21,402 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

My roses do very well in the spring. :)
I leave my roses unpruned in the fall, and then just shape the bush in the spring. Because they are above the cold soil, they warm up quickly and growth is pretty quick. My roses are much nicer than HTs in the ground around here. They are at least 2 feet taller than other rose growers here. I get a lot more blooms too.
Very worthwhile.
Carol

If you can cool down that garage some that's still the best bet for wintering them over for you. At 40 degrees the roses aren't going dormant and that's why they're trying to sprout out. it's needs to be colder to convince them it's time to go to sleep. Then when you want them to start to wake up you can slowly bring the temps up and they'll start to sprout out again.


I like the new postings feature too! I wish it was higher up on the page though! And it would be nice if they listed 20 posts rather than just 8!
My mother grew roses. I'm lucky they didn't poke my eye out when I was a little kid racing around the yard.

g2g, thanks from me too! I thought maybe I was blind, or there was something wrong with my login. I had decided at work today to log out, reboot, and log back in. I'm glad I checked in first! But I wonder where the Christmas trees went? I liked those too!
LynnT

Thanks Michael! Subk, I am going to take Michael's advice and do a summerweight spray when I see the slugs. I didn't have any BS issues to speak of last year (I sure hope this year is the same) so I'm not really worried about diseases. I think if I get on top of the slugs I can likely keep them in check with hand picking/oil spraying.
I used the vigorous water spray method last year on the aphids and that worked so well...
Did you have those huge grasshoppers last year? I wonder if they came from mulch or something I brought in...Some of my polyanthas have yet to recover (they were attacked when I was gone for two weeks this summer).
Let me know what you are going to do Subk ad how it works for you.
Susan

Susan I didn't have any grasshoppers, but the rose slugs were again this year pretty devastating for me too. Hand picking is nothing short of a joke. I think I'm going to try spinosad for some control this year as it is the only possible solution I know to try.
For blackspot I WANT to spray sulfur lime/dormant oil simply on the basis that it is what Jean did and she's the only one I've heard of having great success with OGRs here. That's a good enough endorsement for me. I just haven't figured out how to do it.
I am completely confused on how/when to spray LS as well as what is the dormant oil component of it is. I don't understand the dormancy/weather/timing of it and the more searches I do on GW the more confused I get. I keep think there is some illusive hunk of information that I don't have, but I don't know the right questions to ask to find and answer.
If anyone could direct me to a primer on winter spraying that includes how to recognize the ideal timing of it here in my zone as it relates to weather and growth dormancy (and my mostly tea and tea noisette roses) I'd appreciate it!

Too true, LynnT -- big ag/big pharma seem to have moral compasses broken beyond repair. Selling products for small-scale, well-considered purposes is not profit enough; "shareholder value" isn't realized until the entire world is drenched in tons of whatever it is, with or without truly understanding consequences. Thus, limited usage with true benefit gets tarred by the harms caused by indiscriminate wide-scale use pushed beyond the limits of what's actually known.
Even "natural" products have their hazards, though. The spinosad mentioned in other posts is also lethal to honeybees and, if used for thrips, for example, needs to be applied at times when honeybees are not around for at least three hours afterwards (see the label; night-time likely best).

For a long time, some of the flea/tick manufacturers really pushed the Insect Growth Regulators (IGR) like methoprene, which is the only name that comes to mind right now. It "breaks the flea life cycle." Meaning it stops development of the egg and larva in insects that have 4 stages to the life cycle - egg, larva, pupa, adult. Guess what else has 4 stages? Butterflies! I've seen this stuff in outdoor products for lawns, even. So you never know where you're going to find harm, if one doesn't know what they are using, and how to apply safely.

That's an interesting thought. No, it never occurred to me. But if maple tree roots grow that far out, it sounds like something worth checking out. I actually have two half barrels in the back, one of which lost it's metal bands last spring. I have a hosta in it (there's a matched pair), and found some hemp rope last year to hold it together. I was working crazy hours and just didn't have time to replant into a new barrel. If I buried that, the soil should support it even when the hemp decays, I'd think. But what happens when the wood does decay? I know it'll take a long time - it's almost an inch thick, but roses live a long time too. At least, they do when it's done right. :0
But that also brings the question of the Crown Princess. Should she go in protection too? I'd think if she gets as big as predicted, her roots will need more room than even a half barrel? I had planned to add a trellis next spring, close to the house, so there's something for her to grow on.

If there are any openings in the container, the maple roots will come through them. If there aren't, the rose will drown. Containers can help a plant get established under a large, aggressive tree, but aren't really a long term solution.
Getting the right roses is an enormous step forward in being successful. However, very few people from outside of the local conditions have the foggiest idea of *what* the right roses might be. Somebody from Phoenix, for example, is going to have a drastically different take on shade tolerance.


I did send a comprehensive list to the county of my questions an concerns (I got a lot of good info on the internet regarding pipeline easements). We decided not to ask for compensation for the easement itself. The easements are calculated by length, regardless of width, so since there was an easement on the property when we bought it, we would have a tough time proving loss of value.
However, I did request that the project manager come out to the yard and stake out where the digging will take place so that I could plan to move anything I want to keep. They will be digging up my junipers (YEAH!!!!) and I will probably lose some trees and have to removed some roses (hopefully to be replanted in a few days). I put in my list a 'special consideration compensation' for mature trees that will be lost due to this construction. Hopefully that's not a problem.
Although the easement is 30 feet wide, the digging will most likely be much more narrow, but they have to allow for equipment so that's why it's so big. Hopefully their activities will be limited (I plan on being there when they do the work).
I'm making lemonade here. I get rid of the junipers, get to maybe re-arrange my roses to a better spot, and maybe buy some new ones! Plus we should have less flooding in our yard going forward.


henrobinson - as well as water, the"leaving them alone" advice above is important. That means that you have to protect them from the builders damaging them further by stacking materials on their roots, trampling around them, etc - all of which will compact the soil and might kill them. I would recommend putting some sort of temporary fence around them - at least 3 feet away from the base of the roses. You will probably have to speak sternly to the builders - this is important.
When we had our 3 story house painted, & roof repaired & some walls re-shingled, we chopped the huge climbing roses down to about 6 feet & bagged them in burlap. However, they only survived because my DH talked with the contractors, and told them that it was worth his life (he blamed me, which was fine with me) if they trampled on the beds or touched those roses, or stacked stuff around them. He was here watching them every day (being a contractor himself, he was able to speak their language and schmooze them), and every time one of them stepped onto those beds, he was right there, pleading that they had to save him from spouse-acide by me. I cooked home made cookies for them every day, and between the two of us we saved the roses. It takes more than one conversation, and constant vigilance. Oh, and honey always works better than vinegar...
Jackie

I like Love Potion which is sort of between the two. Not as fussy as Angel Face but a better bloomer than Love Song in my garden. I bought a tree Love Song and a bush Love Song on Dr. Huey roots. The bush has flowered more, but Love Potion still out performs it. Love Song's flowers are magnificent. I'm hoping mature roots will do the trick. Angel Face has fruitier scent and Love Potion is a little sweeter. Angel Face has cute ruffly flowers and a nice shaped plant.
Don't know why my Love Songs never got going this year. I noticed the tree versions at the Huntington were kind of sleepy as well. I mean it's not even growing many leaves and stems. But when the flowers come on, they are outstanding.
I heard so many good things about Neptune. That's supposed to be a big plant. I have Enchanted Evening too. That's a pretty rose, not too big and blooms all year. I really like it.

My new Love Song (on Dr Huey) didn't bloom well for me, either...beautiful blooms in the spring, but then nothing all summer and only two blooms for it's "big" fall flush. I didn't detect any scent with mine when it did bloom. Hoping it will improve as it matures.

Here a mile and a quarter or so from the beach in Santa Monica, Dark Night has been a nice looking shrub in its first season. The foliage is dark and glossy, with no mildew, rust, or black spot yet. The blooms are occasionally stifled by high humidity, but not often enough to take away much from the overall value of the shrub. I don't catch really any fragrance though.
Jay
This post was edited by ArbutusOmnedo on Wed, Dec 18, 13 at 2:08

Thank you, arbutus, for the additional information. Sounds promising, though I'll have to research Dark Night more if I decide to put it in my Midwestern garden. I'm keeping it on my reserve list for now.
About Peter Mayle: Maryl, in my garden, Peter Mayle is not a "space-eater." In fact, it has been a rather narrow, vertical/upright bush and I've wished it would be a bit fuller on the sides. Maybe its narrowness is due to where I planted it--on the west side of my neighbor's garage (along the property line) stuffed between two bigger and more aggressive roses that maybe force Peter to grow vertically in order to get high enough to get his share of sunshine? Don't know.
Pat, Peter Mayle is a fairly good bloomer for a rose that produces the biggest, fattest blooms in the garden. Like Valencia, which produces the second biggest blooms in my garden, Peter is a bit slow on the rebloom. I think it is because it takes longer for big/fat blooming roses to make those big/fat blooms! On the other hand, nearly all my roses slow down considerably--even shut down-- when we get into hot, hot, hot August--Peter Mayle included. But when Peter (or Valencia) actually bloom, they sure can be show-stoppers, so I forgive them. LOL
Kate


Btw, that's a beautiful shot with Rhapsody in Blue and Lyda Rose. They grow similarly. And now that I'm thinking about it, there's another one that I would put in that mix if it were mine -- Golden Wings. That plant also has kind of a "fluffy" look to it, like the other two, and the color would a nice soft contrast with them.




Yes those Christmas trees look cool! :)
But those damm cookies are making me awful hungry...lol
LOL My little boy keeps asking me to make those cookies! Says they look very yummy. I have to agree!