22,151 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
I grow my Lady of Shalott as a 5' shrub. The first year or two I didn't do much of anything except feed and water it. At some point during the second year two of the canes started stretching up--obvious wanted to climb something! I cut them back a bit lower than the normal height of the shrub, and I may have had to do a bit of touch up pruning of those two canes somewhat later.
The Lady seems to have received the message and has been growing as a shrub ever since.
I have another Austin--Mortimer Sackler--which can be a tall shrub or a climber. It worked pretty much the same as the Lady--second year, a couple canes obviously wanted to reach for the sky. I trimmed them back--maybe did a bit of touch up pruning later and then pretty much left the bush alone. I seem to remember that a year or two later, I trimmed back a couple canes during the spring pruning, but I don't think I've done any other pruning of this shrub.
It's really not much of a hassle. If you want it to climb, plant it fairly close to an arbor or trellis. That way it can't grow outward (bushy); instead, it reaches upward for the sun--and thus makes a good climber.
My Lady of Shalott is in a fairly open spot--which hopefully encourages her to bush outward.
Good luck with your Lady.
Kate
Steve - Thanks for the info, glad to hear some of yours are coming back! I didn't know there was such a thing as semi-hardy. Guess I learned my lesson to do more research and not just take Zones 5-9 as an indicator that they are safe. :/
Buford - Thanks for the info! I really want a climber on my arbors that don't have to be cut down every year (or frequently) so I decided to dig it up today (don't know if that's a good idea or bad but I decided it was worth a shot) and potted it up temporarily while it recovers. I put it in a 3 gallon container and left the graft uncovered like you said, if I see new growth should I plant it this summer in a new location on a regular trellis (rather than an arbor) or wait until fall?
Seil - The ones you suggested up above, those are ones that would be cane hardy for zone 5? I am thinking of getting regular trellises for these two assuming the blaze comes back, and then getting something cane hardy for my two arbors. Just want to make sure I don't end up with 4 roses that won't make it up the trellis.
Thank you all so so much for your advice.
My Angel Face is ancient, Mom bought it in the 60s, and even though she is a black spot magnet I wouldn't be without her. The blooms and fragrance are wonderful and even knowing she is virused she has wintered like a champ year after year. She has about a foot of green cane with buds starting to grow out there right now after this polar vortex winter when a lot of other, supposedly healthier ones, have nothing left but stumps! She has her problems but she is a trooper!
Okay.... so it looks like I'll have to evaluate AF this season and see how she does.
I originally said that I give my roses no special care... no spraying because we live along a tidal river with lots of birds and animal life... no dusting, no fertilizing.... just renewed compost each spring and watering occasionally. We have a wide variety of roses, love them and try to be as organic/non-chemical as possible. But I can still recall the color ... the ruffled petals and fragrance of the Angel Face I grew about 30 years ago in my first home. Loved that rose!
Too true. Witness my Double Knockouts, bought in 2012 because of a buy one get one coupon from the HD garden club. Had I known what they were, I'd never have done it. My bed is too small for them!
Live and learn, I guess. I'm looking for a home for them.
Lynn T
Hmmmm. Bought one from Big Lots a few months ago. Threw it in the garage and noticed that it is leafing out nicely. I will plant soon. I am not a careful gardner. I dig the holes, plop em in, will fertilize once, mulch, a reasonable amount of water and thats it.. Its on its own. My plants and I have an understanding about level of effort.:-)
Cut off the brown and black canes--all the way to the ground if needed. If the inside/center of the cane is white, you are back to healthy cane. If there is no white center, just cut back to soil level. Then feed and water the rose and stand back and watch the beautiful red leaves at the base start growing like crazy and turning green and putting out buds and finally gorgeous blooms. The only difference is that the rose may be a bit shorter this year--but should make up the difference by next year.
You are panicking needlessly. That red stuff is cause for celebration--a wonderful new rose is forming!
A month from now report back--with pics, if possible! : )
Kate
It's very normal in cold climates to have further die back in the spring after the first pruning. Sometimes the cane may look green and healthy so we leave it thinking it's OK. But there has already been some freeze damage to the cells and so it slowly turns dark and dies off and needs to be pruned off. You have lots of healthy looking new growth there so there's no cause for alarm. Your roses will be fine.
As for the black spot. Your pruners have nothing to do with it. It's out there, everywhere! In the soil, in the air on the plants, it's there. Whether you clean your pruners between cuts or not if you're in a black spot area you'll have it. Unless you spray religiously.
Cleaning the pruners is more for reducing the spread of other transmittable diseases such as gall, canker and rose rosette disease. I used to do it faithfully but it's a total pain in the butt so I don't do it at all now unless I'm cutting something out because it's diseased and I can see it. I haven't noticed any big difference in the occurrence of any problems as a result.
I'd wait. The forsysthia is still blooming, so it is still early. It will probably all be cut down anyway, but waiting will give you a clearer idea of what to do.
Once upon a time, I did some late fall pruning. Something happened, and I didn't get the clippings all picked up. When I found them the next spring, they were still green and flexible.
You don't have to cut it all off at once. Take off anything you know is dead now and give them a couple more weeks to see what may start to bud out and then take off the rest. I usually end up having to do this every year because on the first round I tend to err on the side of caution and leave things that look iffy. Then once it gets warmer and they start to really grow I can see that they need further pruning and where they need to get cut back more.
Thanks for all the advice and explaining!!
Buford...what is the difference between grafted and rooted and how can you tell which is which?? Is there an easy was to tell at the store before I buy them what is what?? And is grafted or rooted easier to grow?? I just started out last fall with flowers and have went crazy with roses this year. So happy thoughts!! This rose is right by my steps up to my front porch and it faces south east ish, does that matter?? There are no trees in my yard, and the girl next door does have a large mature tree so I'm trying to figure out if it got enough sun there?? My other rose I planted last year is about 4 feet away on the other side and is looking green and healthy. Also I did spray them both last year with sevin spray because I think some sort of beetle started eating them and when I took some leaves to the store they said the holes in the leaves looked like japenese beetle maybe?? I'm just trying to figure out what I could of done wrong and that way I don't loose another if I plant it in the same exact spot.
Thanks for baring with me and all the info. I washed the cutters last night and in a few minutes I will go out and slowly cut a cane or two just to see if it looks like what hoovb said. I'm thinking it might be a goner as well because my other one has pretty leaves and green and red while this is just some brown sticks :(
I agree, do what hoov suggests. And it wouldn't hurt to wait a bit either. In zone 5 I'm betting it's still been pretty cold there and the soil hasn't warmed up enough yet to kick start the rose into growing.
It isn't a problem to prune in stages. Take off the really obviously dead stuff at the top. Wait a couple weeks and trim some more. Then wait a couple more weeks and see if the bud eyes are beginning to swell. Once you see those you can tell just how far down you'll need to prune.
If you have to cut those canes off completely that still doesn't mean the roses is dead. I have several out there that are pretty much just stumps but I can see there is new growth starting to come from the graft area at the base. I think this is a year where a lot of my roses will get to completely "rejuvenate", lol!
I realize this is quite climate specific, but I agree with you Kate about not calling Eden "disease resistant". While it did appear to resist mildew to a decent extent, black spot was an issue and the thing rusts here like an old iron skillet. At the beach, even the moldy flower petals rusted unless routinely sprayed. It CAN be drop dead gorgeous...if you can find the right climate and situation for it. I haven't found that yet. I've also never encountered one which could even remotely be considered "lower prickle count", much less "thornless". Kim
Second Kim on the rejection of thornless or lower prickle count as accurate descriptions of Eden, at least as I experienced it here in the Midwest.
I don't have the mildew and rust problems, but anyone with Kim's environment, take note. As far as BS, I'd rank Eden, here in the Midwest, as slightly above average BS-resistance. Not terrible, but not awfully good either.
But those gorgeous blooms!
Kate
Oooh, Vlatva looks gorgeous, and I see that Bierkreek offers it,too;I've ordered from them in the past. Also FilRoses may be an option; I've only ordered from companies that have several roses that I want,to save on shipping,and I seem to remember that their catalogue has a few others that interest me....bart
I wish I had my rose list handy as there are many Austins that I have grown for years in my NS gardens. I just moved to a new location in NS but plan on digging out or replacing some of the best and oldest Austins that have survived the wind and salt spray and lack of snow in winter.
James Galaway was the first to come to mind as he is one of the biggest and most prolific of all of the Austins that I have grown. Charlotte, Teasing Georgia, Tradescant, Eglantyne, Crown Princess Margarete, The Dark Lady, Claire Rose, Alnwick Rose, Scepter'd Isle or just a few that pop in my mind as I type. I have over 100 roses in my old garden and had up to 235 in my previous one. I do not spray except for some dormant oil in the spring. I feed them alfalfa tea twice in the summer, seems to be their favorite food.
I hope you find some that perform well in your area as they are wonderful roses.
valerie
Hello again, thanks so much for all the suggestions. I expect my two Albas from Cornhill to arrive by Monday, mailed last Monday apparently, but still not at my post office. Today I get the holes dug. I am loving the pictures of Polareis, and Wild Edric seems to be mentioned often. I'll see how these two, Queen of Denmark and Maiden's Blush, do first, if they don't do well, I'll probably call it a day for roses here, other than the rugosas I already have in the front.. just not as crazy over them as I was my Austins. I don't know if I can make peace with the once-blooming properties of the Albas either, but shall see. Happy gardening season, all. :D
Laguna is a very good own root rose. I have Laguna on multi flora, Dr, Huey and own root and really no difference in performance. This is a photo taken May3, 2014 of 1 gallons planted in fall 2012. These were very prolific bloomers in 2013 even as one year old plants. Fragrance is citrus mixed with tropical fruit - quite nice. Good repeat bloomer.
Image of mature Laguna