22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
You're more likely to have a few canes with hard pruning than not, as has been pointed out stem tissue reduction reduces ability to grow back afterward. In fact, a British study showed that shearing bush roses like a hedge resulted in increased flower production over the beloved "opening up of the center". But if you think what is being done at the park is to your taste then by all means go for it.
My only other comment is that I would not assume that what I saw happening at a public park was always the result of someone there being in the know. The fact that so many public parks continue to undertake things like formal bedding out of flowering plants in the first place shows that the thinking involved has often not changed in a very long time. Tradition and routine can be a big part of the culture in such settings.
And pressure to keep things the same can come from outside, as well as within a parks organization. For instance, the testing-of-the-waters changing of one set of hanging flower baskets on the downtown streets here to harmonious pastels (instead of the traditional loud, clashing color combinations) one year resulted in an outcry.
This post was edited by bboy on Mon, Dec 1, 14 at 13:26
I think we've had good discussions on this. I've heard of what other folks do. Good to know.
There is no perfect solution to almost anything. If we see something to our liking, then we can create the same effect. There are just so many ways to get things done.
I think it is time to close this topics. Or we just go circles....
Happy gardening.
I got mine a week late also. I did get them planted as I dug the holes weeks ago. We have had early cold weather so I am keeping my fingers crossed, I have had great luck with fall planting from Palatine and hope for success this time,too! Hope your roses settle in and glow in the spring. Lesley
Lesley, I did plant roses last year in the Fall that I received from Palatine, with no problem. I was actually surprised that they made it through the Winter given the awful polar vortex that hit us pretty hard. Let's hope that we don't see a polar vortex part 2 this year! Good luck with your roses and I look forward to seeing pics of your beautiful garden. :-)
BTW - the reddish rose in back of the photo above is Don Marshall, another mini. You can see that Rookie is a little taller than that mini, with considerably larger flowers (and prettier, in my book).
Here's a closeup of a bloom
Cynthia
Welcome, Steven. Glad to meet you and I enjoyed your lovely 'thank you' posting. You have good instincts for a great group of mentors to follow here; there are so many wonderful contributors on this forum.
Hope to read more about your garden and your roses in future,
Anne
dingo2001, I put the collars on yesterday and filled with all the existing mulch and some leaves that were in the rose bed, so I don't need to add more mulch now. I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so not the East coast, but the Midwest. Lots of places that normally carry mulch that I use were out by September. They must think it is a summer thing. Grrrrrrrr. Oh well, it worked out though. When I take the collars off in Spring, I will be able to just scoop the old mulch around the roses & get rid of the old so I can add new.
Thanks for the advice Seil. Usually, my roses are okay in the winter, except the last polar vortex we had last year. I usually don't really winterize them except put a mound of soil on top of them to protect the base of the plant. Almost all of my older plants comes back. The only ones that may not is the D.A. roses and Climbing Eden that I planted this year. I think it is too late for me now but I will check this weekend.
Thank you, JJPeace! I picked Gold Medal in part because my ARS rose encyclopedia says it does well in California,"where it was born." In your zone, you can grow rugosas like "Rose de Recht", which I want but can't have. And also, I'll bet that during the summer your blooms don't dry to dust within their first four hours of life the way ours do out here!
Sylvia
You got a good point, SFV4Life. I didn't realize that summer blooms dries up that quickly down there. No, it doesn't dry up here. We get to enjoy them.
Well I guess the solution is, I grow Rose de Recht and send you some over the summer and you do the same with GM. Lol.
The rose pictured is Quicksilver bred by Jack Christensen. It was a variety that was an exclusive in 1985 for Michigan Bulb Co. It was almost lost, until Tom Carruth at Weeks mentioned he had been keeping a plant for breeding purposes. A nice 2G plants sold in the auction for $55.
Kim, I can take hardwood cuttings after Jan 1 and budding material in May. Thanks!
Here is a link that might be useful: Quicksilver
Quicksilver, Silverado and Plum Crazy were all Armstrong creations which got caught up in the Moet to Bear Creek sale fiasco. All three were pretty much Armstrong Garden Center exclusives for two, perhaps three years. Plum Crazy was the first to become available through Armstrong Garden Centers due to what they described as a "field error". Reportedly, the fields of Quicksilver and Silverado were plowed under in error, per what the local Armstrong Garden Centers stated at the time. When I finally found Silverado and Quicksilver plants, they were even worse than the Plum Crazy plant I initially bought. The bud unions were not well "engineered" and Silverado, the weaker of the three, was actually double budded to produce a Grade 1 plant. All three suffered similar "defects" in my Newhall garden. All three had very tender foliage which fried easily in the sun and hot wind in comparison to the other twelve-hundred-plus roses planted on the same hill, same soil and same culture as they were. I didn't spray anything other than water due to not desiring exposure to any chemicals, the ever present wind and heat, wild life and the fact the garden was inside a planned community with many residents wandering through every day. Hundreds of other varieties grew and flowered acceptably, but none of these three could maintain foliage which didn't demonstrate regular heat and sun damage. All were beautiful, when they were beautiful, but the colors and flowers hated the aridity, heat and sun so I seldom found really good flowers on them much of the summer. In cooler ends of the season, they could be breath taking and all were very well scented. The later Christensen creation, Fragrant Plum, was a significantly more vigorous, productive and durable plant and flower, with every bit as much scent and none of the heat issues the earlier three demonstrated. Royal Amethyst, put out at about the time of Fragrant Plum, also performed much better than the intial three and had much more durable foliage and flowers. The only other really "silver" HT that was as fragile and virused as Silverado was Buck's Silver Shadows. All were commercially budded plants on Dr. Huey and all were planted in the same bed, in the same garden so I could more easily compare them against one another. Silverado and Silver Shadows were just too fragile in every way with very fleeting flowers. Quicksilver and Plum Crazy were the next least durable in all plant parts. Eventually, only Royal Amethyst and Fragrant Plum remained out of that bunch, with more reliable, durable, heat and sun resistant types replacing the "offenders".
John, please take a look at my HMF garden list for anything you might be interested in. Putting in the request earlier (as in like right now) rather than January is better as there is a tremendous culling under way to significantly reduce the quantity of plants I have to water. Waiting too long will likely result in things not being available. Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving! Kim
You may have to read-up on biological controls.....
:-)
~Christopher
Here is a link that might be useful: Predator Mites of Spider Mites in Greenhouses
Spraying them with a fungicide on a regular basis is the best way to eliminate BS. However, many of us have decided that we don't wish to use those harsh and dangerous chemicals in our gardens anymore so we've begun to use less hazardous methods. Removing the spotted leaves is one of those. But be careful with that too. If a leaf is still green it is still capable of producing food for the plant. And that plant will need energy to produce new leaves. I only remove the already yellowing leaves as those will no longer supply energy anyway.
Removing the leaves will not eliminate the BS. It just slows it down a bit. The spores for it are already out there everywhere. They are in the plants, in the soil and in the air and only need the right weather conditions to become active and spread through your roses. They particularly like cool wet nights which is why they tell you not to water late in the day. it doesn't give the plant enough time to dry off before it cools down and gets dark. That can't always be avoided though. It's pretty much a never ending battle and unless you want to spray constantly you really need to adjust your expectations some and learn to live with some spots. It doesn't make the blooms any less beautiful!
Corona makes a Felco clone of good quality and a Felco clone of not so good quality. The good one is very good. I have both Felcos and the Corona version. I have a long pole pruner to deadhead the big climbing roses. That really comes in handy.
Really handy is the little sharpener Corona makes that works well on the bypass blades. Sharp clean cuts every time. Some 0000 steel wool and oil to clean the blades keeps them like new.
The West Country gauntlet rose gloves have been very durable. They are made out of some sort of synthetic fabric that has been very tough and protective, and can be machine-washed. I can destroy a pair of quality garden gloves in a week, but these have held up for over a year, a record for me.
We bought our original bypass Felco pruners (and loppers in two sizes) in 1987-1988. We still have them, and with careful hand-sharpening when needed, we still have the original blades.
(Yes, the blades ARE replaceable. Ours have not needed replacement.)