22,796 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

I live in a summer drought area and am decidedly frugal in my habits. I've had water conservation on my mind for about a quarter of a century now.
I don't water my garden during drought, except for plants that have been in the ground less than a year and, of course, those in pots. It must be said that we have heavy soil and usually get a fair amount of winter rain. The garden lives, no rose deaths. I don't know if casualties would be higher if a summer drought followed on a very dry winter. No doubt my chance to find out will arrive sooner or later, but for now I can't say.
I usually take rather scanty showers anyway, but in really dry summers I've set up a shower head out in the garden and showered there. You can do it wearing a bathing suit if the neighbors can see. Big secret: you can also pee in the garden--always if no one can see--and save yourself a lot of flush water, as well as adding nitrogen to the soil. Poop has to go in the toilet, however, for sanitary reasons.
I also carry out water for rinsing vegetables and use it on the potted plants. Water-efficient washing machines, shower heads and toilets, turning off the water while brushing your teeth, and so on, go without saying. I find I need to shower more in summer than in winter: I sweat more, and have more bare skin that can get dirty. There is the useful sponge bath if a daily shower isn't enough. There's also the cooling power of washing, important for us as we don't have air conditioning and don't have any swimming to speak of either--only the tepid town swimming pool.
Mulch helps, so does shading, from bigger plants, buildings, perhaps structures erected for the purpose of providing shade to particularly valuable or vulnerable plants. I greatly value my wisteria pergola in summer, when it shades most of my potted plants, as well as the ground floor of our house, and me.
My garden is predicated on the idea of no water in summer, so I've always tried to get plants that are adapted to my climate. No one can change their plantings in a heartbeat, and plants that do need summer water are going to suffer, no doubt about it. But if the drought is as bad as you Californians are dreading, and let's hope it won't be, you'll get some surprises, and some of them may be happy ones.
Melissa

We have regular 'hosepipe bans' in East Anglia - on sandy soil this is a pain. However, the only things I water at the allotment are potatoes and one deep watering for the tomatoes - perennials and roses are always on their own. Of course, my allotment does not look as lush as some of the pics I see on GW.....but once you go down that route of watering, you have to keep it up (a bit like ironing - another no-no as we all get addicted to smooth clothes).....so I just grow everything hard. It certainly winnows out the wimps and needy types - almost a whole 'prairie' garden gone, along with a number of precious species glads, schizostylus, primulas.....even stalwarts such as scabious....but on the other hand, the shrubby salvia collection is a source of as much delight as the roses (and they bloom longer, continuously and effortlessly) while most bulbs are absolutely stellar, loving the summer baking and winter chill.

The way I see it Mother nature already has pruned mine. Every thing that is above the mulch is dead! I don't start until the forsythia is blooming.

I start pruning as soon as the holidays are over, weather permitting, and keep on until either all the roses are done or spring is well under way. I have several hundred plants. Most of my roses are old or older varieties, and the reliably deciduous, cold hardy kinds--Gallicas, Albas, Mosses, etc.--can be pruned as soon as they drop their leaves, usually in late fall, so I do them first. Those kinds that want to be evergreen, like the Hybrid Musks and the Wichuriana ramblers, follow, then last of all come the warm climate roses, the Teas and Chinas and above all the big climbers, Noisettes, Tea-Noisettes and climbing Teas, that require a major annual pruning. These last I do in March when there's little danger of more snow or a hard freeze.
Pruning weather has been good this winter, unlike last year when the ground was covered by snow for much of the winter. Last winter I never pruned many of my roses at all, so they're due and overdue for a survey and cleanup. Also I have an assistant this year, a woman who comes one morning a week and clears or trims weeds and grass in the beds while I concentrate on pruning. She's a big help. And I find I enjoy the company while working.
Melissa

That's O.K. We were just trying to imagine anyway.

If there was a true blue rose on the market it would hit the big headlines and it would be on the cover of the American Rose Magazine, as they are in charge of all new rose registrations. Being a member of the American Rose Society, I would think that we might know it before the public.
As far as i know the prize money has not been paid.
As I recall the rose on the cover of the American Rose Society's Magazine was a almost sky blue.

Mulching is only done for 'summer' mulch. The kind of mulch that is put down for water conservation and weed suppression that goes *around* the rose and doesn't touch the canes.

If you must pile stuff on the roses, pile snow. It will obediently disappear when you don't want it, and does have a strong tendency to show up when you do need it.

If you bet on snow covering when it gets cold, you win most of the time. In more than 20 years, I only remember once when we had an open winter, and the roses didn't seem to mind that. If you bet on no January thaw that will cause fungal problems under some sort of winter protection, you will probably lose more than half the time. A lot more roses here have been killed by winter protection than cold, and I am north of you.

Boy, are you dreaming about the plants blooming by July in their first year
I don't get any good bloom for three years! Get yourself some nice annuals and plant them. You'll get tons of blooms from them. You won't with the roses ! Your zone 6, and not many roses are blooming at that time of year. It is too hot!

If that's an small, own root plant, you don't have any issues other than it is still immature. I'd bet if you pinch off the flowers to encourage that energy to go into plant creation, you'll have the results you want faster. What you're seeing is what happens with many which prefer to flower at the expense of growth. You may choose to accept its doing its own thing until it develops into the plant you expect, or you can encourage it to generate that bushy mass faster by not letting it flower until it more closely approximates what you expect. Either way, it'll get there. Preventing it from flowering should simply get it there faster. Kim

The way the weather has been around here the only place that I will cut is right at the base of the plant! I have to cut my back every year to the ground. Mine get pruned 3-4 times a year because I'm always cutting for a Show. The only rest they get is in July and August.

Micro minis also won't live indoors. it's not the size of the rose -- it's the conditions -- roses need to be outdoors, all sizes.

Mostly it's the light -- they need direct sunlight (which is a need not met by light through a window).

Roses are even hard to grow in a greenhouse! They have disease problems!

Thank you Seil and catsrose for your reply.
This is as Label states a "SUN FLARE"
Catsrose the red line with the arrow is where i assumed the graft is, so i will definatly not cut that especially that you confirmed my assumption.
Seil i noticed stuff growing from the hard wood, but i thought (from what i watched and read) that I am supposed to cut old wood and keep younger wiid since it is more vigorous and will give better roses and so on. If i were to do that should i replace a cane a year? is this even recommended for Floribunda Roses?

It isn't necessary to thin floribundas. Thinning is usually done for climbers. As I said, that rose looks pretty healthy as is so I wouldn't do much pruning except to the tips where there may be some dead wood I can't see.

I planted a variety of evergreen plants, both shrubs and groundcover types. These areas receive regular watering. I wouldn't be posting here if the problems were ordinary. They are not. I have noticed situations that I would not expect as a fairly experienced gardener. That is why I have posted here.

It is perfectly possible for fungal problems such as a verticillium wilt...or armeria....to cause growth problems. In the UK, land which has been used for growing roses is not suitable for growing other roses - Rose Replant Syndrome....or rose sickness......but this tends to only affect roses and close relatives in the rosaceae family.
A bit more information would be helpful - how are they dying? All of the plant? parts of the plant? Do they change, looking dry and shrivelled, say? Do they just fail to thrive? And pictures would be really useful, if you can.

There are several modern shrub roses that also have high center blooms. One that I have & really like is Dr. Buck's 'Honey Sweet'. The reason this rose & other roses he hybridized have this high center is that he used some HT's in his program to get different bloom colors & forms.

Here is a link that might be useful: Honey Sweet on hmf.com

Very true, any type of rose can have that form but it's usually associated most with hybrid teas I think. As in a rose having "classic HT form". But there are a lot of HTs that don't have that form either and would be considered more decorative than high centered. And even if a rose has that form the centers aren't always exactly "high" anyway. I get a lot of HTs where the centers are sunken in instead of thrust up. And it seems that happens a lot right around my show season, lol!

Sorry, you did say new growth. Maybe these new glasses need checking after all.

Here's what sunburnt rose foliage looks like:

That's a great example, hoov!

Thank you for the info kstrong.

I have Let Freedom Ring and picked up additional bare roots from the nursery last weekend. I ordered both Veterans' Honor and Opening Night but then thought they were the same so I exchanged Opening Night for Firefighter. Good thing that's not a bad decision since I really like florist/exhibition roses form that can perform well in the garden.

Here are the reds that I have (include the new bare roots):
-Scarlet Knight (my first red when I didn't know a lot about roses. I'm still learning.)
- Mr Lincoln (it turns pink sometimes and doesn't bloom very often)
- Ingrid Bergman
- Veterans' Honor
- Firefighter
- Chrysler Imperial
- Love's Promise
- Black Magic

I have a small garden but decide to set a goal for myself to plant the most velvet red HT rose. Wish me luck :)

You will love Firefighter...a great rose in form and scent. I have two!! Have you checked out Janice Kellog or Ascot? Both are lovely reds here in my KY. garden. Maybe someone in your area can comment on these. I just love red roses. Lesley

Don Juan did have a reproductive reputation...

If there was a "like" button on gardenweb, I'd "like" your comment, catsrose.