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Novice Corners

In 2003 when the Tinseltown Rose Society was formed I was privileged to write the Novice Corner for our newsletter "The Rose Reporter" for the first two years.  "The Rose Reporter" was and still is edited by Luis Desemaro and he has won countless awards for it.  And deservedly so.

Below are 20 columns that I wrote.  Remember, these were in the early days of my rose career so be kind.  Also, keep in mind these were written for growing roses in Southern California, but many of the principles apply across the country.

All material copyright Paul F. Zimmerman

All material appeared originally in "The Rose Reporter from 1993 - 1995.

Novice Corner #1 - Feeding Your Roses.

Novice Corner #2 - What Type of Rose Should I Buy?

Novice Corner #3 - Bloomin High. (Using climbers in the garden).

Novice Corner #4 - Six months or 30 buds whichever comes first (Spring maintenance).

Novice Corner #5 - Timing the Ka-Bloom.

Novice Corner #6 - Falling out Of Summer

Novice Corner #7 - Deeper, Deeper.  (Watering tips)

Novice Corner #8 - The Rosarian and the Amazing Technicolor Rose Garden

Novice Corner #9 - Deadheading

Novice Corner # 10 - The Dirt on Dirt. Preparing the Soil

Novice Corner #11 - Roses with an Accent.  The English Roses

Novice Corner #12 - Rethinking the Hybrid Tea

Novice Corner #13 - Return of the Killer Mildew

Novice Corner #14 - Their Heeeerre.  (Spider Mites)

Novice Corner #15 - SON OF K.I.S.S.  (Another feeding program)

Novice Corner #16 - To Bud Or Not To Bud.  (Own root vs. grafted roses)

Novice Corner #17 - Planting Container Roses.

Novice Corner #18 - Just When You Though It Was Safe To Come out Of The Garden

Novice Corner #19 - Summer Care

Novice Corner #20 - Taming the Wild Rose

Novice Corner #1

Feeding Your Roses

             One thing I noticed when I began growing roses is there are two kinds of rose people.  First there are the folks who seriously collect all the different roses then put them on a scientific care program and are rewarded with the beautiful blooms we see at shows and in books.  These people can be spotted at meetings arguing over the salinity of different brands of Epsom salts and engaged in heated debates over what produces the best fish emulsion.  The Pacific Chinook salmon or the Idaho Freshwater Trout.  And I'm glad they do.  After all, many of the beautiful roses we grow come about as a result of their tireless efforts.

            But we're not all like that.  Some of us love roses but don't want to exhibit, don't really care if our "Pristine" reaches it's maximum bloom size and are afraid fish emulsion will attract every cat in the neighborhood.  We grow roses because we love the way they look against a white washed wall on a pink-sky summer evening.  We like the way the blooms nod hello at us on our way to the garage before we go to work in the morning.  And most of all we like to putter amongst them on Saturday morning before the Southern California sun begins to bake the city. 

            My back yard is a rapidly expanding collection of Old Garden and English Shrub roses.  Bourbons grow into Hybrid Perpetuals, Portlands shelter Chinas from the Sanna Annas, miniatures peek out from behind a veil of dusty miller and a Graham Thomas rises some seventeen feet into the iron lattice work of a Spanish style banister.  I feed them, water them, care for them, but most of all I enjoy the way they make me feel when I move among them in the evening after a typically stressful Los Angeles weekday.  That's what this column is all about.  It's our column.  A place we can feel free to demystify whatever we wish about growing the queen of flowers.  It's called Novice Corner but perhaps our motto is K.I.S.S.  Keep it simple stupid.

            With this simple thought in mind I decided to make our first column about fertilizing.  Of all the things I came up against when I first started growing roses this is the one that confused me the most.  I'd overhear discussions of all kinds of secret concoctions and would fly home to my roses certain they were dying of starvation as I descended further and further into an ignorant void of how to feed them.  Every little discoloration on a leaf served to convince me more and more I was guilty of rose abuse.  So recently I sat down with our President Thomas Carins on a Saturday morning with the intention of taking some of the confusion out of feeding roses.  So here's a basic feeding program that will satiate any rose just fine.

            First of all grab a pencil and paper.  You're going to make a shopping list.  Ready?  Osmocote (16-18-5) and nitrohumus.  That's it.  You're done.  Take this list to your local nursery, show it to them, grunt a few times to make them understand you want these items and then follow the directions on how to apply them.  Your roses will do great and you'll be rewarded with years and years of blooms.

            If you like you can leave now, not read another word and your roses will never know the difference.  But stay with me here.  I have an optional item you should consider.

            Redwood mulch as a top dressing.  It slowly enriches the soil, roses love it, and it cuts down on your water bill.  Now, if you like, some more details.  But remember, you don't have to know how these items work in order for them to work.

            Osmocote is a time release fertilizer lasting about three months.  The numbers after it refer to the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the specific fertilizer.  Osmocote makes several different kinds but for roses in general ask for 16-18-5.  One note though.  Osmocote is not the cheapest way to go but for the average person it's the easiest and until you get into growing a lot of roses the cost won't be much of an issue.

            Nitrohumus is basically sterilized sewage sludge.  No, it doesn't smell but it's a great source of nitrogen and it helps the soil.  Why'll we're on the subject of sewage I'd like to interject a personal note about horse manure here.  I use it.  A lot.  My roses love the stuff and I have yet to find anything like it.  But, as Tommy constantly warns me, make sure it's well aged.  Luckily my girlfriend is an avid horse person and let me tell you, the woman knows her manure.  If you can get some and you are certain it is well aged go for it.

            I wish I could tell you just follow this advice and you'll never feel anxious about your roses again but I can't.  Some day you'll be at a meeting and someone will be saying their Great Aunt's Sister's Father's Mother swore that a red rose will bloom redder if you give it a regular dose of aged camembert cheese.  Your stomach will churn, you'll forget everything I told you and before you know it your Visa card is being rejected at the garden center.  So for your own information here are some of the items the specialists use, what they do and why we don't really need them.

            Bandini and other kinds of rose fertilizer including Miracle Gro for Roses.  All good products but you're already using Osmocote so these things aren't needed.  Leave them on the shelf.

            Bone meal.  This is something you should put in the bottom of the hole when you first plant the rose.  But this is another column.  For now trust your President and throw a cup in the bottom of every rose hole you dig.

            Fish emulsion.  This is a good source of nitrogen but the Osmocote and nitrohumus add this so leave it for the fish.

            Epson Salts.  Basically it's magnesium sulfate and it improves soil fertility but the nitrohumus will also take care of that.

            Now you're thinking.  Wait a minute!  If Osmocote and nitrohumus take care of everything why do the specialists use all this other stuff?  Because they like to fine tune their roses to get the most out of them the way some people fine tune their cars.  There's nothing wrong with that.  Heck, I admire people like that.  But for those of us who just like a car that performs well and gets where we're going the above feeding program will suit our roses just fine.  They'll give you an extra wave on your way to the garage, your neighbors will envy you and you won't be kept awake by the sounds of howling cats night after night.  Honest.

            That's it for our first column.  As I said above this space is ours so if you have any questions you'd like answered let me know.  I've got enough ideas for a lot more columns but I don't want to hog the place.  In the meantime go outside, pull up a chair and enjoy your roses.  They're doing just fine.

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Novice Corner #2

What Type of Rose should I buy!?

             Boy, here's a loaded question.  We rose growers are blessed to have several different types of roses with sometimes hundreds of different varieties within each type.  While this is exciting for some for the novice it's enough to send you screaming to the silk flower store.  Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Grandifloras, Old Garden Roses, English Shrubs, Shrub Shrubs; the list goes on and on.

            So where do we begin?  Most articles that tackle this question just list the different types of roses, tell you what they do and off you go.  You know, Modern Roses in this corner, Old Garden Roses in the other.  I thought I'd try a different approach.  Instead of concentrating on type I'm going to break them down by bloom shape and growth habit.  This way you can pick a rose by where you need it in the garden.  Not unlike the method used by most gardening books for selecting perennials.

            I separate the bloom shapes into two types.  (see figure).  Modern Bloom shape and Old Garden Bloom shape.  Modern blooms are best represented by the Hybrid Tea rose.  Old Garden blooms are what you tend see in old drawings and on David Austin English Roses.  A cupped shape with sometimes dozens of intricate petals.

            From bloom type we divide the roses into growth habit.  Upright, sprawling and climbing.  Upright bush's growth habit goes straight up and the blooms tend to be on top of the canes.  Ala Hybrid Tea.  Sprawling are the bushes where the canes go out away from the center and bend over to the ground  They bear flowers all along the cane.  Climbers scramble along fences, walls and trellis.  I've then subdivided the first two categories by height.  Short, medium and tall.  There is no need to subdivide climbers because if they aren't tall the only thing they’re good for is covering the curb at the end of the driveway.

            Before I plow into this a quick word.  The roses types listed are all repeat blooming.  Most of us getting into the roses for the first time don't have the space for a garden of once bloomers.  But don't overlook these.  If you have a space for an Old Garden Rose that blooms only in spring by all means put one in.  They are spectacular.  I'd also like to add that any rose looks good on it's own without anything else around it.  So if you're just looking for one to put by the front door buy any type you like.  You won't be disappointed.  Okay, here we go.

Modern Bloom Shape..

            Short Upright.  These reach up to 3' in height and include Miniatures and Floribundas.   Miniatures are the small plants you see mostly in pots with little leaves and flowers.  But besides looking wonderful in pots they look nice at the front of a border either alone or as a small hedge to line the garden.  Unlike miniatures, Floribundas  have full sized flowers and leaves.

            Medium Upright.  3'-5' in height there is no true class for this height but some Floribundas will go over 3' particularly in Southern California.  Check the labels or ask a fellow Society member.

            Tall Upright .  Over 6' in height these are the Grandifloras and Hybrid Teas.  The difference between the two is Grandifloras are more of a true bush in that they have foliage all the way to the base of the plant.  Hybrid Teas give us the classic long stem rose and are the most popular rose bush grown.

            Sprawling Bush.  There is only one and it's knows as the Modern Shrub Rose.  These are all tall reaching over 6' in height and sometimes more in width.

            Climbers.  Look for Large Flowered Climbers.

Old Garden Bloom Shape.

            Short Upright.  These include Chinas, Teas and Polyanthas.

            Medium Upright.  You can use Portlands and some English Roses.  Be sure to check the labels on the English Roses for height because some of them can get huge.

            Tall Upright.  These are the Hybrid Perpetuals.

            .Medium Sprawling. With training some of Portland and English Roses can be kept to a medium sprawling shape.  Ask one of the society members for tips on how to do this.

            Tall Sprawling include Bourbons and most of the English Roses but be aware they can get huge.  Before you know it they are calling themselves "Audrey" and eating your neighbors.  But with training they are manageable and extraordinary when covered in blooms.

            Climbers.  All of the Noisettes are climbers.  But in addition there are some true climbers to be found under Teas, Bourbons and English Roses.

            That's it but before I go let me leave you with a few more.

            Ground Cover Roses.  These are gaining in popularity and are exactly what they sound like.  Most grow no more than 1' high and will sprawl out some 8 to 10' happily sending up suckers and choking everything in their path.  But with light pruning they can be kept in check.  The bloom types range from single to multi petal.

            Rose Hedges.  Any of the Upright Bushes will make a wonderful rose hedge it just depends on the height you want.  But for a quick, beautiful hedge about 5' high there is a modern bloom rose called the "Simplicity Hedge Rose".  It comes in white, pink and red and you can't go wrong with this choice for a hedge.  (You can use the sprawling bushes for hedges but you'll end up with more of a hedgerow than a hedge.  But that might not be too bad if you want to keep the local dogs out of the yard.)

            Roses for Containers.  Any rose can grow in a container but some do better than others.  Under modern bloom Miniatures and Floribundas.  Most Hybrid Teas also take to pots quite nicely.  Under old garden bloom Chinas, Teas and Polyanthas.  .

            I hope I haven't confused you further.  If I have I apologize and I'll try to make it up to you with one last succinct thought.  Think about what kind of garden you want.  Then use the table to see what kind of rose bush will suit your needs.  If you want three different levels of modern upright bushes just look under modern upright, go down the list and you see you could use a combination of Miniatures, Floribundas and Hybrid Teas.  Maybe you want Old Garden chaos so look under Old Garden Sprawling and mix in Portlands, Bourbons and English.  Or a two level combination.  A neat short border of minis fronting a riot of Old Garden Sprawling.  The range is limited only by your imagination. 

            Okay, that wasn't real succinct but I've been pruning all week and I have an urge to leave something uncut.

The Tinseltown Rose Society's Handy Dandy Table for Picking Roses

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Novice Corner #3

Bloomin High

            Getting tired of roses that are difficult to grow, are boring in their sameness.  What you need is new way of growing roses and I’ve got just the thing.  Welcome to the wonderful world of climber, rambler and pillar roses.

            You keep putting off painting the garage?  Plant one “Silver Moon” rose near it and in three years you’ll never see your garage again.

            You have a section of your garden too small for a rose bush?  Train “Kathleen Haarop” as a pillar rose.  What is a pillar rose?  It’s a rose wound around a pillar or wooden post and allowed to fountain off the top well above the other roses in your garden.

            What about that ugly tree you’ve wanted to take out but can’t afford to.  Cut off the top and use it to support “Purple East”.

            Or perhaps you want something genteel and kind to cover the arbor of your front gate.  Try the climbing Bourbon “Zepherine Drouhin”.  Pink, intensely fragrant, flowers all year, shade tolerant and thornless

            The point I’m trying to make here is there is a whole group of roses often overlooked.  These are the roses that grow and bloom above the garden.

            The trick with climbers is how you train them.  The blooms on climbers are borne on “laterals” that come off the main canes.  Don’t make the mistake of growing them straight up the wall and getting frustrated when they only flower 15’ above the ground.  You need to train them horizontally.  This triggers a chemical reaction in the rose causing all the bud eyes along the main cane to break and produce laterals thereby giving you blooms along the entire length of the plant.

            This is easy if you are growing them along a fence.  Plant the rose next to the fence and train the canes in an outward fan shape along it.  But what if you want to grow them up a wall?  Training them horizontally will only give you a climber 4’ high and 20’ across.  Not the desired affect.  Instead snake the canes back and forth across the wall at 45 degree angles.  This way you get height and it triggers the desired chemical reaction.  Also, since roses don’t naturally attach themselves to the wall you’ll have to give them something to hang onto.  Trellis work out of wood or wire, concrete screws you tie the canes to are solutions.

            Ramblers are the next class and they get BIG.  And by big I mean 30’ minimum and I’ve seen some easily hitting 60’.  Mostly once bloomers they are the roses we think of growing into trees and covering houses.  Another use for a rambler like “Lady Banks Rose” is as a backdrop for other roses.  I often grow them up walls and let other repeat blooming climbers grow up into it.  I get a spectacular spring flowering when everything is in flower and blooms from the other climbers set off against Lady Banks’ wonderful foliage the rest of the year.  Also keep in mind Mermaid.  One of the few ramblering roses that will bloom all season

            Ramblers are at their most beautiful when grown up a tree and allowed to drape from the branches.  Plant the rose at least 3’ from the trunk of the tree.  As the rose gets bigger, and it will, train the canes up into the branches.  Within a couple of years it’ll figure out what you want it to do and take off on it’s own.

            Pillar roses are not a true class but in general they are climbers with main canes of “lax” enough growth they can be wrapped around a pillar.  Pillar roses are wonderful because most of the action takes place 6-8’ above the garden so they can be planted in a very small space.  Noisettes, Wichuraiana Ramblers, some Bourbons and Climbing Teas make wonderful pillar roses.

            The easiest pillar to make is a 4”x4” post about 8’ high but anything will do.  Wind them loosely up and around the pillar.  Once you hit the top allow the rose to spill off for an informal look or train it back down the pillar.

            So far I’ve mentioned fences, walls, trees and pillars to climb roses on but this is only the beginning.  What you climb your roses on is limited only by your imagination.

            What about three logs in the shape of a teepee with the rose planted in the middle?  A free standing section of fence where the roses grow up the back and spill over the front.  Two poles set about 10’ apart with a rope or chain hung between them.  The roses grow up each post and crawl towards each other along the rope or chain.  Or three pieces of long copper tubing bent into giant upside down “U” shapes.  These are joined together at where they all hit the center giving you a shape not unlike a giant umbrella with the tips stuck into the ground..  Six roses, one at the base of each pole, are planted and trained up and around the structure.

            What I’m saying is don’t think of climbing roses as useful for only walls and fences.  Look around your garden and I’ll bet you’ll see lots of things to grow them on.  And when your friends ask you why you’re planting a “Seven Sisters” at the base of that old dead tree tell them it’s because you’re “bloomin high”.

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Novice Corner #4

Six Months or 30 Buds, which ever comes first.

            By now your roses should be growing along.  Leaves are emerging, new canes are extending forth and the buds are either appearing or bearing flowers.  If you’re still looking at three canes thinking they’ll break dormancy any day now I’m afraid I have some bad news.  You purchased a silk bareroot rose.

            With spring and flowers also come some minor maintenance.  By now feeding and mulching is done,  you’ve finger pruned new growth heading for the center of the bush and you’ve swore over and over to get a better pair of gloves next time.  The next step is learning how to deadhead.  No, this doesn’t mean quitting your job, buying a van and following Jerry Garcia all over the country.  It means removing any flowers that are fading and dropping their petals all over the alyssum.

            Why do we do this?  To encourage the rose to recycle the flowering process faster during the bloom season

            The process is simple.  It’s all in the leaves.  Look at the leaves on your bushes.  They are attached to the cane either in groups of three or five.  We’re interested in the five leaflet group.  The bud eye which will give us the stem for the new flower is contained right where the leaflet group joins the cane.  Take your pruning shears and make a cut about 1/4” above any five leaflet leaf group (more on how far down the cane later).  Remember to make it at a forty five degree angle.  Gently peel off the leaflet group and you’ll see a bud eye.  That is where your next time flower will come from.  Just make sure to make the cut on a five leaflet group facing away from the center of the bush.  This continues the growth up and out.

            Sometimes your job is made easier by a new shoot already starting to grow out from the base of the leaflet group.  If you see this the rose is telling you this is a great place to cut so go ahead and do it.  If you don’t want to peel of the leaflet group you don’t have to.  I’ve just found it speeds the process along.  Don’t be alarmed by the leaflet group eventually falling off and turning yellow.  This is normal as it makes way for the new growth.

            So how far done should we cut?  Depends on the type of rose.  For any Hybrid Tea in a general garden setting you can cut as much as you like but try to go down to at least the third leaflet group or lower.  And make sure the cane is at least pencil thick at this point otherwise it won’t support a new stem.

            The English roses are another story.  I cut mine back to the first five leaflet group I can find.  They don’t like being cut back much on a regular basis.  Once hard in the winter and once lightly in summer is enough for them.  Same thing for climbers.  The first five leaflet group you can find.

            For Old Garden Roses follow the same rule of thumb as for English for all but the Hybrid Perpetuals.  These can be deadheaded like a hybrid tea but I’d advise not going below three leaflet groups.  For once blooming Old Garden Roses deadhead sparingly in the beginning but allow them to set hips.  They aren’t going to flower again no matter what you do and the hips are a lovely show all to themselves.

            So just remember the basic principals and you can’t go wrong.  Hit the bloom when it’s fading or the petals are all off and always cut above a five leaflet group.  That’s it.

            How often should you go out into the garden and do this?  Depends on your schedule but try and do it at least once a week particularly during spring.  I do it almost every evening just before the sun goes down.  I love being among the roses in that light puttering with my shears.

            As for the rest remember what we talked about last time.  Aphids (squirt with water, use Safer’s soap, lady bugs or Orthene), Blackspot and powdery mildew (funginex, baking soda and oil when it’s not above 80 degrees or wash your roses with water but only in the morning).

            The new cast member for this month is the spider mite.  Tiny little white bugs living on the underside of leaves.  They generally start near the bottom of the bush and work their way up.  Sometimes you’ll see their webs on the leaves particularly if the leaf is curling up.  If they are out of hand hit them with a product called Avid.  Wipes them out.  If they aren’t bad yet they can be washed off with water from a water wand or some other kind of waterier that directs the spray up from ground level towards the underside of the leaves.  Whatever will release about 4 gallons a minute will do.  (The average water wand will do this.)

            That covers it for this month.  April is an a great month for roses.  They are in full bloom and all they require from us is a little attention to keep them happy.  Now if we could only raise kids that way.

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Novice Corner #5

Timing the Ka-Bloom

            It’s May.  The rush of spring is over and the heat of summer is not yet here.  The roses are finishing with their first flush of bloom and hopefully our efforts paid off.

            This gives us a chance to relax a little and learn some new things about rose care.  Some things that, while not essential, are fun to know.  With this in mind let’s use this month to teach you how to time the bloom cycle on your roses.

            What is the bloom cycle?  This is the time it takes the rose bush to produce a flower.  The beginning is the moment you deadhead off the old bloom and the end is when a new bloom opens up.

            Why would we want to do this?  Say you have a party coming up in August and you want your roses in full bloom for the event.  Or maybe a backyard wedding.  Maybe you need a lot of cut flowers for a special event.  Or your in-laws are coming to visit and you want to score some points.  Regardless of your reasons it’s a fun thing to know how to do.

But I already deadhead.

            Yes, but this causes the blooms to open at different times during the season.  Except for the first flush of the year the blooms don’t all open at once.  Timing the bloom cycle involves cutting off all blooms and buds so the bloom cycle for the entire bush begins and ends at the same time.  Exhibitors do this to get ready for a big show.

            Let’s be clear on one thing before we go on.  The only time you might want to do this is if you want to show off the garden for a special day.  Otherwise follow the normal deadheading procedure we talked about last month.

            We’ll start with how to do it and then you can use the chart below to determine what the bloom cycle is for your particular plant.

How to begin

            As you remember from last month deadheading is the process of cutting off the dead blooms to encourage the bush to put out new ones.  You count down to the second or third five leaflet group and make your cut at an angle just above it.  Make sure there is a bud eye where the base of the leaflet group joins the stem, only cut above an outward facing bud-eye and the stem should be at least pencil thick.  I know this sounds like a lot but if you look at the plant you’ll see most roses will accommodate you quite well.  (With minis don’t worry about the pencil thick part.)

Take it all off.

            During deadheading we only have to worry about cutting off the blooms that are faded or no longer have petals.  This encourages the bush to constantly replenish itself and gives you a pretty constant bloom over the growing year.

            But for this we are trying to time the bush to cover itself in blooms all at once.  Not only one bush but your whole garden.  Beautiful?  Yes.  But it calls for radical surgery to pull it off.  All the blooms, new and old, and all the buds have to be cut off.  No exceptions.  A true expert can play with this rule but this kind of touch is beyond most of us.

            First the easy part.  Start with the normal deadheading process, taking off all the blooms past their prime.  Then go back and take off all the other blooms.  This part isn’t so hard either because you can put them in a vase and enjoy them in the house.  Now the hard part.  Cut off all the new buds.  That’s right all of them.

            This leaves you with a bush containing no blooms and no buds with a lot of clean cuts just above five leaflet groups.

            If the sight of all those bloomless bushes is more than you can handle you can always tie the blooms you cut off back onto the plants.  If nothing else you can make a bush with five different kinds of blooms on it.  That should be enough novelty to get you through.  Now sit back and wait for the busy to do it’s job.

A couple of things to remember.

            The chart is timed using cuts at the level of the second or third five leaflet group below the bloom or bud.  The further down you go the longer it takes for the blooms to come back.  The general rule of thumb is to add about five more days for each additional five leaflet group you go down.

            Deadheading in general is good maintenance.  Let the plants go without doing it and you’ll get hips.  As  will your plants.

            Using the chart below is easy.  Look up the type of plant you have and the number of days in the bloom cycle.  Find the date of your event on the calendar, count back the numbers of days in the bloom cycle and that’s when you should make all your cuts.

            That should do it.  Just remember the simple rules.  Take it all off and make your cuts above the second or third five leaflet group.  Those are the basics.  Now get out there and impress your guests.

The Tinseltown Rose Society’s Guide to Timing the Ka-Bloom

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Novice Corner #6

Falling out of Summer

            Welcome Back.  If your summer has been anything like mine by know you are wondering what can hit the roses next.  Between the strange weather bringing on powdery mildew, the caterpillars eating holes in your leaves and the cool mornings/hot afternoons causing you to burn leaves while spraying (I did it twice) I’m glad fall is just around the corner.  Yet despite everything our Southern California climate has decided to throw our way somehow, someway the roses are still alive and blooming.  Go figure.  The plant everyone says is fussy, needs a lot of attention and is incredibly difficult to grow is still standing tall in our backyards.  So much for the naysayers.

            I think this month we won’t so much as jump into something new as review what we’ve learned to get us ready for the big fall bloom.  Even though we have a longer bloom period than most of the country we all share having one thing.  Two really big bloom periods; Spring and fall.  For us the spring blooms peaks right around mid-April and the fall one right around mid-October.  The spring big bloom we are always ready for because we’ve done all that spring feeding, mulching and planting.  But what about fall?

            Most people don’t think about getting their roses ready for the fall show and it’s a shame.  It’s the last burst of color before we start to settle into winter where our hues comes mainly from catalogs and dreams of new rose gardens.

            The best way to approach getting ready for the fall bloom is to simply think about what roses need to grow and bloom their best.  They are food, water, spraying (if you choose and at your own rate of application) and deadheading.  The only thing we are going to add to this list for the fall is some mild pruning.

            No, not pruning!  Yes, pruning.  I remember from my own experience the thought of taking shears to canes for the first time resulted in many a sleepless night.  I’d dream of going out there and making my cuts and then realizing I cut to low, or to high or to wide.  Name the dimension and in my mind I blew it.  Relax.  Pruning is not the monster it’s made out to be.  But we’ll get into it more later.  Right now I want to start with the things we know to get our confidence up.

            Feeding.  Remember back in the spring when us followers of the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) method used Osmocote (by the way the Osmocote formula is the eight month indoor/outdoor plant formula not the one mentioned in a previous article.  My mistake, I must have been suffering separation anxiety during the past spring’s move at the thought of leaving some roses behind) instead of elaborate fertilizers, fish by-products and salts culled from the sub-layer of the Dead Sea?  Remember all your non-K.I.S.S rose friends in the 100 degree heat dragging around fertilizer buckets and hoses?  Pat yourself on the back.  Your Osmocote has been feeding your roses during all this time and in fact it still is.  So far you’ve been on your own for two months and you’ve done the first thing right.  Congratulations on your first solo rose flight!

            So you can not do anything and you’ll still be okay.  But if you like it’s certainly okay to give the roses a swift kick in the plants to goose them up for fall.  Again, this is an option and not something you have to do.  It’s kind of like deciding if you want to put wax on your car after your wash it.  Either way your car will look clean but if you don’t mind the little extra effort the wax will make it look just a little better.  It’s the same with this little fall feeding boost.

            If you choose to do it I’ll recommend either using Bandini Rose Food in solid form or Peter’s 20-20-20 which comes in a powder you dissolve in water (Just like Miracle Gro which is not a bad product either but it costs more)  Use the Bandini Rose Food at the rate of one cup per bush and the Peters 20-20-20 at the rate of 1 Tbs. per gallon of water giving each bush two gallons of water.  Bandini is available from Mordigans and Sego Nurseries as is Peter’s 20-20-20.  There is another 20-20-20 product available through the rose society at a great discount.  Contact Tania Norris for more information.

            Okay, the roses are now extra fed, or still fed by the Osmocote and it’s time to move on to the next thing we have to worry about.  Watering.  I know, I know you’ve been watering all along so this seems obvious but how efficient is your watering?  Here in Southern California we need to save every drop we can and those of us who grow roses need to be double sure we do so.

            First check the basins around the roses.  For those of you not familiar with basins (I don’t think I’ve ever covered this in depth) they are the little dirt circular mound you build around the base of each rose to hold in the water.  With a basin the water, instead of running off onto the sidewalk and down the street, stays around the root area of the rose and slowly sinks deeply into the earth.  I have a theory that if we all deep water our roses at once it’ll flood in China but zen that’s another article.  So check those basins and spend a little time building them back up.

            The other item affecting watering is mulch.  The Nitrohumus and Redwood Soil Builder we put on at the beginning of the year is helping keep the soil moist and thus reducing the amount of water we have to use.  But is it still there?  Take a quick look around the rose beds.  If you are seeing a lot of dirt it’s a good idea to lay down another inch of Redwood Soil Builder.  I wouldn’t worry about the Nitrohumus this late in the year.  It’s more trouble and expense plus we don’t want it to be feeding our roses into December which is the month we really want them to start slowing down for a quick winter nap.

            Spraying is next on the agenda.  This summer has been a powdery mildew festival but for those of you using Funginex on a regular basis ala Tommy and Luis’ instructions you should be in good shape.  And if you do have it certainly products like Rally will take care of the problem.  But I’d like to address those of us who don’t like using chemicals if we can avoid it.

            I don’t mind living with some powdery mildew and if it gets really bad I just pull off the leaves affected the most.  Yes, it’s not the greatest thing to look at but all in all I’d rather live with a little than use hard chemicals on a regular basis.  When it seems to be getting out of hand here’s a little trick I’ve picked up.  (I always use it when blackspot hits)  Use Dormant Lime and Sulfur spray to kill off some of the spores of the fungus.  If you choose to do this pay careful attention to the following.  Lime and sulfur can very easily burn your leaves so the trick is to do three things.  First spray only in the morning.  The earlier the better.  Second spray it on at the rate of 1 Tbs. per gallon and, this is the important part, DON’T use a sticker.  No Vlock oil, Safer’s soap, no nothing.  Just the Lime/Sulfur spray and water.  And last after about five minutes wash the plants with water.  Here’s the way it works.

            Lime/Sulfur spray will kill any spores it hits in about five minutes.  After that it doesn’t do much good.  So to prevent burning the leaves we wash off the remaining Lime/Sulfur with water.  That’s right, water.  Rinse the plants completely and you won’t have to worry about turning the leaves a nice shade of crispy brown.  Also be sure to hit the underside of the leaves as Lime/Sulfur does not penetrate the leaves.  As with any organic method this won’t be as affective as man made chemicals but it will help.

            A lot has been said about using baking soda to control powdery mildew.  Some say it works and some don’t.  I’ve not had the chance to test it on a on a regular basis so I have no personal experience and therefor no opinion.  I do know this.  It can damage the leaves to some extent so care must be used to only use it in the morning and only on cool days under 80 degrees.

            The other thing to spray for this year are the caterpillars.  They’ve been taking leaves right down to the skeletons.  There are some good products out there like Orthene.  Mordigans and Sego carry a good supply of these.  For those of you going green try Safer’s soap or the Safer’s Caterpillar Spray.  I’m having good luck with both this season.  (I’ll try and do an article on organic rose care this year as some of you have been asking.)

            Now we’ve taken care of food, water and spraying so it’s on to deadheading as a way to ease us into pruning.  Here’s something to think about.  Do you know deadheading is pruning?  If you didn’t you do now and even more so you have been pruning all this time and your bushes are still alive.  How about that?

            Let’s just list the basic rules of deadheading.  Cut down to the second or third five leaflet leaf on an outward facing bud eye.  That’s it.  Also for those of you planning big fall parties don’t forget about timing the Ka-Bloom.  Go back and take a look at the chart from the article about it and have fun.

            And now it’s time to prune.  If we had sound I’d be playing the theme from “Jaws” right about now.  But believe me, pruning is not the big land shark we all make it out to be.  All you need is a little common sense.  And we are not going to be doing the big prune so think of us as a little warm up.

            Go back to the rules of deadheading.  Five leaflet leaf group on an outward facing bud eye.  Make the cut clean about 1/4” above the bud eye at a 45 degree angle so any sap will run down the cane back behind the bud eye.  The same applies to pruning.

            I can even make it easier.  Let’s start with pruning the obvious.  Take a good look at your rose bushes.  Some canes are green some are brown.  The brown ones are dead therefor let’s prune those first because no matter how badly you mangle it, it doesn’t matter.  The cane is already dead.  Follow the brown cane until you find green cane.  Make a cut at the first appropriate bud eye that is on green wood.  Do you see a white center?  If you do you’re done.  If the center is slightly brown then go down to the next appropriate bud eye and prune again.  Keep going until you see a white center.  Seal the end of the cane with Elder’s Glue and that’s it.  If the cane is dead to the base of the plant cut it off there and seal with the glue.  Cut off anything else that’s dead and you’re done with the first part.

            Next look at the center of the bush.  See anything twiggy growing in there.  Twiggy meaning canes under a pencil thickness.  Cut them out of the center and give the rose some breathing space.  I usually cut these little stems off where they hit the main cane.  It cleans the place up.

            If you like you can quit here but if you are brave here’s another step.  Let’s bring the bush back to a manageable size.  Select a height you’d like the bush to be.  Then cut all the canes even at that height.  Remember the outward facing five leaflet rule and you’ll be okay.  It probably isn’t possible to get all the canes the same height but get as close as you can.  While this step isn’t necessary it does give the rose garden a more groomed look as we go into fall.

            That’s it for this month.  During the rest of the fall months we’ll work on selecting rose for the new year, planning a garden and of course getting ourselves ready for that first big prune.  Welcome back.

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Novice Corner #7

Deeper, Deeper.

             Believe it or not this month we are going to talk about watering.  I know, I know you already water your roses and since they aren’t dead you must be doing something right but are you doing it efficiently and in a way that’s best for the roses?

            Here in Southern California we are blessed with a great growing season but cursed with no rain for most of the year.  This means our roses are dependent on us for almost all their water needs.  And they need water which of course leads us to a dilemma.  We grow plants that need water (but not as much as a lawn by the way) but we live in an area where we should conserve water.  How do we reconcile the two?  Fear not.  I’ve been pondering this one sitting in the bathtub, under the shower while listening to the sound of the leaky faucet running into the sink and I’ve come up with some thoughts.  Hence this article.

            First and foremost let me say while roses need water what they really need is deep water.  This doesn’t mean water pumped up from beneath some Navaho Indian Reservation in New Mexico it means they need the water to get down to the roots 2-3 feet below the surface.  The reason for this is because it encourages a deeper root system.  Roses with deep roots are less susceptible to the fluctuations in ground temperature and the drying out/wetting of the surface area.  Also deep watering washes away any unwelcome salts that may have gathered there.

            According to experts roses need about 1-2” of water per week.  Now personally I don’t know anyone who measures water in inches so this leaves most of us in the dark.  After all can you imagine going into a restaurant and asking for an inch of water?  From what I can tell it translates into this.  During average growing conditions here in Southern California roses need about 2 gallons of water every three to four days.  If it gets above 90 degrees go to every two to three days. Two gallons are distributed in about 15 seconds from the average garden hose.  But the question to ask here is, is the rose getting all of the two gallons we put around the base?  What’s the point in watering two gallons if half of it ends up on the sidewalk?  There is no point, a lot of water is wasted and so the first thing we are going to talk about is basins.

            A basin is simply a dirt wall you build around the base of the rose.  Nothing more complicated than that.  Make the basin about 2” inches high and about 2-3 feet in diameter depending on the size of the rose.  Now when you water simply fill the basin and let gravity slowly sink it down to the lower roots.  This will keep the rose happy and the sidewalk dry.

            If you have trouble getting basins to stay built try digging a hole about 2 1/2 feet across and