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| Have I heard that?
Hmmmmmm.... Well, lordy me, the forsythia is already blooming and the roses haven't stopped yet. I'm not complaining.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| It was a good rule of thumb where there were actual SEASONS and where pruning prematurely could actually set the roses back due to extreme freezes. That doesn't hold water in climates where things regularly bloom whenever the heck they want. Kim |
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- Posted by roseblush1 8a/Sunset 7 (My Page) on Fri, Nov 23, 12 at 20:46
| It does work up here for me. The forsythias bloom in town about two weeks before the one in front of my house blooms. The one at the top of my slope blooms about a week later. Seeing the forsythia blooming at different times around me in the mountains is a pretty good indicator about the micro-climates. If I prune earlier than when the forsythia blooms, it's almost a certainty that there will be a hard freeze. So, I prune the roses at the lower part of my property before I work on those higher up the slope. Smiles, |
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- Posted by lavender_lass WA zone 4 (My Page) on Mon, Nov 26, 12 at 13:48
| It works for me, but I'm in zone 4 :) |
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| Yes, it was Malcolm Lowe, I think, whose catalog stated to prune when the forsythia blooms. He was in Nashua, NH and I think this is good advice for the northeast. I try to ensure that my roses are pruned, fertilized, and cultivated by the time the forsythia blooms. |
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- Posted by roseblush1 8a/Sunset 7 (My Page) on Mon, Nov 26, 12 at 20:25
| Actually, this is a very old "rule of thumb" for colder climates. I have a friend is from Lithuania and now lives in the Netherlands. Her grandmother taught her to "prune when the forsythia blooms". I have often wondered what it is about this plant that makes it such a good micro climate indicator. In our mountain weather, winters can be long or short, dry or wet, but the forsythia is an excellent indicator as to when spring has sprung. It seems like every year is different. According to my garden journals, the forsythia blooms at different times. Some years there is as much as a three week spread. All of the members of my Garden Club are now growing at least one forsythia plant so that they know when to prune their roses. We've compared notes, and the timing of the bloom is different in our gardens. Smiles, |
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- Posted by harborrose 8a-PNW (My Page) on Mon, Nov 26, 12 at 21:25
| Forsythia can bloom in the fall ... but that doesn't mean you should prune your roses now. Typical forsythia bloom is in February when early spring pruning takes place. What neck of the woods do you live in? Did the forsythia bloom for you early spring? |
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- Posted by Strawberryhill 5a IL (My Page) on Tue, Nov 27, 12 at 10:51
| I like what Kim wrote: "It was a good rule of thumb where there were actual SEASONS and where pruning prematurely could actually set the roses back due to extreme freezes. That doesn't hold water in climates where things regularly bloom whenever the heck they want. Kim" It's a good rule for my zone 5a to prevent frosting of new growth. But for warm climate? Prune when there's plenty of water for new growth is a better rule. Fall or winter pruning in my zone 5a is a NO-NO. Last December I pruned baby Radio Times to fit into plastic collar to hold soil. When spring came, there were severe wounds/black canker where I pruned. The rosarian Karl Bapst, zone 5a, is right about nature storing its food/nutrients for the winter in the canes, why chop it off? When the forsythia blooms in zone 5a spring, is when it's warm enough for roses to push forth new growth. |
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