21,401 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

Susan -- I think pretty much all successful climbers need to be "trained." But I have to admit that SGMC, once given its structure, has pretty much done its own thing.
Looks a little ratty this spring, because we did not prune AT ALL, so I think it needs removal of some old canes. Big job, with something that large. ICK. My back hurts already!
Some folks we know grew MAC up a structure to the top of a latticework patio, where it spread out and bloomed, and I don't think they messed with it much, up there. I guess, up there, they couldn't see the mildew, either.
Jeri

Jeri--"up there" mildew doesn't matter right? ; )
I've only had mildew on Europeana and after I moved her to a sunnier spot she was fine. BS is a much bigger concern than mildew and rust here. I know you are older than me and I don't know how I'd make it without a garden "helper"! Your SGMC is gorgeous!
Plan 9, interesting you say Mermaid because I've been thinking of her....I just have this mental image of my house being swallowed by giant squid-like trunks of canes....I admire her though in photos.
Fortune's 5 up and died on me here near the spot where I want to put the climber but yes, it's likely 10 degrees or more hotter on that wall...
Thanks for the suggestions you all.
Susan

A few years ago, before I knew anything about soils, I planted budded roses in 5 gallon pots. I liked to see the rose before I planted and then if I didn't like the color or something, it was easy to give away rather than wait for next December to dig it out and pot it. The rose roots would be down lower and up above the potting mix would get too wet so I started planting annuals to dry out the upper layer a bit. After a few months, the roses would be ready for the ground and the cool season annuals would be on the way out ( we have 2 growing seasons here cool- late fall/winter/early spring, and warm - mid spring/summer/ early fall ) This was entirely my own fault since I was planting them deeper and covering the bud union trying to get them to self root.
If I tried to keep them in 5 gal. pots the summer would stunt them. If I planted them up into 15 gal. pots, I had to replant with summer annuals to keep the top of the mix from getting too soggy. I would always notice that the volume would drop as the mix deteriorated. I had to take them back to bare roots and replant in new mix in December or else the plant would grow poorly the next year. This will be my first year trying a more permanent pumice and sand based mix for my 15 gallon pots. Hopefully, the extra weight will help the pots stay upright when the fall winds begin to blow.
My dwf. apple tree did fine last year on a sandy loam soil in a 15 gal. pot but it was so heavy that I had to tip it out in place this year for bareroot planting into the ground. I like moving my roses around when the summer heat comes on so heavier pots might be difficult to manage. I'll just try a few on sandy loam and see how it goes this year.


I use to throw golf balls at them. Now my old arm has lost its zip.
Shooting them with a BB gun works best for me. My gun is weak and the BB's just bounce off their tough hide. But they don't like it and do stay away if I'm lucky enough to hit one.

Thanks Buford and Jeri, I guess it concerned me because of the rate at which it grew! This is the first season I've had potted deliveries this early and I guess it shicked me that the plant doubled in size within 2 weeks! I guess I should be happy :)
Tammy


You could hire a Kango hammer and break it up yourself - lots of noise and dust but also quite good fun - as long as there are lots of beers afterwards.
You don't actually need to remove all the concrete, just break it so you get some movement of water (drainage).
If you go that route, you may need to adjust for the increased alkalinity of the soil.


It is rewarding. And I hope that by seeing me outside in my yard, more people in the neighborhood will start spending time enjoying theirs as well.
I have a neighbor down the street that has the most beautiful outdoor furniture, heavy wood swings and benches. I've been here a year and a half now and I've never once seen her sit on them.
I have enjoyed gardening since I was very young, my grandfather was a gardener.
I don't know how many people who never gardened in their youth get started when they are older, I hope to make some converts around here.

I haven't had tennis elbow from pruning (I did have shin splits from tennis when I played in high school and college though haha), but I have had what the doctor called a "morton's neuroma" in my digging foot! After a couple of months of severe foot pain when walking, I finally went to an orthopedic doctor and he did x-rays. What he found was a thickening of tissue on the nerve between two toes on my right foot, . He said it was caused by irritation or repetative force on that area of my foot and forms a sort of benign tumor. When he asked me if I did any activity that would cause pressure in that area....I said digging in the garden! Two cortizone shots into the nerve (and a lot of pain from the shots) later, it went away...and luckily hasn't come back!
Tammy

I wanted to post this earlier but had to get permission first. Oh, I wish I could write like this !
The author was a rose hybridizer and this was published in an older New Zealand Rose Journal. I hope you all laugh as much as I did when you read this.
Nola Murray. Wanganui Rose Society. Hybridising Hazards.
For all that raising roses at my age does have its disadvantages: I'm prone to all sorts of mechanical troubles. Back-ache! How I've learnt to live with that one! As the curtain rises on the germinating seeds, the act commences, and I'm at risk.
Each year the ground recedes at an alarming rate as the structure weakens at the seams. Later on, when I'm weeding, fact-facing and finding among the seedlings, giraffe-like, my legs adopt a sort of flared-out position, and nuts and bolts fly everywhere. Talk about the agony and the ecstacy!
My eyes take their share of punishment too. When like a bee, I zoom on to the stigmas, I need my glasses. I put them on, I pull them off and attack them furiously with hard rubbing, and lots and lots of huffing and puffing. I replace them only to find that I'm no better off. It's not the glasses; it's old age creaking up and not seeing eye to eye with me.
Why can't all roses be accommodating and have nice long stamens that I can cut off with a pair of scissors? Some stamens, with their hide-and-seek games, seem bent on destroying me. My eyes smart, and, as the bough bends, the back aches and my legs feel like inflated balloons about to burst, but, as I start my skid on the disaster course, knotheadedness saves the day and - drives me on. It's a battle I'm determined to win. Straightening up-and it's no easy matter coming from right angles to the perpendicular-I emit a groan, breathe out some explosive unmentionables, grit my teeth and bend to the attack again. No elusive stamen is going to foil me! When you lack an eye like an eagle and want to cross pollinate, you just have to put up with all sorts of steering column problems.
Smiles,
Lyn

It isn't one that I recommend for cooler climates, your mileage may vary. Mine is 15+ years in the ground, it is a one-caned wonder, I don't dig it out because I can't get to it easily. It can have a bud about to open when I leave for work, and then fully open with stamens showing when I come home in the evening. Gemini, with somewhat similar coloring, is much better.


So many times people come here for advice and have a sad rose that needs help. This just proves that with some basic care an old rose might just thrive again. It's always worth a try.
I talked with a neighbor whose daughter moved to Colorado (where Dixie bought a house) and said that Dixie is doing well and has a lovely garden. The old neighbors keep in touch with each other. Dixie was always so beautiful. She reminded me of Doris Day and she smiled and laughed and loved bright colors. All her roses in that bed were bold 60s-70s era roses.



My previously perfect SdlM did have blackspot a while ago, as did a surprising number of other roses, and it's now affected with mildew, as are quite a few others, including Mutabilis. I'm going to turn my head and pretend it isn't happening and hope the plant straightens itself out. The SdlM on the other side of the house has been affected by neither. Is this what they mean when they talk about the excitement of growing roses?
Personally, I don't spray and if a rose has constant problems or doesn't outgrow them it's history, and I try to find one that is better suited to my conditions.
Ingrid

Posted this last year and it has held true for me, the holes in the cut ends cause me no worries. I suppose in theory you could have a carpenter bee nesting in the cut end and sawfly larvae in the stem itself but they seem to be active at different times. If I recall, the sawfly larvae was much earlier in the season than the carpenter bees.
Here is a link that might be useful: borers

I think I should clarify that the bee tunnels are only 2 inches. I don't think the bees themselves hurt the canes below 2 inches.
But canes which were drilled have dead wood streaking down from the bee hole. It goes 8 to 15 inches down the cane. Think of looking down at a pie, and seeing 3 of the 8 slices are rotten. The other side of the cane (5 slices) are fine. Budding and growing.
It looks girdled. Pruning it out did not turn up any other holes.
Sometimes the dead wood continues into the graft--other times it stops a few inches above.
So far, all pruning of unpruned canes turned up no dead wood.
I have since pruned the pot ghetto and the situation is the same. Any roses which do not have holes in their canes, do not exhibit dead wood. It's consistent. all bored, no unbored.
The bore holes that are the most problematic are the ones which are at the graft--the stump of an old cane which was removed all the way down. The bees have burrowed right into the graft. In several cases the graft looks damaged from freeze --which being holey in winter didnt improve.
So- I do not think the bee bored beyond 2 inches- but for whatever reason, the canes they bored have problems that no other canes have.
So, I plan to prevent further holes in the canes.


I am growing Little Darling from a band and it is doing just great - need to repot. Dont know about fragrance yet. You will adore the color of Fragrant Apricot! I grew it long ago, cant recall about fragrance, but ordered it last fall from Roses Unlimited - it is growing great in a pot and I am about to plant it in the ground. I have Honey Perfume on order - grew that one at another home, its a lovely color that looks wonderful with purple. Just planted a young Livin Easy. It is a luscious shade of orange sherbert, but thorny. Color is wonderful! Angel Face is indeed very fragrant, but needs to be sprayed for blackspot. One of my favorite colors of roses - will probably try another one. I have Julio Iglesais on order - I recall it being very fragrant.



See the following link for a discusion of Dr. Brownell's roses.
I would expect that, if virused, the chance of it appearing in the first few years would be greater in a cool climate than in a hot climate (the rose virus immune system does not function very well in cool climates for PNRSV - one of the more common rose viruses).
http://home.roadrunner.com/~kuska/high_temperature_effect_on_pnrsv.htm
Here is a link that might be useful: Discussion of Dr. Brownell's roses
Tammy -- good luck with your Reine des Violettes! I debated on that one so I can't wait to see how yours turns out!
Thank you very much for that link, Henry! Very interesting and informative read!
This post was edited by nummykitchen on Fri, Mar 29, 13 at 18:31