21,400 Garden Web Discussions | Roses


Tomato cage is a good idea.
Planting directly into the ground never worked for us. We have weeds, dogs, gophers, and general chaos. But your plants are quite well-grown, so if your area is controlled and civilised, with no dogs running amok, you may be fine.
Jeri

My new favorite site, Forvo, gives the pronunciation of Beauharnais.
Here is a link that might be useful: Beauharnais pronounced

Marvelous, Kitty! Congratulations! I'm glad, but it's not really "my" technique. It's what has been suggested for bare root planting for many decades. It's "heeling the plant in", keeping it cool, damp and moist so it doesn't dry out until it has a chance to develop roots and grow. Warm and bright pushes leaf, cane and flower production. Cool, damp and dark stimulates root growth instead of top growth. It only made sense to encourage them to do what was desired, that was the way to go! I'm glad it's done what it was supposed to with your Reine Victoria. Nature is pretty amazing (and logical) isn't she? Kim

Cuttings turning brown instead of callusing appears to me to be either insufficient stored nutrients and/or too wet paper. Fuzzy mold sounds like too wet paper. Once they've begun turning brown, they're toast. Good callus and root with a bit of fuzz at the upper end, as long as it doesn't involve all the growth buds, can often be cut off after they are potted and doesn't always grow back as long as the surrounding air is dry enough. If the whole cutting is fuzzy, don't fret with it, just dump it and try another. Kim


About 6 weeks ago, Gregg sent an email from Vintage stating that the import roses will not be shipped before the Fall of 2013 because the USDA has not yet released them from quarantine. The final USDA inspection is scheduled to take place in August.
A number of the 2010 & 2011 French import roses died. As Susan states above, Gregg sent a separate email to people who ordered those, informing us that they will not be available.


Harmonyp you are in the same situation I was in. I was told to try them in mostly sand just to prove it was not me, just the soil. And so it was. Same with azaleas. Try it for yourself. I have about a 50% chance of saving them by moving them to better soil. If they are in decomposed organic based soil, they will not survive. Being in the ground in soil that is about 10% organic matter as long as it is acid and fast draining ( preferably with some sand ) with mulch or leaves on top is fine. In pots, they need almost perfect conditions. Potting soils rot too quickly and they begin to decline. If your water makes the mix more alkaline, it happens rather rapidly.



I understand how you feel. My late father had his favorite rose (Mister Lincoln) and whenever I see a perfectly shaped velvety red bloom I think of him. Do yourself a favor and purchase two of JOHN F. KENNEDY. That way you'll have one for yourself. JFK does produce beautifully formed large blooms that possess a very strong fragrance; something that can't be said for many white Hybrid Teas.
Image of JFK by Jeaneli-5b Nova Scotia at Hortiplex

Buy 3 bush's of Black Magic and plant then close together (18" apart triangle). A special rose for a special person. If you have a sunny, south facing wall against you're home, that would be great. But wherever you plant them, winter protect them come mid Nov. With good protection you shouldn't have any problems growing this beautiful rose.

I'd say go for it with the original Black Magic. I've had a grafted Black Magic in my yard for 5 years, and as long as you bury the graft a few inches it has never had much trouble coming back from the winters here in zone 5 Nebraska. Sometimes I have to prune it fairly low, but it has been a reasonably tough rose here. I do have this one planted in my zone 6 "pocket", and you might choose the south side of your house or another protected area if you want to give it a little more security. You can also do as I do and add some winter protection in its first few years if you feel like it - I place cut up 1/3 of filled leaf bags next to (but not touching) the rose all around AFTER the ground has frozen. This rose in my yard survived before I started doing that, however.
If you're looking for other roses the same color as a backup, Black Lady and LavaGlut are both equally dark and totally hardy in zone 5, though the blooms are a bit smaller (particularly for LavaGlut). Schwarze Madonna is pretty close to Black Magic and it's from a breeder that makes them tough (Kordes). It has grown well for 2 years so far here. Black Baccara is only in its second year so far for me, and it's fairly gangly and leggy, but it has those to-die-for dark blooms. Frances Dubreil/Barcelona is a looser form Hybrid Perpetual, but it has that lovely dark color and a scent to die for, and don't be fooled - it's cane hardy in zone 5. Nigrette is the same lovely dark red and seems to have survived, but it's a fussy pants rose and never gets anywhere close to the 5' that Black Magic will grow.
Among the alternates you mentioned, Deep Secret is one that I've tried 3 times that simply will not overwinter in my yard. Black Pearl might have survived the last winter, but it was a mild winter. Both of those are notably less hardy for me than Black Magic, even though the breeder Delbard is usually hardy for me with most of their roses.
Bottom line suggestion from me is to buy the Black Magic (or several if you have the space) and surprise your wife. It's a lovely sentiment and she'll be thrilled at the surprise, and Black Magic has as good or better chance of thriving in zone 5 as any other HT. Just be sure to prepare your soil well by mixing in organic materials in the area, bury the graft, and water well the first year.
Cynthia


I can't wait for my Bolero to get going. Last year was a hint of good things to come. Lola-lemon I think you are right about what a good rose F. Mistral is for a beginner. Maybe I should have chosen that over Memorial Day.
I bought a Firefighter the other day after thinking that this rose takes time to get going and the sooner I plant one, the better... otherwise I get to hear all about it and then I decide I want one and then wait three years for it to make the magic.
Wouldn't you like to be the lucky newbie with any of these great lists of roses? Just add in your favorite colors I left out.

I also have a lot of newbies, and noid roses- While a couple of the unidentified roses are my favorites- I will stick to named varieties.
R- Ld. Braithwhite
P-Scept'rd Isle-even as a newbie bloomed it's head off
B-Watercolors
y-Julia Child
Wild-Evelyn
L- angel face


It's just a baby.
Downside of NOT pruning, only one I can think of would be if a cane is able to injure someone walking by. Safety first!
I don't do a major pruning of climbers every year, only every three years or so, with just a light or moderate clean-up in the off years.

I'm training it on three small arbors that already had Don Juans on them. The DJs aren't spectacular bloomers but were gifts from my children so they aren't going anywhere. Like everyone says, this rose is very thorny, and I'm constantly hefting up runners off the ground and onto the arbors. the canes are so lax, it just sprawls all over until tied up. Having said that, I'm not displeased with it intertwined with the DJs. It had been blooming spectacularly until our last few freezes.

thanks everyone. I've been using Rosemary, Lavender and other traditional english garden base plants, but was hoping to find a traditional rose that would cover those legs. Kind of like a great big blob of roses against one wall, but I don't want them fighting for water or snuffing each other out.

I too have hard clay soil, which is why my limit is planting four a year. I ordered five this year, but one is going in a pot. I too dig my holes than take a day or two off. We do have a roto-tiller which helps though. To refill, I use my wheelbarrow, mixing my soils in that before dumping them in the hole. As far as drainage goes though, if you dug down deep enough you should be okay. I dig my holes 2 1/2 feet x 2 1/2 feet. I have put a few inches of water in them and sometimes they do see to hold water too long, but I have never had any problems.

Since I haven't bought any roses in a long time, Iost track of the bareroot season. Local nuseries say that it is from after Christmas to mid February when the remaining roses are closed out. I waited until the day before St. Patricks day to plant St. Patrick. A month ago the soil was probably a lot wetter. I was getting pretty large orders from Hortico and Pickering and planting 10 roses a day. I struggled to get over 20" depth on these. The ground was rock hard.


One inch of cover is plenty for NJ and will not discourage own-rooting (if the plant wants to do it). Don't bully your plants. Own-root is not good for many roses, including probably a majority of hybrid teas. Roses will survive very deep planting, but the reduced oxygenation can incapacitate the rootstock roots and slow the plant's development somewhat.
I've dug deep-planted roses that had no own-rooting, but all the feeder roots developed from the rootstock shank, while the fleshy rootstock roots had not grown at all. This was in a location with adequate drainage.
1" - 3" is fine for my part of NJ (Monmouth Cty.). 6" is too deep (in my opinion).