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Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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Posted by
jardineratx 9tx (
My Page) on
Thu, Feb 7, 13 at 12:38
I just had the most frustrating morning while pruning my Cornelia rose bush. I generally do not do hard pruning, but I do like to remove dead or diseased canes/branches. As I set out to do this on Cornelia, I found a lot of brown, dead branches. After cutting the cane, as I pulled it out of the bush, I find that new growth is coming from nodes that appear completely dead. This is the only rose I have that does this and I just don't understand it. Is it normal for certain roses to do this, or is it a health issue that the rose bush is dealing with? My Cornelia has always suffered from die-back and I have even considered replacing it with another Cornelia. This rose is about 10 years old, which I don't believe is old for an own-root OGR, but most of the canes are very grey and dead-looking, even though they are producing viable laterals.
Molly |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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| It's completely natural for very old wood to appear dead to us. I was pruning with a friend Monday in her garden and we tackled her Roxburghii. She's grown it for decades and lamented it appeared dead, but among the gray, dried looking, dead appearing branches were many new buds beginning to swell and show color. It's often necessary to follow the "dead" cane to its extremes to make sure that woody, bark covered wood is actually dead or just doing what Nature has it programmed to do. We've all cut something which appeared dead...and wasn't, so welcome to the club! Kim |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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| Yes - I always follow the cane to the very end to see if it is sprouting growth anywhere - which can make you dizzy on a large rose! I did my Sombreuil the other day, and that was really the only way to tell if the 10-12 foot long canes were dead or not. Jackie |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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Fortunately, Cornelia is not very thorny, but I still have many battle scars from my pruning project. My Zephrine D. rose is prone to cane die-back, but it only occurs at the tips of the canes and I never find buds breaking beyond the browning tip. With Cornelia, the new buds form along what appears to be totally dead branches. I just need to be more vigiliant before I make the cut and not have to deal with the "OMG, what have I done" moments.
Molly |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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| I tend to leave the roses whose normal look is dead until last. That gives them a bit more time to leaf out and look not dead. |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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| All good advice. I also often bend twigs. If they're dead, they SNAP. If they're alive, they bend. I find that many of the Teas and Chinas do this. It's one of the things I warn folks about, when we do OGR pruning demos. Jeri |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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| A lot of my roses are elderly and I run into things like this all the time. I find it frustrating and confusing. I'd like to say I'm so experienced and wise but I'm not. |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 7, 13 at 19:30
| Oh dear, so sorry, but I've been there and done that a time or two myself. Reine des Violettes gets me every year! And I know it so I try to be really extra careful and start at the tips and work down...and it still gets me, lol! All I can say is don't worry, it will grow and bloom anyway. |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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Oh, Seil, that is so funny when you say "I know it, so I try be be really extra careful". That's exactly what kept happening today. It was like Lucy pulling the football from under Charlie Brown....it got me every time, and each time I thought I would not be fooled, I would find another living cane on the ground and the guilty pruners in my hand. Now that I hear responses from others, I have gone from frustration to mild amusement.
Molly |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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- Posted by catspa NoCA Z9 Sunset 14 (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 7, 13 at 19:45
As I always say (and have said more times than I can count), "More light and air for the remaining canes!"
~Debbie |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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Lightly scratch the cane with your fingernail or pruners and see if there is green under the bark. Easier than tracing the cane to the end and you don't have to do much damage. Even so, I too end up cutting off viable canes every year when I prune. It happens!
Anita |
RE: Dead-looking canes that are not dead, argh!!
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| That's a good tip, Anita! Jeri |
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