22,795 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Wow! So many good ideas. I was thinking about posts or some way to get climbers going, but I definitely like the wire idea best. Thanks toolbelt. I'm having a hard time planning this and I've decided that's ok I have my HT right now and I've got 11 plants (including a climber) coming from Brecks (thanks to the deal hunters here). I'm just going to start with those around the fence on the right of the house by the trees. It gets afternoon and evening sun, though, so now I'm questioning my choice. Ugh! I don't have the perfect spot for them. The front of the house gets morning sun, but not enough. The HT has looked sad today. I'm hoping it's just because I moved it. I move it Friday night. Saturday it had two of the most impressive blooms I have seen. Today all the blooms are droopy. Aren't they supposed to last more than a day?
This year, my only losses were among the HTs I kept in pots, unprotected outside all year. I don't think it was the cold so much as it was all the snow that piled on them. I left it, thinking it would provide some protection, but I didn't think about the melting. We had a couple of warm days right after the last snow, and that was enough to melt all the snow -- except what was at the base. This meant that most of the pots were flooded for a few days before I realized what was going on, and managed to shift them enough for the water to drain. Three came back to life -- 'Velvet Fragrance', 'Mirandy', and 'Big Ben'. The rest -- 'Chateau de Clos Vougeot', 'Chrysler Imperial', 'Crimson Glory', 'Heart's Desire', 'Mister Lincoln', 'Night', 'Nigrette', 'Nocturne', 'Oklahoma', 'Red Masterpiece', and 'Rose of Freedom' -- have yet to show any growth. I have other roses coming which I'll keep in their potting-up pots and tuck them in the garage or my enclosed back porch for Winter, and will pop them in the bigger pots and barrels whose roses don't wake up.
Well, I definitely learned a lesson about what I do with my pots from now on. But at the same time, I also learned last year that the roses I picked can't handle full-sun -- or, at least, their blooms can't. And I really didn't have enough places to put them that would offer midday shade, so I have other things to try this year. I already have replacements for 'Chateau de Clos Vougeot' and 'Nigrette' coming, and will likely re-order 'Crimson Glory' 'Heart's Desire' and 'Night' again, but as I refine the "look" of this garden, I think the others were just a bit too modern to blend in well.
Last year, I had only two losses -- 'Jaune Desprez' and "Secret Garden Musk Climber". The former was replaced with 'Baltimore Belle' as I was leery of trying another Tea-Noisette in such an exposed position. The latter was replaced with a more mature specimen of the same, which seemed to whine and complain about this Winter, but made it through and is pumping out new growth.
:-)
~Christopher
Thanks everyone. Diane, love your picture of Love Song, it's gorgeous! Love Song is a remarkable rose, IMHO. When I look at Melpdee Parfumme, it seems to look more purple as it ages, but then when I photograph it, it still looks magenta! I still think it is a lovely rose and has a nice fragrance, just want the purple to be more prominent.
Got in from picking all the rust leaves I could find & cutting just a few branches off. Looked pretty good, better than I thought. Plus the other bushes look really nice today. I then gently raked all the maple seeds that fell onto the rosebeds & put cedar mulch down. Hopefully they will continue to get happier since the weather is supposed to warm up & stay nicer.
Thanks for the suggestions and for sharing the beautiful picture! Actually I'm looking at Austins now and I have my eye on Colette and also Graham Thomas but he looks like he can get big. But now that I see your picture of Colette, wow and also she seems to be a tough cookie based on your description! I will look into Above and Beyond as well :)
You do get SOME winter in the San Gabriel Valley (as opposed to the coast, where I am). I know your climate, because I grew up in El Monte. Your summers get HOT. And dry, as well. And you are being asked to use less water. That's why I would advise you to wait until after Thanksgiving to transplant your roses.
When you DO move them, keep the root ball as intact as possible. Cut them back some -- but not radically. In fact, if it was ME, I've found that if you can give them enough water for a week or two after transplanting, you really may not have to cut back much at all. (Cut off what wilts.)
Are your white roses 'Iceberg'? Because, if so, they really don't much mind being grown quite close to each other ... almost like a hedge. In fact, 'Iceberg' can make a lovely hedge, and does not really much like hard pruning.
Gardenias ... I would think they would not like to be moved in hot, dry weather. You might try acidifying your conditions some, either with soil sulfur, or fertilizer for azaleas/camellias. And they would like more water as well, I betcha.
Thanks for the input, jerijen. You're so right about the water issue! I'm in Arcadia, and we're in a tie with Beverly Hills for the largest percentage we're expected to cut back on water, 36%. I'm doing my best, and have actually reduced my usage since one year and two years ago this time, by being creative and figuring out other ways to save water. My yard/plants/landscaping are really important to me, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep them going.
I need to look up the variety my white roses are. (I keep a gardening journal.) Iceberg doesn't ring a bell, but I don't want to say for sure that that's not it.
So I should probably wait a few months and then do the transplanting. Meanwhile, I think I should get some azalea/camellia fertilizer and give it to the gardenias!
Oh, regarding 'winter' here in the SGV: this was the hottest winter on record! I had to run the AC numerous times throughout our winter. As for heat? I ran that precisely three times--and two of those times I was battling a systemic infection and had REALLY BAD chills! :)
I would say that container is way too narrow. Get yourself a REALLY big container -- Biggest one you can find. Think about the size of the TOP of the plant, and consider that it needs nearly that much root, to support it. Roses don't grow a long, narrow "taproot." They grow a network of spreading roots, so a pot shaped like that is not ideal.
Also, one of those molded plastic pots is better than ceramic. (Yeah, I like ceramic pots too. But roses don't much like them.)
Also, I recommend that you get a pot with many drainage holes. Then, set it up on three bricks (or fancy "pot feet") so that water can drain freely out of it. (Do NOT set it in a saucer.) If that is open dirt with mulch, next to the pot, you'd be better to set it there, than on concrete.
Even though I don't get any arctic chill here I do hack my Fred M down to less than 2 feet every year as if I don't he will reach the sky. He needs a fair bit of warmth to flower I find. We don't get frost here even in winter but he stops flowering when the lower temps are less than 10 degrees C, whereas something like Felicia and Sonia Rykiel are still throwing basal canes at this temperature!
Frankly, I can do without the cold weather, and I am jealous of you, fragrance. This chill was the worst in twenty some years of rose growing because it came on Nov 15, 2014, when all the roses were not dormant, and things still looked quite nice. Temps hit about zero for three days and just messed up the roses. Didn't trouble much else. It's always the roses--what prima donnas. Anyway, there was a clear demarcation between which plants can take the cold and had no damage, or very little, and those that don't do well at all dealing with this strange, unexpected kind of cold. I've concluded that it's genetics, pure and simple. Didn't matter what part of the garden they were located in, or even how young they were. I hope this doesn't happen again, but two years ago, we had something similar, too, so an awful pattern may be emerging. Diane
I'm not on LI anymore, but I'm nearby. This year, aphids came a bit later than I expected, but were mostly gone by the time the first blooms opened. I've also been seeing LOTS of baby ladybugs in and around the garden, so perhaps it was a bumper-crop year for them, and that's why I actually have trouble finding aphids now.
:-)
~Christopher
I did a talk yesterday in Asheville and Thrips came up. The consensus was that they are worse this year in our part of the world.
Lots of us live near hay fields and untended lots.
What may be a hint is that the first cutting of hay was especially productive this year because of the heavy rain we (almost) all had in April followed by a dry May that really got the grass growing and that's where most of the Thrips originate.
The predaceous thrips are coming, they are just having problems keeping up.
The dates that thrips first appear need to go on your rose calender along with first Japanese Beetle date.
I did see a JB the other day. Just the one. They usually coincide with my Magnolias blooming. And they love to hang out in the magnolia flowers, but don't eat them.
It does seem that the thrips get worse each year. As I said, we were fine this year and roses that usually get their first flush ruined by thrips were ok, but they arrived in the 2nd week of May, so the first blooms were ok. I'm hoping by getting rid of most of my blooms/buds that were damaged that I can get rid of some of the thrips.
The timing of the April rains and dry May make sense.