22,151 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

I assumed that your comment was covered by "tender climbing roses". i.e. I did not interpret that to mean that all climbing roses are tender but to mean that if you are growing a climbing rose that is tender you should------.

Sounds like good practical advice to me. And I'm glad they mentioned crab apple trees--I was just wondering the other day what might be the best time to prune my fairly young one. Those branches are a bit low to the ground.

Kate

Sharon----Thank you for saying very gently, what has neede to be said for a while.You have the gift to be able to say this gently. I don't have that gift. I'm no beginner to roses (1970's) or this form (1990's). Like you said, "this is a form to ENCORAGE people to grow roses. Not some place to scare them and run them off." I know every time I see a new rose grower on this form, I get excited in hoping they stick it out and learn to enjoy the world of roses. Now I'll be a good boy and stop here :)

I think most people come here because they like to share the enthusiasm for roses and there are always new things to learn. Like Henry said, sometimes several people will get on the bandwagon for a subject and that can give the impression that whatever's said is true. The strength in numbers thing. I am more concerned with that than unkindness here, which seems rare. I wish for more skepticism and Susan's " find out for myself" spirit. Sometimes even very experienced gardeners will all get on the "let's bash Austins" meme for example. I never understand the need to translate one's bad experience with a rose to " this rose is universally bad". So my plea is more with the reader: Don't believe everything you hear, do some research, get a number of opinions in different zones,
and rely on your own experience too.

I

Thanks Lyn, good advice, I’m sure next season I’m going to make an attempt to get some local help on the pruning front. :-)

Kim, Termites are that bad there? Have never heard of termites effecting garden plants here. Houses, yes, plants not so much. I think it would be unusual at least. I’ve heard that Hawaii has a huge problem with termites but I didn’t know gardeners in California have to deal with that. Sounds like you’ve found a way around it for the Butterfly Bush at least. Thanks for that explanation.

I love pruning actually. I’m limited in my understanding of what one plant or another need or don’t need it, but I think it really can make a big difference. I have perennial cranesbill and normally after they bloom, I just leave them alone and by fall they look pretty awful. This year after they bloomed, I decided to prune them back well and I was amazed at how fresh and healthy they looked the rest of the season. And I grow a couple of Ninebarks that are very tolerant of hard pruning and instructions often suggest you can prune to the ground every spring.

But that is a subject for another thread. Thanks and I think I have run out of questions on this thread. :-) Thanks again.

Kippy, I feel that way about some roses. Rose fragrance is something I would keep a plant for and surround with companions in it’s down time, even with just a few blooms.

I did a little more reading about the PRRGarden and the curator, said he rates each rose in the garden once a month and they have to be above a 6 to stay. he also has volunteers make their own evaluations twice a year to try to keep it objective.

You could be right about the way in which Austin benefits from having his plants in the garden there. And how the average consumer responds. I also think though that the fact they are trying to go ‘no chemical’ might attract more gardeners who are paying attention more to the overall health of plants.

I was also somewhat disappointed to learn that they still use some products on their roses. The article said they’ve reduced use by 86% and his staff ..’sprays sparingly for pests like spider mites and rose midges, but the formulations are lighter than in the past. Fertilizers are organic, with fish emulsion a favorite.’ I linked to one of the articles below for anyone who has an interest.

So that might be another reason why they are managing to grow Austins. I’d still like to visit their garden next year.

I think experimenting is fun and $25. is cheap enough for a learning experience and some entertainment as well. :-) Maybe you are onto something with the micro-climates. I’m always surprised at how differently a plant can grow when I move it around the garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seeking a More Vigorous and Self-Sufficient Rose in the Bronx

It's cool here too.. Not cold..wet, Not often. I haven't received it yet and am wondering what I will do with it. While I have soft and medium pink roses, I do not have baby pink. I thought I might plant it along a walkway with Marie Pavie instead of Clotilde Soupert but the color possibility is a concern.

Lynn

Well, it blooms all the time, so you are going to have to get used to it! She's a bloomin' fool. I usually call that color "common pink" because it is the most common pink to show up in seedlings. They definitely picked this rose for commercialization because of its bloomiferousness, not its color.

I like this one.

Oh yeah, that is the only problem with the book "The Rose" it is completely based off of roses that grow well in England and the big rose picture is out of that book.

I am not certain on Climate zones in England compared to the U.S., but I would imagine if it grows well in England it would do fine in Zone 6.

The thing about much of England is that while it doesn't get as hot as does much of the US in Summer, it also doesn't get as cold in Winter. From what I remember offhand, much of it is USDA zone 8 (give or take), so while things might not grow as vigorously in their cooler Summers, they also won't be as hard-hit in their milder Winters. Then again, as I remember from Plant Delights' happy zone-pushing, it's possible that when a plant has a more intense growing season, it can better handle a cold dormant season. And in any case, 'Lady Hillingdon' is one of the hardier Teas.

:-)

~Christopher

The pruning should be done in early, early spring, and NOT in the fall or early winter. If you are pruning fall and spring, that definitely is too much pruning.

I'm not sure what you are pruning for, so it is hard to give suggestions. You don't need to prune just for the sake of pruning. Here are some reasons I prune in my zone 6 garden in Kansas:

1. Prune out brown and dead wood.
2. Prune to cut off winter/freeze damage--I do a test cut near the end of the cane. If the center (pith) is a bright white, there is no winter damage and I do no more cutting back. If the center (pith) is "off" (kinda tannish), I go down the cane about 4-6 inches and cut again. If the pith is still not bright white, I go down another 4-6 inches and cut again--and so forth, until I reach bright white pith. This kind of pruning is usually limited to hybrid teas which, sometimes being a bit iffy temperature wise, suffer more from winter cold. The hybrid teas sometimes have to be pruned back nearly to the ground before good pith is available. (Check the hardiness number on your new roses--make sure they are winter-hardy for your zone.) Assuming most of your roses are hardy enough for zone 6, you won't need to do this kind of pruning for most of them.
3. Prune to control height--cut back at most by 1/3. But it is rare that height is a problem here, so I rarely prune just to control height. At most I may give the rose a very light "haircut" overall--a couple inches at most.
4. Occasionally I prune a bit for shape--a branch is jutting out too much, making the rose look lop-sided, so I trim back that branch a bit. I don't usually need to do much of this kind of pruning.
5. If a branch got broken off as a result of the winter winds, I make a smooth, neat cut immediately below the breakage. This rarely happens also.
6. With climbers, I avoid cutting back the long canes. Instead trim back the "laterals" growing off the long canes--make them about 6 inches long. It is those laterals that will probably produce the next set of blooms.
7. Occasionally a rose gets much too crowded in the center, so I thin it out. This rarely happens, however.
8. Prune to rejuvenate an older shrub. Cut out at ground level 1 or 2 old canes (they will often look grey and barklike). Do that each year for several years. New canes should be produced each year, and in about 3 years, you will have a "new" and "younger" rose bush.

Right off hand, those are the major reasons I can think of for pruning. And note that most of them are only occasionally needed. The only ones I regularly do every early spring are numbers 1 and 2: deadwood, and freeze damage.

Hope that helps.

Kate

Thank u so much for your replies seil and dublinbay - appreciate your advice! I will look to prune for general health and vigor right around the time that my forsythia are blooming. Thx again!

I've always thought that the high humidity and added warmth provided by the jar method was very important. So much so that I don't take the jar off until I'm sure the cutting is rooted or dead. If you put several cuttings in a plastic tub with a cover aren't you going to lose heat and humidity for all of them when to take the cover off? Also, with the jar method you can water to keep the soil moist without uncovering them.

Henry, that has not been a problem for us. Cuttings in a terrarium have plenty of warmth, and plenty of moisture.

If there's not enough condensate moisture cycling up and down, we add some. Our soil is alkaline as all getout, and not a treat for plants. Plus, in addition to plants, our garden houses three Dalmatian dogs, who have been known to dig vast holes in pursuit of the many gophers that infest the area.

ANYTHING is safer here in a terrarium.

We didn't invent the method. We learned it from the late Col. Mel Hulse, who had marked success with it, as do a number of other CA rosarians.

MOST of the time, now, our cuttings are in a small greenhouse. But if we're only working with a limited number, we still use the terrarium.

Jeri

More info

Here is a link that might be useful: click here for more info

Ha-Jim I just read there are 5,000 species of blister beetles worldwide--doesn't matter. They are nasty pests no matter how many species exist.
Here's my BB story: Several years ago, a black beetle began showing up on my yellow calendula, which that year I had all over the place. The insect was chewing the heck out of them. Spraying wasn't possible, nor did I want to try that route. So I ignored the ugly things. Big mistake. The next year, they were ten times worse. They seemed to love all kinds of yellow flowers--calendula was still number one, but yellow coreopsis and rudbeckia seemed to be good in a pinch. I decided the situation called for the gloves of death, so I put them on and went to work, easily "popping" hundreds of these nasties per day. I went out at set times and told myself this would be a fun job, and I sort of began to enjoy the popping sound, as well as the release of loudly cursing the things (yes, I'm nuts). I was shocked to find the insects on my Russian sage one day and even hollyhocks. They never bothered my roses, though. After a number of days of this bug killing, there were no more BBs to be seen. The next year, about 15 showed up, and I quickly popped them. The next year after that, there were about 12, and this year, a grand total of 2 blister bugs appeared. Each time, though, I didn't make the mistake of ignoring even two insects, and all bit the dust (my BBs are slow and stupid, trying to drop to the ground when on occasion I miss popping one). The moral of all this is: don't ignore them--eliminate them. And spray is not necessary. Just think of them as enemies of the garden and pop away. Diane

I hate the cutesy names. I refuse to buy a rose with a cutesy name.

Thank you, Mendocino Rose, Me too. I am glad to learn I am not alone in my distaste for cutesy naming.

Lol, Susan, that's a good way to look at it! I usually let winter take care of most of my leaves. Between the wind and early spring pruning I rarely have any left to pick off.

All a plant's energy for growth comes from green leaves in the sunshine. Some of this energy is stored for regrowth in the spring. Any leaves that are still functioning are performing a valuable service and should be left alone until the plant shuts down for winter.

You're right catsrose - thanks for catching a caveat to my advice above. I don't grow that many rugosas so I hadn't processed that they don't like pruning. Regardless, you're also right that it's a mistake to worry too much about shape in a relatively young rose. The bottom line Kelby is to check for reasons for the rose cane death or soil problems like Michael said, then just prune off the dead parts and give it basic care. The rose will decide what shape it wants to be and you can go from there.

Cynthia

This little fawn (just a few days old) was hiding in my species rugosas. It's a good close-up of how rugosas grow.

Viridiflora makes a splendid arrangement "filler" and actually adds a bit of a peppery scent to the vase. I grow it, and the Reversion, though the Reversion isn't as vigorous as the sport. Kim

I like the Green Rose and it does very well for me. I wish I had put it in a spot that shows it off more, altho one has to point it out to people, anyway, as they just assume it is out of bloom. I think of it as a bit backward, shy, humble, and feel rather protective of its self-esteem.