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Copyright © 2008 by Greater Harrisburg Rose Society. All rights reserved |
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Rose Care 101- May by Mary D. Slade Continue your weekly spray program to prevent black spot and powdery mildew. Fertilize with 10-10-10 or 5-10-10 granular monthly or use a water soluble fertilizer every two weeks. You might want to give your roses a mixture of 1 Tbsp Miracle-Gro, 1 Tbsp fish emulsion and 1 gallon water two weeks before a rose show. Don’t forget to water your roses. If you want exhibition hybrid tea roses, you should start disbudding. Disbudding is a technique required by ARS exhibition rules for all one-bloom-per-stem hybrid tea and grandiflora roses. Failure to remove all side buds is grounds for disqualification of your entry. Disbudding allows the developing bloom to receive all the nutrition carried to the bloom by the stem, resulting in a large regal rose. I disbud my roses daily. June is the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I don’t know about you, but I am getting impatient waiting for my first bloom flush. After the bloom has faded, it is time to deadhead. Deadheading will encourage new and strong growth needed for the next cycle of bloom. Most people cut to the first five-leaf leaflet. Depending on the height of my rose bush, I might cut down to the second or third five-leaf leaflet. I also remove all short growth on the lower third of my bush. This helps cut down or eliminates spider mites. Occasionally, I will remove large two year old canes. This practice helps maintain good air circulation and leaves space for all new canes to develop. Remember, I am one of those rose growers who want quality, not quantity, on a rose bush. Rose Care 101- July by Mary D. Slade This has been a trying spring for my roses. I feel like all the insect pests that were kind to me over the past years decided that they would take out their revenge in one season. First, there were thrips, next to appear were the aphids, and last the spider mites moved in for the finale course. With the mild winter we had, I don’t know why I was surprised when these pests came to dine in my garden. Isotox Formula IV was used for the thrips and aphids. For the spider mites I hosed down the rose leaves and removed the short blind growth and damaged leaves on the lower third of the bush. The good news is that I did not see any signs of rose midge this spring. By now you should have deadheaded. Remember make your cut about ¼” above the first five-leaf leaflet that faces the outside of the bush. You want to keep the bush open for good air circulation. In about 40 days, depending on the petal count of your roses, you should have your second flush of blooms. During the hot dry days of July, don’t be afraid to wash off your rose plants early in the morning. You need to get rid of the built-up spray on the foliage, urban dirt, and those pesky spider mites. Continue your spray program and water roses that have been planted less than 1 year. For those of you who want to exhibit at a fall show, you will need to prune your hybrid teas, grandifloras, and floribundas July 24th to July 30th for a September 14th show. Since I don’t like to give up my August blooms, I don’t prune for an early district or national fall show. You will also need to liquid fertilize and give all your roses lots of water during August to have show quality roses. Rose Care 101- September by Mary D. Slade As I write this article, I find it hard to believe it is the end of August and time to start thinking about getting our roses ready for the winter. I am looking forward to cooler temperatures and the rich colors of the fall bloom cycle. During the first three weeks of August, I had some very nice blooms. They were bigger and better than I thought they would be despite our weather conditions. In order to conserve water, the established roses were watered every 14 days and the roses planted this spring were watered every 7 days. I did not fertilize and only sprayed with Immunox once in August. That was after we had a short thunder storm on August 15th. I will keep an eye on the roses and as soon as it gets cooler and we have rain I will resume my weekly spray program. Remember cool nights and warm days will increase our chances for powdery mildew. While it was too hot to work in the rose garden, I spent several days evaluating and selecting roses for my new 2003 gardens. Plans call for 32 new roses of 18 different varieties of hybrid teas and floribundas and 11 new daylilies. Final selection of roses will be made after I see what looks good at the National Rose Show in September. Rose Care Schedule for Fall August 15-September 15 Water, water, water. Liquid fertilize every other week. (Only necessary if you want to enter a fall rose show). September 15 Stop Fertilizing. Stop deadheading. Start removing decaying petals. Roses need to slow down and start preparing for the winter. September and October Continue your weekly spray program to prevent black spot and powdery mildew.
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