As summer approaches it’s time to get into the garden maintenance mode – deadheading, weeding and watering. keeping after pests and fertilizing. You can follow the same routine through September, barring any unusual weather. Speaking of weather, late spring can bring us conditions that may cause some strange symptoms in your plants. Freezing temperatures followed […]
Rose Care for June Read More »
Drought – it’s a scary thing, especially when your only source of water comes from seasonal rains and they don’t materialize. We had record rainfall in the winters of 2017 and 2019 but his past season was relatively dry. While we have adequate water to get us through this season, it’s always a good idea
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Spring is here and time for roses to put on their spectacular annual show. To our delight, plants are bursting with a bounty of gorgeous blooms and abundant lush foliage. It’s also the season for lots of insects to make their appearance in the garden. If you see a bug you don’t recognize, don’t squish
Spring has arrived and it is my favorite time of the year. The wonderful shiny leaves in all shades of green, maroon and burgundy and rose buds galore. What is really exciting is the sticks that we planted a few months ago (new bare-root roses} are now healthy plants ready to bloom. The first bloom
Young lush rose foliage sparkles like diamonds after the refreshing rains. Growing at breakneck speed, plants are loaded with buds, and, for us rose lovers, this upcoming blooming season is March Madness, the World Series and the Superbowl all rolled into one! Don’t let aphids diminish your enjoyment – just knock them off with a
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Ideally, roses need five to six gallons of water per week. Make sure your roses have good drainage and don’t sit in standing water. If you plant in terra cotta pots with a single drainage hole, make sure that roots don’t find their way through the hole and gradually expand to the point where the
Rose Care for April Read More »
The first blast of Winter I in this great El Nino year seems to be over. The lull in rain storms from the end of January through most of February reinforces something my son was told in college: our seasons will be splitting into two. We will have two winters and two summers. This was
Rose Care for March Read More »
On Tuesday, February 11, the Marin Rose Society was delighted to welcome Tom Bressan, founder and former owner of The Urban Farmer stores, to discuss and demonstrate the latest (and easiest) technologies in garden irrigation. Members and guests learned so much from a gentleman who is more than likely THE most knowledgeable authority on the
Learning to Irrigate Better with Less Water Read More »
Roses dotted with rust or beaded with aphids, whiteflies on geraniums, fruit trees blackened by fireblight or twisted and deformed by peach leaf curl – all are examples of nasty pests that, with a little preventive action now, can be reduced or eliminated from the upcoming spring garden. That bit of prevention comes in the
Prevention is the Best Medicine Read More »
February is one of my favorite months in the garden. It is a time to look back and think about last year’s challenges and look forward to working towards a healthy, water wise, environmentally friendly garden. Most rose gardeners are working hard to finish up their pruning to meet the suggested rule of thumb deadline
Rose Care for February Read More »