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ROSE CARE FOR OCTOBER
by Maureen Groper, Consulting Rosarian
by Maureen Groper, Consulting Rosarian
Nobody can deny that the weather has played havoc on our gardens this year. The late rains and the cool weather have affected my roses, my tomatoes, my zinnias and even my squash. This year I made my own compost and I have a very healthy “can of worms” providing me with castings and tea, so I have been using both of these as my fertilizer. Only once in the spring did I use the alphalfa tea. My last dose of compost was applied the first week of September. It’s hard to determine if I see any difference in my plants because of the disease damage done to my bushes. I do intend to use my compost again next year. It’s so much easier than mixing and applying the tea.
As I walk through my garden I am trying to see how my bushes can deliver the beautiful blooms that usually close the growing season. So often the last bloom is almost as spectacular as the first bloom of the season. I don’t see how that is going to happen this year. Many of my roses are practically devoid of leaves. I don’t spray so my only alternative is stripping the leaves and making sure all debris is removed from around the base of each rose.
According to Jolene Adams, NCNH District Chair of Consulting Rosarians, I’m not alone. In her article in the August issue of CR Talk she stated: “Many gardens sport naked roses – still blooming but with limited foliage available to feed their growth. It is hard to handle the dilemma of the spotted leaves – you should take them off to minimize the spread of more disease, but then the rose really needs leaves in order to make food for growth. Lucky for us that roses are hardy enough to keep on keeping on. Mostly.”
I am not good about sterilizing my Felco shears between bushes as I deadhead. I know you are supposed to wipe them off each time but I wonder how many gardeners do this faithfully. Does this help spread disease? According to Joan Goff, viruses may be spread by dirty pruning shears, but rust, blackspot and mildew are airborne and are spread by warm days and cold and foggy evenings, just like the weather we have had most of the summer.
Now I’m trying to evaluate each rose to determine if it will remain in my garden. I love the hybrid teas and the rare perfect blooms. The problem is most of them are stingy with their blooms in my garden. If I’m lucky I get three sets of blooms per season on each bush and the blooms are rarely as lovely as the first ones. My ‘Olympiad’ and ‘Color Magic’, both hybrid teas, are my prolific producers with many large, lovely, long stemmed blossoms throughout the summer. When I need a bouquet it’s usually made up of ‘Sally Holmes’ (shrub), ‘Fame’ (grandiflora), ‘Hannah Gordon’ (aka ‘Nicole’) and ‘Iceberg’ (both floribundas), As I gather new roses for replacements in the future, I am going to steer away from the hybrid teas which I have plenty of already and concentrate more on the shrubs, floribundas, grandifloras and mini-floras. I want a profusion of blossoms! It’s such fun gathering the blooms and making bouquets to bring into the house and give away to friends.
One more thing to consider when evaluating new roses for your garden is the ARS Handbook for Selecting Roses booklet. Rose growers from all over the country participate and send in their observations. It’s updated every year and sent free to ARS members. Each rose is graded listing its “garden performance” in addition to its classification (hybrid tea, shrub, floribunda, etc), color, number of petals and date of introduction. It’s a marvelous little booklet that is overflowing with useful information. It’s rare if I buy a rose that is under the 7.5 rating. Some gardeners don’t go under 8.0. It’s much easier to get the profusion of blooms if you have roses that are less apt to be disease prone.
I’m hoping against hope that we all get a beautiful last bloom at the end of this crazy summer.
Illustration reprinted with permission from CR Talk, August, 2011, Jolene Adams, Editor
A YEAR OF ROSE CARE:
January
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Last Modified: 10/19/11