticed a long stem with an opened rose on it. It laid on the ground instead of growing upwards. I thought it was half ripped off cuz it seemed a little floppy. I followed the stem to the main branch & it doesn't appear torn or half ripped, yet it lays on the ground. Don't know if I'm making any sense or if this is normal. It's the only stem that is doing this.

Featured Answer
  • AquaEyes 7a NJ
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My roses are all babies as well (planted as bands last year). Whenever I see a cane too thin to stay upright on its own, I stick a tree branch into the ground to hold it up. I also do this when new canes are growing too close together -- in that case, a tree branch will guide growth so that there is more space between them. As the canes mature, often I simply remove the tree branch. I think this looks more natural than using tomato cages, or making a "fence" of stakes around the rose and holding everything together with string.


    This is 'Paul Neyron' which flopped over when the rain made the flowers too heavy. If you look VERY CLOSELY, you'll see two tree branches holding it up -- one on the left edge just below the lower-left flower, and another on the right edge behind the two sets of bright-green new leaflets.

    {{gwi:263364}}


    This rose is 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' whose canes naturally arch to horizontal under their own weight, and I took advantage of this rather than try to keep them upright. I used tree branches to hold them in place (to space them out and keep them from blowing around in the wind), and in a few cases to keep them off the ground. This is the left-third of the rose:

    {{gwi:286843}}


    And this is the right-third:

    {{gwi:286845}}


    This looks extreme, but I'm actually NOT holding the rose down with the tree branch -- I'm propping it UP. 'Yolande d'Aragon' grew a long, thick cane going straight-up last year, but it leafed out only at the top this year. After a few rains, it flopped down onto the ground, and was whipping around in the wind. Rather than try to keep it straight, I did this:

    {{gwi:264458}}


    As a result, it started sprouting new growth further down along the cane, and soon won't look so extreme. And there are a couple of new shoots at the base which will fill out more empty space as they grow. That pic was from a few weeks ago.


    'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' is an old mossy Damask, which naturally grows long, arching canes, eventually forming a V-shaped shrub. Mine being a baby, there's just one of these long canes now, and it, too, was a bit top-heavy. So I stuck a branch to keep it from arching too far and falling onto the ground. Now it's stiff-enough on its own, and actually straightened out just enough that it doesn't even touch that tree branch anymore.

    {{gwi:264457}}


    But sometimes I just let the roses lie on the ground when the canes are just too thin to hold up even with branches. I know that these baby-canes are feeding the plant, and soon thicker shoots will emerge and stand up on their own. This is 'Honorine de Brabant' blooming on its long, flopped-down cane.

    {{gwi:264561}}


    :-)

    ~Christopher

    Comments (13)

    • michaelg
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      Young rose plants often make stems that are too weak to support a flower. Stake it up if you want.

    • seil zone 6b MI
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      Michael is right. That cane was just too immature yet to hold up all the weight of that open bloom at the top. Stake it and leave it staked after yo dead head that bloom and it should strengthen up nicely for the next bloom.

      I think we are seeing this because we had to prune back so severely this spring that most of our roses are growing new canes from the ground up. Those canes sometimes set blooms before they're really mature enough or had time to hard off some. That soft green wood can't hold up the weight like more mature canes would. As the season progresses they should grow out of this phase.

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    • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      was the flower true??? ... rather than a root sucker????

      does it matter.. that it was planted days ago??? .. this plant is highly stressed.. and blooming ...

      i wouldn't not be happy.. that a recent transplant is blooming... and would probably cut off the flower .. if not half the flopping branch???

      ken

    • Brittie - La Porte, TX 9a
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      The long canes of my dick clark flopped over like that for the first year or so, until it had a large (and strong!) enough base to support them. I staked mine till it didn't need it anymore.

    • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
      Original Author
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      I've never had to stake a rose bush. Can someone tell me how? Ken, the flower/stem is definitely a normal branch--not a sucker. Thanks all.

    • seil zone 6b MI
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      I just use the bamboo garden stakes. Find one the proper height for what you need. You don't want some giant unsightly stick out the top of the rose. Hold the branch up to the position you want it in and place the stake in the ground accordingly and twist tie the cane to it. Don't make the twist tie too tight though or you can damage the cane. I have to stake things all the time around here. It's never seemed to harm the roses.

    • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
      Original Author
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago

      Thank you all. Really appreciate every one of your replies!

    • Deborah lippitt
      7 years ago

      I have grown own root roses for over 20 years and 3 new roses I have are flopping over. Loads of blossoms...I have never had this happen before. Are they over powering with fertilizer? Bad clones..What ? It is weird. I wouldn't think any thing of it but 3 different roses? From 3 different places...I'll start staking them. I have never staked roses before.

    • zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian
      7 years ago

      Wet and windy weather will cause canes to flop over.

    • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
      Original Author
      7 years ago

      This bush will be 2 years old since I bought the plant & planted it in the first week of June, 2014. It is the healthiest, fullest, constantly blooming rose bush I have ever planted/owened. Dick Clark's are amazing.

    • seil zone 6b MI
      7 years ago

      Small, young, own root plants can be spindly and floppy to start out. It takes at least 3 years for them to mature into good sized sturdy plants and every variety is different. Stake them for now and be patient.

    • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
      Original Author
      7 years ago

      Oh that was my post from 2 years ago. This bush has become my healthiest biggest, strongest bush in just 2 years of planting seil!

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