22,795 Garden Web Discussions | Roses


I think it's really just a freak, random occurrence that happens sometimes in early spring. My SCENTIMENTAL has done that the last 2 springs. Just one stem turns white. Usually it will end up dying off before a bud forms. This yr it actually bloomed and the leaves and stem eventually turned green.

Prarie, I think that's a good idea. Although this winter was a particularly hard one, for an average winter I think you'll see they don't need as much cutting back as you think.
In any given winter you know you are going to have some winter kill on the canes. That's a given. If you've already cut them to 18 inches it's going to start from there. If you leave them longer, let's say 36 inches, then it will start from there and go down. On the 18 inch cane you may get 6 or 8 inches of kill leaving you only 10 inches to start with in the spring. If you lose 18 inches on the 36 inch canes you'll still have 18 inches of cane to start with in the spring. Some years you may not have as much die back and others, like this one, there could be more but you'll still end up with larger plants the majority of the time.
I know the books say to prune in the fall. "That's the way it's always been done." But there is newer thinking on a lot of those "rules" and in my opinion for good reason. As I stated earlier the rose stores a lot of energy in the canes. That's the energy it counts on having in the spring to regenerate. If you cut it all off in the fall you've just cut it's chances of surviving to come back for you. That deep pruning in the fall may be why a lot of people in cold zones have lost a lot of roses that may have made it otherwise. And why roses have such a bed reputation as being finicky.

Also looks like rose slugs to me. The babies can only rasp at the leaves so it has those semi-transparent spots. These guys hang out underneath the leaf and when they are big enuf to see they look like a skinny green miniature caterpillar.
I've tried to handpick but gave up one year with a huge infestation. Systemic worked very fast. Only one dose needed.
Not sure if the yellowing is directly related.

Wow, what great help, thank you! I never thought the leave spots would also be a little critter! It's a very small plant so I'll see this morning if I can just wipe down the leaves as I don't have any insecticide. It's also a small area of the plant so I'm sure I'm catching it early on. Much appreciated, so glad I asked!


What are the exact ingredients listed on the label?
Previous thread:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roses/msg0212354624129.html
Here is a link that might be useful: link to earlier thread


Thanks all, I ordered 2 Zephys. There were few nurseries that still had some in stock. Martha was hard to find and when found it was sold out. I knew that it was late to order but happy to get the 2 Zephys. Now if we could just get rid of the ice on Lake Erie and get this spring rolling. Happy garden season to all. I am sure we are all itching to get out in the garden.

CLIMBING CLOTILDE SOUPERT, the climbing sport of the Polyantha bush. Not a rose for every location but in the East can be exceptional. Absolutely miserable (from mildew) in hot, dry climates. Does wonderfully here in the Mid-Atlantic. Very reliable repeat bloomer, shade tolerant, foliage is resistant to black spot, and few thorns on the canes. The rotund buds will ball when it is cold/wet but once the summer heat hits they open into breathtaking petite blossoms possessing an intensely sweet fragrance.
Image of Clotilde Soupert by HollySprings-8a at Hortiplex
Here is a link that might be useful: Climbing Clotilde Soupert at the Antique Rose Emporium

I've only had Midnight Blue for one year now, and the first time it bloomed I, too, was disappointed. The next batches of blooms (the first had only one bloom) were much more purple and I was quite happy with the result. I had a mild summer last year, so I don't know how different the blooms look in different tempuratures. Either way, it's healthy and vigorous for me with lots of lovely blooms!
I hope yours will make you as happy as mine has made me.

There is no such thing as a blue rose. Not even the transgenic roses with delphinidin are blue because the cellular pH of the rose genus isn't acidic enough to express blue. As for purple roses most start out a deep saturated crimson red that progressively "blues" until shades of purple and violet are achieved. The color is extremely unstable and rarely lasts more than a day or two as the bloom fades out to grayish mauve.

Lost SDLM. Was pushing it with that one and kinda expected it. My Princess Alexandra of Kent is questionable. Will replace immediately if it doesn't make it. Also worried about my Constance Spry. Will find new climber if need be, but it might not be another Constance. She's beautiful and one of my earliest, but they don't seem to hang around very long.


I bought this rose at the close of the local rose field for the season, not sure if that was August or September. But I picked it up because it looked (most of the roses looked rather sad at that point) and was busy blooming.
This is its first spring in the ground so guess we will see how well it reblooms.

Climbing roses are rose bushes with long, flexible branches that can be tied to the fence. They will never develop 'tentacles' like a grape vine. Ramblers are extremely large climbing roses that bloom once per year (in spring). A climbing rose will cover an archway. A rambler will cover the whole garage.
When your new roses become established, they will send up new canes (branches) that will be soft and flexible. These are the canes that you will tie to the fence. You can use various materials to fasten the canes to the fence (twine, old pantyhose, etc). I hope this helps.

As Cecily said climbers do not have tendrils, like vines do, to latch on to things and climb on their own. They must be trained and tied to trellises and supports in order to do climbing. If left untrained or unsupported they will form large fountaining bushes.
Climbers take at least 3 years, and more often 5, to begin to climb. It takes that long for the plant to build up a large enough root ball in order to feed and support those long canes all the way to the tips. And during that time they need to have support behind them. It's thought that if they know there is something there to support them they will then send out those long canes. If not they may not produce them.


Cancer was mentioned earlier.
The link below at the national institute of health indicates that young women - under 20 years old while DDT was widely used and that were exposed were five (5) times more likely to get breast cancer.
Back in the day there were commercials with pretty women being sprayed directly with the fog.
I know there are a lot of pink ribbons in this country. The study indicates that there could have been a whole lot more of them. Just one of the ways that Rachel Carson is a hero.
Here is a link that might be useful: DDT and Breast Cancer in Young Women: New Data on the Significance of Age at Exposure



How about new climbers in the ground? I just put down climbing Peace, but it still looks like a little skeleton with a few pink fingers here and there.. Should I expect any vertical growth anytime soon? Been in the ground about three weeks, since early April.
I have to admit that my climbing Westerland surprised me with very little winter die back. I had considerable damage to my HT's despite at leasr 2' of snow cover from the second week of January. Some are dead to the soil line.
The fact that Westerland was alive pretty much to the 6' I left on last fall is surprising. I never considered Westerland as a particularly hardy rose.
Let's hope all of you northerners experience some serious basal growth.