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thegunnerswife

New to gardening, hope I didn't mess up!

TheGunnersWife
9 years ago

Okay I live in SoCal and my husband LOVES to smell my parents roses whenever he walked up to their front door. I decided I wanted to get him some of his own so I got some Mr. Lincoln trees and a few shorter Mr. Lincolns and several Tiffanys. I also have 2 patio trees in pots, I think they are Julia Childs. I have learned so much from looking around on this forum for a few weeks and now I am finally registered and posting!
I have had the Mr. Lincoln trees and the patio Julia Childs for a while now. I didn't think the patio trees would survive but they have and they have bloomed several times! Right now one of them has browning all over the leaves and I am not sure what happened. It had aphids and after reading on here, I sprayed them off with the hose. I have used the Bayer plant food granuals before I knew I should not do that on new plants!
I built some planters in the front of my house and I dug out the dirt, sifted the rocks out, got dirt from the side of my house that I have sifted, mixed it with potting soil and filled my planters with it. when I dug the holes for the roses, I added special potting soil for roses with bone meal in it. I have been watering them most every day.
The Mr. Lincolns seemed to have gone into crazy shock when hey were taken out of their pots and planted! One of the tall trees lost ALL his leaves, he has grown the leaves back but neither of the tall ones are blooming anymore. On several of them I put the granular food when I planted them. I stopped doing that on the last 3 I planted because I read it could burn the tender roots on new plants.
The plants had roses on them when i bought them and even some buds, the roses have all died and I cut them off, the buds never opened. The Tiffanys actually had the stems bend and wilt, I don't know what happened. What should I do with these guys?
I got them all from Lowes and they have a 1 year guarantee.
Hopefully I can get some of the pictures up that I took and you all can see what I have.
Any advice on how I should care for these guys so they live and want to bloom would be great!

Comments (9)

  • TheGunnersWife
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    So that is the patio tree Julia Child I believe it is called, I have lots of pictures but I don't know how to upload more then one at a time.
    Here is a picture of the wilted Tiffany. Those buds never opened up. I cut them off.
    Are there any books I can download on kindle or anything? I watched a pruning series on youtube by a Paul somebody I think at Ash roses or something.

  • TheGunnersWife
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here is a picture of the Mr. Lincoln that lost all his leaves and is growing back.

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Hi, GunnersWife! Your roses look heat stressed for the most part. The potted ones should be moved to semi-shade if possible. Any in the ground you'll need to rig some kind of shade for them at least during the hottest parts of the day. Remove any of the brown, crispy leaves. They need more water too. In SoCal I know that's a problem right now but do try and water them as much as you can. I would hold off on any fertilizer for the time being. It's too hot and it could burn the roots.

  • mzstitch
    9 years ago

    Your Julia Child may have experienced some root damage when planting as well. This happened to me this year for the first time, my leaves turned brown just in the same pattern as yours. My rose recovered easily. As suggested, just keep them watered and they should recover. This isn't the best time to plant, better to plant in the spring or fall. The heat is likely stressing out the plant.

  • Michaela (Zone 5b - Iowa)
    9 years ago

    Is there any mulch down? I can't tell if that's soil or dark brown mulch. if they aren't mulched that will help a lot w/ retaining water. I agree - I think they just need some more water!

    This post was edited by thegardenat902 on Mon, Aug 4, 14 at 17:03

  • jerijen
    9 years ago

    DEFINITELY mulch them. And yes, heat-stress.

    Remember -- we have had record-setting heat for weeks now. I know it's worrying to water water water, when everything you read urges you to save water, BUT there are things you can do.

    When I wash dishes, I use a dishpan. I use a very mild dish detergent -- "Eco-sensitive" brands. The RINSE water from all pots and bottles goes to the nearest roses outside the door.

    When I'm done washing, DH carries the dishpan out into the garden, and empties it onto our less-sensitive plants. Not one bit of it goes to waste -- or goes down the drain.

    If you boil corn-on-the cob (or other vegetables) let the water cool, and then give it to your plants.

    That's exactly the way my Great-Step-Grandmother watered the roses in her farmhouse garden in rural Texas of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The minutes I spend outside, dumping rinse water gives me a quiet early-morning garden visit that's priceless. I'm sure it was the same for Grandma Mintice Cain.

    Any roses that come up with spider mites or aphids get the dishwater tossed directly at them.

  • TheGunnersWife
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Okay I have been getting water to them and hope they will be okay.
    I don't know if the potting soil I mixed with the dirt to fill my planters is considered mulch, is there something I should get to put in the planters that would be better?
    I have a drip system that is for there and I am doing my best to get it to work! It is a slow process trying to get everything done but I hope when I am finished it will be beautiful and worth the effort!

  • jerijen
    9 years ago

    GunnersWife -- Head over to Home Depot. Out in the nursery area, you'll find big bags of mulch. They sell "Western Bark" pretty cheaply.

    Put it on the ground around your roses, 3-4-inch-deep mulch is going to help their roots stay cool and healthy. Anything in pots should also be mulched -- tho we like to use a more finely-chopped mulch than that in the ground.

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    Roses transplanted in full leaf will usually wilt, and especially in the heat of summer. If transplants wilt, give them shade for a week or two.

    They look fine already. It takes about 6 weeks to produce a new set of blooms, so be patient and don't over-fertilize.