22,796 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Rose slugs. Turn over the leaves and squint at the underside as you look for tiny, tiny green wormlike critters. Squish with your fingers -- or toss into the lawn if your stomach is quesy.
Usually all one has to do is WAIT a couple weeks--for the good bugs to show up and gobble up the rose slugs, but they usually arrive before that much damage gets done. Have you been spraying the roses with insecticides in the past? They will kill off the good bugs also. If so, you may have to wait until next year for the good bugs to return.
The manual method is the only way I know to keep them under control while you wait for the good bugs. Maybe some other posters will have some other suggestions.
Good luck.
Kate
Well, if you are living in zone 5 as the number beside your user name suggests, then you are maybe a month early to be getting blooms. My roses too are leafing out beautifully, but only the more species-like are budding now. Don't give up hope yet. It might be worthwhile to have a soil test done so that you know exactly what your dirt needs, or has too much of.
Steve
After help from Adam's post, I did some web research. It seems that Ruscus hypophyllum is used in the flower trade. It is a member of the lily family. Propagation is typically done by division of the underground rhizome. It does well in shade.
Nice and green!
Here is a link that might be useful: Ruscus hypophyllum
I got sick of my Nancy Hayward climbing rose that hardly ever flowered despite supposedly being an ever bloomer. I hacked it back to less than a metre and got ready to dig it out of the ground and unload it on a friend who doesn't mind flowerless garden thugs. This morning I noticed a whole lot of flower buds on it. I don't know what I did right.
I have two kinds yellow roses. my Julia child roses so far have been slow to grow for me. one is getting black spot so far and the other is just not really doing anything. now my other yellow rose strike it rich is just doing great! it has blooms all over it and new starts on it and getting ready for more blooms. so far I have been disappointed in Julia child.
A little surprised to see the reception Sunsprite got here. I have both Sunsprite and JC, both 4 years old now. Sunsprite is a 7 feet tall, 3 feet wide bush now, and JC died almost to the ground last winter and is about 2 feet tall now. Yes, JC's bush shape is fuller than Sunsprite, but IN MY GARDEN, JC is not blackspot resistant. It was given he best spot in terms of getting full-day sun and good air circulation because DW is a big fun of the French Chef, but it spotted each year to the point of being 90% naked.
Don't get me wrong: JC is a great rose, and it can be spetacular in the right location (see Nanadoll's pictures). However, depending on the attributes that you are looking at, Sunsprite can be the superior rose. The only JCs I saw in person other than my own are at the botanical gardens in the City, none of which looks nearly as good/big/health as Nanadoll's or mzstich's (breathtaking!) .
A breakdown based on my own experience:
Bush shape: JC's bush is fuller, but it has twiggy growth as the plant vigor is affected by blackspot. (I don't spray). Sunsprite grows straight and narrow. JC might win if I spray, but l don't.
Flower: Sunsprite does not last long. JC bleaches out quickly. I like Sunsprite better, but that does mean anything at all as it is purely subjective.
Fragrance: both have strong fragrance.
Repeat: each had 4 flushes last summer, but Sunsprite's repeats have more blooms (and come with leaves).
Disease: needless to say, Sunsprite wins by a mile.
Sunsprite for me has been a truly carefree rose. It sounds that JC can be one at the right garden, but just not in mine. Sunsprite is one of a handful of roses that I have grown that I think beat out Knockouts in terms of being tough, reliable and environmental friendly IN WHERE I LIVE. In DC, the blackspot pressure is even worse than where I am and the strains of blackspot might be similiar to what are here. I would try Sunsprite first instead of JC if you don't spray.
Also, a second vote for Golden Fairy Tale, which has been ridiculously vigorous and total blackspot resistant here in my garden.
Can't remember which critter chomps out of the side of buds like that. All I do is snap off the bud, toss it out in the middle of my lawn, and go my merry way. Seems like by the time I notice such damage, the critter is already done eating and has gone his merry way.
Kate
Glad to hear you are feeling better! Gardening is such a stress reliever for me. On rough days I come home from work & work in the garden before I even come inside. It really helps me leave my work stress outside the house. :)
And I love roses! Glad to hear yours are doing so well!!
WOW... you guys are wonderful! Thank you SO much for your thoughts and suggestions. I think I'll give it a few more weeks before I throw in the towel and replace them with something else. In talking with others here in western ny, it seems that most everyone is experiencing the same thing, and that most new plant growth seems to be delayed.
When I pruned last month, I followed directions and left about a foot of growth. Most of it doesn't appear gray-dead and brittle (I've removed those parts); the bark seems to be reddish and still mostly supple. Would it be better to prune back even more or should I just leave it? What kind of fertilizer is best at this stage? Again, thank you for your help... I'm so clueless :(
Fertilizer cannot help plants until they have leaves. But the most popular fertilizer among folks here is Espoma Rose Tone, Plant Tone is just as good if you find it priced cheaper.
If you are pruning down by sections, look for a ring of green inner bark in the cross section. This indicates life. Canes that are only one year old will have green outer bark. These young canes should have white center pith. Brown pith in young canes indicates winter damage and calls for further pruning.
I feel your pain. It's not uncommon. I purchased Mary Webb from Heirloom and it turned out to be dark pink and not fragrant. I took it back and they gave me another rose.
I just posted a rose that was supposed to be Heirloom but turned out to be Electron. Am glad that I did because I love it.
Hard to know what your rose is until the bloom opens, and you can tell if it is fragrant -- see how it grows.
Another way to gradually amend a large bed -- in Autumn, gather neighborhood leaves and shred them. Apply as a top-layer over existing mulch. In mid-Winter to early-Spring, scatter high-nitrogen organic fertilizer (blood meal, Milorganite, lawn fertilizer, whatever) over the shredded leaves. Don't worry about the fertilizer kick-starting your plants -- most organic granular fertilizers need to break down before they're available to the plants, and that doesn't happen until things warm up in Spring. But the extra nitrogen will speed up the breakdown of the Autumn leaves, and encourage earthworm activity which will further mix your soil.
:-)
~Christopher
Cecily I use Drench and systemics - Neem also.. Thanks for the suggestions. Diane nj I have been wishing to go to the M Arboretum for a while. I have an excuse now, might even bring some roses. The McCartney rose always gets the most questions in the garden. I always sing 1 2 3 4 like himself when in the garden. I love that guy. I helped with Shrek farmerduck and was thinking about some of the Kordes fairytale roses. We have a wedding this August dd, The Southern roses are intriguing.
Try to plant them deeper next time. I have a feeling they were planted more deeply in the pot, right about where the first leaves start. After they're planted, step down lightly on the soil all around the rose to make sure the plant is anchored securely in the soil.
Its a beautiful rose. This was mine before transplanting.