21,402 Garden Web Discussions | Roses


Hello,
Thank you all for the suggestions, I will be getting some dry fertilizer and feeding them soon! I do live in south Florida where the soil is sandy and we get a lot of rain, I'll see how they do but don't want to over fertilize.
Thank you again!
Lisa

After I spread the pellets around the rose, I turn the hose on to a stiff strong spray and water in the pellets thoroughly. They will start to disintegrate as a result--speed up the process and keeps the hard pellets from just laying there and attracting who knows what kind of critters (including ants?). Then I put mulch on top of the pellets--helps protect them and discourage the critters--and obviously is good for the future retention of moisture when the weather heats up.
Just make sure there is no salt in the alfalfa--that iwould be a recipe for garden disaster!
Kate

I take it that your GS is in a pot/container of some kind, and is not bareroot? If it is bareroot, soak it in a bucket overnight and plant immediately. If it is in a pot/container, the practice usually is to wait until the last danger of a heavy freeze has gone by and then plant it. In the meantime, put the container next to a southern foundation and water occasionally--and put it in the garage overnight if the nighttime temps fall down to freezing.
I'm in Zone 6 Kansas--our last freeze date is sometime around mid-April, so your last freeze date in Zone 7b might be around April 1 or there-abouts.
Kate

Good reliable yellow HT you're getting there, sara. Just remember it is not a big lush showy golden-yellow like Gina Lollabrigida or Henry Fonda. It is a more subdued mild yellow and not always the largest bloom in the garden. It is also (so far at least--mine is still "new") quite bs-resistant, fragrant, and seems to have a good re-bloom rate. A bit taller than most of my other HTs, but they tend to be the shorter ones anyway.
Overall, a charming yellow.
Do let us know how she does in your garden.
Kate

That's too bad! I tried rooting some for the first time this winter; two Valentine's Day roses - Pailine (I think) and Amelia. I left two sets of leaves, scored the bottoms of the stems, used rooting hormone, and potted them directly into soil. Then I set them in a window with a heating pad underneath and plastic pop bottles over top. Out of ten, one Amelia is still alive and setting new leaves. The rest are dead as door nails. The rest all went moldy. Next time I'll pot them into sand - I've read on GW that that's a good way. Don't give up! It's still fun to try!



Hi- leaving aside for a moment the ethical/legal questions of rooting florist roses (if they are patented, that is), you may have much more success with chip-budding them onto existing rootstock than with trying to root cuttings. It is surprisingly easy.


I'm sorry I got the pic mixed up. If that is Ebb Tide, it is looking more like mine do in the summer. I'm hoping you get some really dark blooms. ET and Twilight Zone have pretty much the same color in spring and fall, but ET fades out in summer up here. I remember it was worse when the plants were really young. Keep us posted. Diane

Diane,
Will do. I certainly hope the difference in coloration is due to the plant being immature. The summers here are like hades, the trade off is a comfortable climate most months of the year. We have had sunny blue skies and daytime highs in the 70's since February, which is quite ideal for roses.
Lynn


Thanks for reminding me of backflow preventer. I took if off because I was trying to figure out the order of installing different parts. I woke up one night at 2am to what sounded like rain only to find out that it was the water spraying out from the backflow thingy. I bought a new one but forgot to install it.
OTOH, the emitters are dripping but at 1G I probably need to put it on for 1 hour for the roses that are in 7 gallon pots.

You know, Sara, if you really would like to keep them in the pots instead of the ground there is a thing called root pruning that would let you do that. Since I keep a lot of roses in pots permanently I've had to learn how to do that.
There are variables, of course, the vigor of the plant, the pot size and such, but in a cold zone you usually would only have to do this about every 3 to 5 years. I can tell when one of my pots needs to be root pruned when I water it. If the water goes in the top and almost immediately starts running out the bottom that usually tells me the rose is root bound in the the pot and there isn't much soil left in there.
Early spring is the best time to do it because you will be pruning back the plant anyway so pruning off some of the roots shouldn't hurt it. You don't want to have fewer roots with a huge plant on top that it can't feed. Besides it's going into full growth mode and will start growing those root back quickly. Let the pot get a little dry. This helps to keep the root ball easier to handle. Slip out the root ball and carefully trim off some of the bottom and sides of the root ball. I trim mine by about half. Then repot the plant with fresh potting soil. Water it well and it should start to grow again in no time.
Hope that helps!

It's seems that are Jekyll/Hyde Horticos: the good one and the bad one. I've bought there for the past 20+ years, because they usually stock varieties I can't find anywhere else. And sometimes I've had plants delivered that I couldn't possibly improve on--big, plump roots carefully wrapped and still moist. But other times...one year instead of 3 Ballerinas, they sent me one B. and 2 Sally Holmes, all tagged as Ballerina. Two years ago my order was missent to San Diego, and 3 weeks later arrived in CT, totally dessicated. To their credit, they are replacing the 3 that died, out of 4--but only after insisting that they're packed to survive at least 3 weeks! Well, good luck with that. I vowed never to return. But then, when I couldn't locate City of York anywhere (Googling hard), guess who had it. The grower you love to hate.

It's seems that are Jekyll/Hyde Horticos: the good one and the bad one. I've bought there for the past 20+ years, because they usually stock varieties I can't find anywhere else. And sometimes I've had plants delivered that I couldn't possibly improve on--big, plump roots carefully wrapped and still moist. But other times...one year instead of 3 Ballerinas, they sent me one B. and 2 Sally Holmes, all tagged as Ballerina. Two years ago my order was missent to San Diego, and 3 weeks later arrived in CT, totally dessicated. To their credit, they are replacing the 3 that died, out of 4--but only after insisting that they're packed to survive at least 3 weeks! Well, good luck with that. I vowed never to return. But then, when I couldn't locate City of York anywhere (Googling hard), guess who had it. The grower you love to hate.


I believe that the original Kiftsgate rose was planted many years ago as an unsupported shrub. It didn't mind, it just took over half a border.
Daisy
Here is a link that might be useful: The original Kiftsgate






I have Felco 2 and 6. I like 2 better because of the longer blade.
I also have the Felco 21 Lopper and 611 saw (I use this saw a lot).
Yes. Get a good set of Felco's if you can afford it.
Also, last year Costco's was selling a package of imitation Felco's that even came with replacement blades, hardware and a sharpener. The quality was good for the price, so see if they carry them again this spring.