21,402 Garden Web Discussions | Roses


If there is doubt as to whether a cane is dead, cut off a bit and examine the cross section. With live wood, you will see a thin ring of green inner bark.
If all the canes are dead, the plant is probably dead. If there is some live wood, the plant will probably grow out in time.
Mid March is optimal for zone 6 bare-roots, but late April is not so late that you should expect widespread failure.

I'm in zone 6 and I can never plant in March. The ground is still frozen. I usually can't plant until mid-April. And this year it's only just gotten warm enough the last week or so TO plant. I don't know where you are and there are a lot of different conditions that are all zone 6 but it's been very cold and very wet here this spring and everything is behind in growth. So I'd say it's no where near too late for planting.
Kate and Michael have good points about checking the canes. If they're green do what Kim suggests and they should be fine. And relax and be patient. 10 days is way too soon to be worrying. They need time to settle in and get some root growth going before you can expect to see much or any top growth.


I agree grass is a waste. You fertilize to make it grow then you cut it, then people spray chemicals to kill the weeds so the grass will grow more so you can cut it.
I am doing as much as I can. Because I am up in age, bad back I am doing what I can with the roses but most of mine will be fruit trees, ornamental bushes and hard scape. The roses do not like me but I am working my way through the list to see what will survive.
All you zone 5-6 people please continue to post and report what is surviving in our zone.

Yes, when the plants are smaller, the blooms will be smaller. (I notice, this spring, that our 5-Y-O "Old Town Novato" has never had such large blooms as it does this spring.)
They may get MUCH larger as they mature, they may have more fragrance, and probably more petals.
Frangrance is the MOST changeable thing -- altering with all sorts of changes in the plant's environment.
All in all, watching roses develop as the plants mature is a pretty interesting business. :-)
Jeri

Newly planted roses are prone to wilting. If the buds die I prune them off, otherwise I don't remove buds.
Austins can take years to establish, and in hot summer weather the blooms can fade quickly. As the plants become established the blooms last longer.




Preen products contain a pre-emergent herbicide. In layman's terms, it keeps seeds from germinating -- and that's how it keeps beds weed-free. It won't kill existing weeds but will keep new weed seeds from germinating. Keep in mind that it actually prevents ANY seed from germinating, so if you have beds with self-seeding annuals, you will keep those seeds from germinating as well. If the only annuals you grow are those you put in as plants (either purchased as such, or grown from seed in trays to be transplanted into the beds), then you're fine.
I don't think the products are necessarily bad, but I wouldn't use them because I like the idea of self-seeding annuals (they'll be the icing on the cake after I get the roses and perennials planted). If that's not an issue for you, then ignore my warning.
:-)
~Christopher


I have been growing this one for 3 years. I think mine came from Palestine the last year they were able to sell the Freelanders. IT was noticebly smaller in its first year, catching up a bit last year. I don't remember how big it is this year but its doing fine. It is not nearly as huge as some of the other Freelanders. The flowers are beautiful and fragrant.

For rabbits I make cylinders of hardware cloth or chickenwire. Measure out about 5 feet of hardware cloth or chicken wire, cut with wire cutters, then wire in 3 places to make a cylinder. Put around rose bush and use sticks or stakes to hold in place. the local nursery recommends burying it a few inches. For squirrels you might have to make some kind of lid. As I recall the square foot gardening guy (who was a retired engineer) recommended making some kind of cages to protect veggies.

Squirrels will reach through regular chicken wire (1" mesh) if it's something they really want, so you have to make cages/cylinders out of aviary wire (1/2" mesh). That really does work, I've used it for many containerized vegetable plants. Hardware cloth is usually 1/2" mesh, but it costs more unless you buy 100 foot rolls.


Agreed! I predict, if given half a chance, this could become our next Iceberg type landscape rose. It just isn't as shade tolerant, but it is very healthy and flowers like a weed. Kim
Here is a link that might be useful: Pretty Lady

Time lapse cameras are around a hundred dollars and don't even have to be attached to a computer. Check out Lee Valley for several.
For night and day, motion activated cameras check out cameras designed for hunters. I know several folks in the country who have them, just to see what varmints (2 and 4 legged) might be using the road to their place up on the mountain.
A neighbor's house was under construction and his camera caught the local teen who stole his kitchen cabinets before they could be installed.

I wonder sometimes about people taking potted plants from the garden. I try to put the potted plants in back. People were stealing plumeria branches a few years ago. That seems to have ceased as everyone has planted it. Although, I read on the plumeria forum that some theft is still happening around Huntington Beach. The prices for plumeria are also dropping at the swap meet. I had fruit stolen and have seen gardeners harvesting fruit for themselves off the trees next door to where they are mowing. I have had whole 6' potted tulip plants taken in the night. I think anything potted and valuable like a sago palm or a Japanese maple would be a temptation.

Thank you, Predfern. I appreciate the info. very much. It's good to know which one is wimpy as own-root, so I'll get that grafted.
I have problems with Nahema being stingy. It's pathetic in a pot, while Sonia Rykiel pumped out 15 blooms in the pot. In the ground, Sonia Rykiel is a champ in the spring (big bush). In the ground Nahema is pathetic after the winter, so few leaves. Others report Nahema as stingy.
I wish I know what makes Nahema work? Thanks for any info.
This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, May 3, 13 at 16:43

Scentimental's new canes are rediish but suckers of Dr Huey or Multiflora will be green. You should be able to tell easily what is a sucker and what is not. Scentimental is very vigorous so I suspect that what you see are just huge canes. I've seen quite a bit of this in the short time I have been growing roses in California.

I'll take a closer look tomorrow, but I think the climbing canes are pretty close in thickness to the regular canes. They are green, not red, so maybe I'm misreading them - maybe they are Dr. Huey. They didn't bloom this year, and Dr.H would have bloomed by now, but I'll wait and see if I get any Scentimental blooms during the rest of the year. The plant has been there at least 10 years, maybe more.




Thank you! We are quite rainy at the moment, but I will look for spider mites when the rain is over.
I do not have a terrific camera and will try for a better picture when the rain passes- but hopefully you can see the dark area on the left leaf toward the tip.
These markings are only on the leaves at the bottom of the shrub. I had clipped the curled leaves before taking this picture, and will watch for any more to develop. Hopefully this is nothing-- I think I'm just antsy since it's my first David Austin!
Thank you again for any suggestions or advice.
Doesn't look like mites. Badly infested leaves have a gray-yellow pallor with fine stippling. It is probably nothing to worry about. Don't remove green leaves that are producing fuel for growth.