22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
In my z4 area, I plant grafted roses with the bud union (graft point between the root stock & the above ground branches) 3-4" underground. Own root roses, which is how Morden Sunrise is usually sold, I planted 1-2" deeper than the soil depth in the pot they came in.
Thank you, Henry. I was also told by a nursery that I should prune my roses to avoid the disease. He said that it takes more time for the mite to travel inside the rose than they previously had thought, and it usually enters high on the rose since it floats in the wind. I good deterrent is to prune hard in the winter.
I appreciate your links on this disease, and am pleased that the site here in Oklahoma, at least, is asking for samples to be tested.
Sammy
There's a difference. MG is a fertilizer. MM and Rose Tone are soil amendments formulated especially for roses.
I've used MM for over 10 years and wouldn't switch. As others have said, Rose Tone didn't have alfalfa in earlier formulations and had that feather stuff (yuck). Lots of rose societies started buying "home-mixes" that competitors came up with to compete with MM. AFAIK, none include the milorganite - only MM. I tried such a mix and it wasn't as good. Neither is alfalfa tea (I will never do that again!!) as good as MM.
Don't buy MM if you're looking for lots of blooms. That's not where it's focused. However, if you want to maximize new basal shoots and very strong new stem growth, then MM is the trick.
Use fertilizer separately to promote blooms and good leaf health - but sparingly. Use as much MM as you can afford. ;-)
Agree with many of the posters - Peace can vary considerably, depending on conditions. I have had flushes with almost no pink whatsoever. Keep in mind that the pink in Peace is very subtle. It's mostly a pale-yellow to white, with pink highlights in good sun. Lots of rain and cloudy days combined with high heat will turn mine into a pale yellow with little highlights.
The leaves look right to me - although as some have said, the photo and lighting are not exactly conducive to a good ID.
There is no such thing as "an enclosed back yard" when it comes to deer. They laugh at 6 ft fences and higher.
If you can see no tell-tale signs lower down on the bush - broken stems from being bent, etc. and the flowers are up high, but cleanly be-headed - it's deer, period.
They will also go after new shoots at the tops of stems - but leave the woody parts and mature leaves.
I should've added - classic deer signs are when you are looking straight at a mature bush and nothing whatsoever appears to be wrong. Then upon closer inspection, you notice that all the buds the bush had the day before are suddenly gone with neatly trimmed stem tips remaining, instead. ;-)
Here in Livermore (hot and dry summers with occasional marine influence usually -- but a lot of marine influence for some strange reason this year), I cured the persistent powdery mildew on shrub-form Devoniensis by moving the plant from the east side of my back yard to the west side of my back yard. Like magic, no PM thereafter.
I have also (inadvertently) done the experiment with too little water and instigated PM. The same plants, if well-watered, do not get PM nearly as bad as when they are not watered well.
And, as said before, some roses get terrible PM no matter what you do. They are soon gone from this garden (so, the answer to your question about avoiding is "yes" in my case -- too many great roses that don't get PM to suffer with the blight and effort required with one that does. Every day I see my neighbor's 'Dorothy Perkins' peering over the fence as a reminder of what a dedicated mildew-er can achieve, blight-wise.)
This post was edited by catspa on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 19:10
No word yet. You know how local government is, hurry up and wait. Meanwhile I have fluorescent tape and spray paint all over my front yard :( My only positive though on the subject is if I do have to dig all those teas up is that I could move MBRC slightly left and back in the bed to allow her to get even larger. If you do plant MBRC, leave plenty of room!
Kim, thanks for the clarification on musk and multiflora. We're also told that multiflora doesn't do well in our climate and having ordered some multiflora rooted roses several years ago, I can attest that every one of them has since died. The Ballerina was inherited about 15 years ago and is own-root. Had to have a cage built for it to keep it from overtaking the rest of that bed and keep it up off the ground. I don't prune it much 'til the new spring growth comes out and then only take out the dead stuff that I can reach. The nuisance rose in my garden is Belle Amore. It was grown from a cutting and is well over 6ft tall and grows wherever it doggone well pleases. Could be in the neighbors yard by now, too.
It's quite possible what they are selling are "maidens". Usually, a newly budded rose (maiden) is simply one shoot. They are traditionally pinched or pruned back to the first bud to encourage them to branch. Each bud has a 'guard bud' on either side of it. The maiden's shoot is the central bud, the usual one which grows when you prune to a bud. Cutting that off stimulates the two guard buds (one on either side) to break into growth, producing the two branches we're most often used to seeing on a new bare root.
If these are maidens, yes, it is possible for them to produce good, heavy plants. As long as the variety is one which is genetically capable of producing that kind of plant; it's grown and pruned properly, it should result in a decent plant. They are probably taking the lazy way out by selling maidens. That way, they don't have to do the initial pinch nor wait for them to produce the usual branched new growth. The real down side is a maiden is often a weaker bud union because it is younger and only one cane, so its base is smaller with a smaller contact area to the root stock. That makes it more easily damaged or even destroyed. But, it SHOULD be a lower price plant than a Grade 1 bare root. Kim
All the Knock Out roses are "shrub" roses--they grow about 4 ft tall and 3.5 ft wide--but depending on what region you live in (and which Knock Out rose you select) they might be bigger or smaller than that.
About all you need to do with Knock Out roses is dig a nice hole--(you can mix some humus in, if you wish), plant it about the same depth it is in the nursery container, and water in well--as in very, very well. There--now you are ready to go. If the weather gets dry, water it--otherwise let nature water it.
Don't worry about feeding it the first couple months, or even for the first growing season. Next spring, feed it with something like Rose-Tone (or Plant-Tone).
You might want to put a couple inches of mulch around it, keeping it back several inches from the main stem.
Now, enjoy the bright color Knock Out brings to the garden.
Kate