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Planting Bareroot Roses

Bareroot plants should be unpacked the very moment you receive them, and their roots placed in buckets of water. Keep the buckets in a cool place, out of sunlight, until you're ready to plant. The plants are shipped while dormant, and it's best to keep them that way until you plant them. However, you may find that they have started to sprout by the time they get to you. Keeping them cool and out of sunlight will slow down new growth. If it's not possible to plant your new roses for more than a week or so, the best bet is to "heel them in" in the garden. This involves digging a shallow trench and placing the roots of the plants in it, and covering the roots and a large part of the canes with soil. This allows the plants to get moisture from the soil and begin to develop feeder roots.

I've heeled plants in a couple of times, but find that I knock off new shoots and damage feeder roots when I (very carefully) dig them up for real planting. But heeling in is defintely better than keeping them in buckets for two or three weeks.

Even if you plan to plant your new roses the day you receive them, put the roots in water and keep them there until the hole is dug and you're ready to place the plant in the hole.

The cool, moist, dark shipping container is a great place for botrytis blight to develop. Botrytis is a fungal disease that is evidenced by a gray fuzzy mold on the canes and/or roots of bareroot rose plants. The mold disappears as soon as the plants are exposed to lighter, dryer conditions, but the spores lie in wait on the plants for cool, wet weather to occur in the garden. In the garden, botrytis manifests itself as tiny pink "water spots" on light colored roses; as soft, brown, squishy spots on the petals of any rose; or again as gray fuzzy mold on unopened, or partially opened rosebuds. It can be a real problem during a wet growing season.

Last season nearly everyone fought botrytis. The weather conditions seemed to be right for everyone everywhere at one time or another throughout the summer. Several fungicides are labeled for botrytis, but none of them, including the expensive Subdue Maxx, seems to really do the job. I'm adding two fungicides this season that combat botrytis blight. Chipco has been around for a long time and is a tried and true preventive and eradicant for botrytis. Decree is a brand new fungicide that uses a new, safer chemistry. There'll be more info about these fungicides in the catalog and on the website next week. But If you had trouble with botrytis last season, you'll want to buy one of them. There's nothing worse than cutting a rose that looks great in the garden and watching those squishy brown spots develop as it sits on your kitchen table!

Anyway, there's not much you can do about botrytis when your roses arrive, but you can include a fungicide that's specifically for botrytis in your regular spray regimen all season long.

I always dip my new rose plants-- roots, canes, everything-- in a dilute Clorox solution (1/2 cup to 5 gallons water) to destroy any bacteria that may be on the plants. Perhaps the only bacterial infection that roses are often susceptible to is rose gall. The commercial growers now treat all their plants for gall before they ship them, and as I grow older and older, (and older) I see less and less gall in my garden. It used to be thought that gall was caused by manure touching the canes, but that theory has been pretty much dispelled and replaced with the belief that it is caused by a soil bacteria that's common in the rose fields.

Most soil bacteria isn't dangerous to roses, and even though the new plants have been treated to destroy the bacteria that causes gall, I still dip them in a big tub filled with with water and a little Clorox. Clorox, of course, is sodium hypoclorite, a powerful disinfectant. Disinfectants kill bacteria, but they have little effect on fungi, so remember that the Clorox is only destroying bacteria, not necessarily any fungus spores that may be on the plant.

Just dip the plants in the Clorox solution, don't leave them there. Give them nice, clean water for their roots to soak in while you're getting up the gumption to get out there and plant! Also, it helps to change the water every few days, so algae doesn't start growing.

Notice that your new rose plants have large, fleshy roots, and very few tiny hairlike roots. The big roots are the ones that anchor the plant in its place in the garden, and they produce the vital feeder roots that the plant needs to get nutrients and moisture from the soil. The tiny hairy roots that you don't see are the feeder roots. They are very fragile and cannot survive the harvest from the rose fields or the cold storage in which the plants are kept. As well, in your own garden, the feeder roots cannot survive winter in cold climates, so your rose plants have to produce new feeder roots early each season.

Most people think that cold climate roses don't grow as big, with canes as fat, as those grown in southern climates because of the length of our growing season. That, of course, is a factor. But mainly it's because northern plants have to develop new feeder roots each season to replace the ones destroyed by winter.

Once new rose plants are planted, they draw on the energy that's stored in their canes to produce those feeder roots. However, if the plants start to grow before they're planted, they are using that stored energy to grow leaves rather than roots. That's not a good thing. So keep plants cool and out of sunlight until you're ready to plant.

Then when you do plant, and pay close attention here, you are going to prune off at least half of the length of all the canes of your new roses. I know, it breaks your heart to remove strong, fat healthy cane that already may be growing. But you have to do it. Here's why.

While the plant will use the energy stored in its canes to help develop the new feeder roots, the plant also has to maintain the moisture in its canes so it can sprout foliage later. Eighteen-inch canes are just too much cane for the poor plant to keep moist before the feeder roots develop. You have to give the plant a break and remove part of its burden so it remains strong while it's getting established in its new home. It will more than make up for this seemingly harsh treatment once it starts growing.

To futher keep your rose healthy while it's developing feeder roots, mound the newly planted rose (with the short canes) right up to the top of the canes with soil. This prevents sun and wind from stealing moisture from the canes. Once new sprouts start emerging from the mounds, you can gently remove the soil with a gentle spray from the hose.

Twenty four hours before you plant, add a teaspoon per 2 gallons of water of our Rose Wizard Endogenous Hormone Rose Cocktail to your soaking buckets. Unlike anything else on the market for roses, this product, at this dosage, stimulates strong feeder root growth while not encouraging top growth. It's the very best thing you can do for your roses before you plant them. Roses stand a much better chance of survival-- and as you know, it's those first three or four weeks between the time you get them in the mail, get them planted, and they start to grow-- that are the most important. Planting roses isn't hard-- even I can do it-- but you have to do it right.

I always prefer to plant a rose in a bed, rather than just in a hole in the middle of the lawn. The main reasons are that it's very hard to keep grass and weeds from growing into the planting hole and right up to the base of the plant, and digging a proper bed loosens the hard-packed soil so it's easier for rose roots to grow. Even if you're planting only one rose plant to be a single-plant display, it's best to dig a small bed. Make the bed at least twice as big around as you expect the dripline of the plant to be, and half-again as deep as you normally would. Then dig out all the soil, being sure to remove every single visible tree root. Amend the soil as necessary, and backfill the hole to normal planting hole size. Then plant your rose as usual. If you can put some kind of edging material, around the outside edge of the little bed, so much the better. For my level (not raised) beds, I use that black plastic edging stuff that sits about 4 inches into the soil with just the very top marking the edge of the bed. It's unobtrusive, and makes it a whole bunch easier to keep the grass from encroaching, to say nothing of keeping the lawn mower away from the base of the plant.

Rosebeds, whether they're designed to hold one plant or 100, should have loose, friable soil containing lots or humus. I make a rosebed once, and do it right, and then, even if I have to dig up plants, plant new ones, or whatever, the base is still just right. A well-built rosebed is refreshed by the top dressing you apply once or twice each season, and by the organic material you feed your roses. Salts that tend to accumulate when you apply the fertilizers needed to grow great roses will be dissolved and washed away by judicious applications of liquid calcium. (Check out our Rose Wizard Liquid Calcium at http://www.primaryproducts.com

Now, to make myself a liar, I have one rosebed that I have to redo every 3 or 4 years. It is my prize front yard bed, the one people see first when they turn into the driveway. I try to keep 6 of the latest and greatest floribundas there-- roses that bloom a lot, all the time. Several years ago, I dug up the ŒShow Biz' to plant ŒLivin Easy.' Then 6 or 8 years ago, I planted ŒBetty Boop.' Two years ago, I planted ŒHot Cocoa,' and this year, I've been asked to test a very floriferous new seedling, so I'll move the ŒHot Cocoa' somewhere else. Anyway, the point is that this last time I replanted, the bed was solidly packed with roots from the trees. It was a killer digging them out, so I've had the trees severely pruned, hoping to forestall the root invasion for a few more years. So let me rephrase: A well-built rosebed, away from tree roots, should have to be built only once.

Always try to locate rosebeds well away from trees-- especially those fast-growing trees. Tree roots really home in on the fertilizer you give your roses. Funny story: Several years ago, I had a huge poplar cut down because the roots were heading toward my main, raised beds. The roots were close to the surface of the lawn, and I could see them growing right to the beds. When the tree was cut down, and the stump ground out, the roots remained. And as they decomposed, there were long, much greener streaks of grass across the yard as the roots gave off the nitrogen they had stolen from the roses. It was weird.

Tree roots not only steal rose fertilizer, but they have tons and tons of hairy feeder roots that completely surround the rose roots, essentially stopping, or stunting, rose growth.

I think I sufficiently covered the process of building in-ground and raised rosebeds in previous issues of Rose-E-Tips, as well as in the new catalog, which you will receive next week (and if you're not on our mailing list and want to be, drop me an e-mail with your name and address,) but if you new subscribers have questions, drop me an e-mail.

So lets get planting covered before I bore you to death.

The hole you dig in your rosebed should have about a 2-ft. diameter. And the hole should be deep enough so that the bud union, or the base of the canes of own-root plants, is where you want it to be without crowding the roots. In tropical climates, the bud union should be well above the level of the ground, and in cold climates the bud union should be as much as four inches below the level of the ground. In my cold-climate garden, I plant the roses that won't be winter protected with their bud unions 4 inches deep. The ones that will get covered for winter get planted 2 to 3 inches deep.

Remember, you will not prune the roots of bareroot plants, except to remove any broken or rotten ones, and the roots of each variety of plant will be a little different. Some spread straight out horizontally from the base of the plant, and some will be more vertical, like an upside-down cone. You have to dig your planting hole to suit the shape of the roots, without bending, twisting, curling or otherwise smooshing them when you set the plant in its hole.

In the bottom of the planting hole, mix into the soil any more amendments you want to add. Anything you put in the hole should be slow to give off its nutrients. So add something like bone meal, blood meal, or triple superphosphate. You should never add fertilizer to the planting hole as it will burn the roots and keep them from developing their feeder roots. It certainly won't be used by the plant because without feeder roots, the plant can't take up the nutrients in the fertilizer. Because the aforementioned amendments are slow to decompose, the plant can use them when it's ready. Once the amendments are in the hole, stir them around to mix them with the soil. Then shape the soil/amendments mix to conform to the shape of the roots of the plant you're going to put in the hole. If the roots spread vertically, make a cone-shaped mound of soil. If the roots spread more horizontally, make a flatter mound of soil. The object here is to have the roots of the plant completely surrounded by soil with no air pockets once the hole is backfilled. Make sure the bud union will be where you want it to be once the plant is set on top of the mound.

Until this point, your bareroot plant is still soaking in its bucket of water and dilute Endogenous Hormone Rose Cocktail. Don't take it out of the water until you're ready to stick it in its planting hole. Take the time between removing the plant from its bucket and getting it into the hole to prune off at least half the length of every cane. I know it's painful to remove healthy fat green cane, but it has to be done to give your plant its optimum chance for strong, healthy growth. This, as you know, is the most critical time for a new rose plant. The manner in which you prepare it for planting makes the difference between a live plant and a dead one, or a vital one and one that malingers along, limping through the season and then dying over the winter. So prune off half the length of the canes.

Make all cuts at about a 35 degree angle, with the highest point of the cut about 1/4 inch above an outward-facing budeye. As you know, it's the topmost remaining budeye that will begin to grow first, and it will be that growth that produces the first flower(s).

Do this pruning quickly so the roots don't dry out, and then place the plant in its hole and backfill the hole immediately. Backfill to about 10 inches and then water the hole thoroughly with your water wand. Then add more soil and water again. Repeat this procedure until the soil is compacted by the water and at the level of the surrounding ground. Don't ever use your feet to compact the soil around the plant. While the roots will not be happy if there are large air pockets around them, they do need oxygen. Water compaction ( I made up that word) is just the right thing.

Then mound the canes of the plant with soil, right up over the top. This keeps wind and sun from drying the canes before the feeder roots grow enough to supply the canes with moisture. It also protects fragile new growth until most of the danger of frost is past. Once the new growth starts poking out of the mounds, wash the soil away from the canes with a gentle stream of water from the hose.

While you're going to fertilize your established plants right after you prune them, newly planted roses don't get fertilized until they've been in the ground for a month. So if your new roses are in the same bed as the old ones, just avoid applying fertilizer to the new ones. Do, however, water them as often as is necessary to keep the soil moist all the time.

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Spring Pruning and Spring Planting Dates

All everblooming roses should be pruned in the spring of each year. Pruning encourages new feeder root growth, it encourages the branching of canes, and it encourages new cane growth from the base of the plant.

In cold climates, blooming forsythia indicates that the days are long enough, the soil is warm enough, and the daytime temperature is generally warm enough to support rose growth. So in cold climates, where forsythia grows, roses should be pruned when those masses of sunny yellow forsythia blooms dot the landscape. This is also the optimum time for planting new bareroot or potted rosebushes.

Gardeners who live in warm or moderate climates, where the roses may never really stop growing, also have to prune their plants in the spring of each year. Pruning achieves the same benefits, above, as it does for cold climate roses, but it also forces rose plants to slow their growth for a short period of time.

All roses, which are generally hardy perennial plants, need a period of dormancy in which they rest and gather their strength in order to produce another season of fabulous blooms. In cold climates, roses go dormant all by themselves in the fall when the weather gets cool and when the days get short. But in moderate climates, where it may never get cold enough for roses to slow their growth of their own volition, the rosarian must take several steps to force the plants into that rest period. This is called "forcing dormancy."

Several steps are required to force roses into dormancy.

1. Establish your spring pruning date. This date should be directly AFTER the coolest part of your year. If possible, check with your local rose society to determine the optimum date for spring pruning in your area, ask your neighbors who grow roses, or use the Spring Planting Map, above. The map is a spring planting guideline, but both the pruning of established rosebushes and the planting of new rosebushes should occur at about the same time in the spring.

2. Four weeks BEFORE your pruning date, begin fertilizing roses once weekly with Rose Wizard Late Season 1-0-23. This fertilizer reduces the turgidity of the plant's cells, slowing plant growth as the cell walls thicken. The plant will require less moisture, and photosynthesis will slow as water and nutrients move more slowly through the plant's vascular system. Use Rose Wizard weekly for three weeks, then withhold all fertilizer until after pruning.

3. One week BEFORE your pruning date, spray our Dormancy Combo on all parts of all your rose plants. The Dormancy Combo includes Orthene, a systemic insecticide, Bordeaux Mix, a copper-based fungicide, and Saf-T-Side, a horticultural oil. The combination of these products, at stronger-than-normal dosages, will destroy any insects, mites, nests, and disease spores that may be hiding in or on your plants. It also damages the foliage so that the leaves will either drop off the plant, or can be easily removed.

4. Prune your roses on the date you established. Discard all prunings and pick up any leaves that may have fallen onto the soil in your rosebeds, and discard them, as well.

5. Remove all remaining leaves from the plants. Fertilize with Rose Wizard Early Season 8-8-8 (or Rose Wizard Complete Organic 3-3-3 if you're an organic gardener.)

(Spring Planting Map courtesy of Edmunds' Roses.)

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Index
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For your convenience the index will be repeated throughout the page.

Top of page Downy Mildew Botrytis Choosing Roses Pruners and Pruning Cane Borers Soil pH Compost and Composting Watering Repelling Deer

Rose Pests and Diseases Crown Gall Clean Tools Rose Arranging Propagating Roses Fertilizing and Fertilizing Regiments American Rose Society End of page

Downy Mildew

In many parts of the United States, cool, wet weather is conducive to the growth of a fungal disease known as downy mildew. It is perhaps the most insidious of the fungi that attack roses, and it can defoliate a plant in just a day or two. Perfect conditions for the growth and spread of downy mildew are wet weather, with humidity above 85%, and temperatures between 65° and 75°F. Spores can remain dormant on plants for long periods of time until weather conditions favor their growth and reproduction.

The causal agent for downy mildew is the fungus Peronaspora sparsa, and it can be found in all parts of the United States. It is, however, more common in the western states, coastal areas, and lowlands where prolonged, cool, wet weather is prevalent at certain times of the year. Downy mildew spores begin active growth when they are wet for only four hours. The spores are produced on the undersides of the plant's leaves, but the effects are often first observed on the upper sides. Within three days damage can be observed on the plants, but in some cases, plants have been known to drop all of their leaves before any sign of the disease is noticed.

What Does Downy Mildew Look Like?

Signs of downy mildew are often confused with those of blackspot. They include purplish-red to dark brown irregularly shaped spots, often surrounded by a yellowing of the leaves. Downy can also affect canes, twigs, and flowers. Unlike blackspot, where spots are usually circular, downy mildew spots are irregular and grow between the veins of the leaves. Downy mildew also affects rose canes and stems where it appears as purplish, brown, or black spots.

Preventing and Curing Downy Mildew

When you see downy mildew on your roses, it's often too late to prevent severe leaf drop. Plants should be pruned back to encourage new, healthy growth, and sprayed with a combination of metal-based fungicides to kill remaining spores. Be sure and prune away and destroy canes that show signs of downy.

Spores can live on fallen leaves for up to one month, so rosebed debris should be picked up and destroyed, rather than composted. Spores become inactive when humidity drops below 85%, and are killed when temperatures stay at more than 80F for several days.

When weather conditions are conducive to the growth of downy mildew, roses should be sprayed preventively every 7 to 10 days with the zinc-based Aliette, alternated with the manganese-based Protect T/O.

Top of page Downy Mildew Botrytis Choosing Roses Pruners and Pruning Cane Borers Soil pH Compost and Composting Watering Repelling Deer

Rose Pests and Diseases Crown Gall Clean Tools Rose Arranging Propagating Roses Fertilizing and Fertilizing Regiments American Rose Society End of page

Botrytis

Botrytis blight is caused by several strains of the fungus Botrytis cinerea. It is very common in all areas of the United States and can appear on rose canes and flowers, but seldom on leaves. The most severe damage from botrytis occurs when it invades the tissue of the cane through a wound. If left untreated, botrytis can kill sections of rose canes, the whole cane, and, in rare occasions, the entire plant.

Botrytis is often seen on bareroot plants that arrive by mailorder, where the cool moist conditions inside the box, along with the lack of light, are perfect for fungal growth and spore production. In many cases, the pathogen has not visibly invaded the tissue of the plant and the obvious, fuzzy growth can be easily washed or wiped off. This, however, does not kill the disease, it merely eliminates the early symptoms. Once the plant is taken out of the box, exposed to light, lower humidity, and higher temperatures, all signs of the disease may disappear. The botrytis, however, can come back to haunt you during periods of gray skies, and cool summer/fall weather with several days of rain.

As this pathogen can overwinter even in cold climates, it can also remain dormant on the plant until weather conditions become favorable for it to thrive and damage plants. These conditions include temperatures at about 60°F with extended periods of rain or high humidity.

What Does Botrytis Look Like? During the growing season, botrytis most often infects buds and flower petals. Flowers that are just beginning to open become covered with a grayish-brown fuzzy mold. Open flowers may have circular spots on the petals, or the tips and edges of the petals turn soft and brown. These spots are often referred to as water spots because they are believed to be caused by droplets of water on the petals. However, the spot is actually caused by the plant's reaction to the invasion of the botrytis fungus at the spot where the petal has been damp. If botrytis has invaded the tissue of a cane through a wound or a pruning cut, the cane, or a portion of it, will die, becoming dry and brown with raised blisters or dry black spots.

Preventing and Curing Botrytis Bare root roses should be sprayed with a good systemic fungicide as soon as they're removed from the shipping box. The fungicide should be one that is a botrytis eradicant, such as Subdue 2E or Subdue Maxx. Several systemic fungicides are labeled to prevent and eradicate botrytis blight. This disease, however, is notorious for readily developing resistant strains. It is therefore important to alternate spray materials throughout the season. Current state-of-the-art disease prevention with alternate sprays of Banner Maxx and Compass should keep plants botrytis free all season. During prolonged periods of wet, humid weather, an additional spraying with Subdue will further deter the development of this disease.

Top of page Downy Mildew Botrytis Choosing Roses Pruners and Pruning Cane Borers Soil pH Compost and Composting Watering Repelling Deer

Rose Pests and Diseases Crown Gall Clean Tools Rose Arranging Propagating Roses Fertilizing and Fertilizing Regiments American Rose Society End of page

Choosing Roses

Choosing roses for your garden is lots of fun. There are so many selection, so many types of roses, and so many places to plant them.

First you have to decide what you want from a rose plant. Do you want lots of flowers on a great big plant? Do you want it to fit into the landscape or the perennial border? Or do you want those perfect long-stemmed roses to cut for arrangements or just to look at in a glass on the kitchen table?

Of course, there's a rose for every purpose. If you want a flowering hedge of roses, try the very floriferous floribundas. If you want plants and flowers on a smaller scale, try miniature roses. They're real easy to grow and come in all kinds of colors, shapes, and sizes. There are even climbing miniature roses.

Climbers, whether they be large flowering or miniatures, look great along a fence or over the top of an arbor or pergola.

Some of the modern shrubs and English-type roses really satisfy that yearning for old-fashioned roses that are everblooming and have some disease resistance.

Of course, the hybrid teas, which are my personal favorites, seem to satisfy that desire for large, perfectly formed roses on long stems.

If you live in the northern climes and like old fashioned roses, you'll love our book, "Roses for the North." It may provide some good suggestions when you're choosing really hardy varieties.

The Weeks Roses catalog, which we are offering for the first time this year, contains tons of information about all types of roses. And the photography, by Gene Sasse, is fabulous. Tom Carruth is the Director of Research for Weeks, and he has a great sense of humor, which comes through in his descriptions of the varieties.

Their two 1999 All-America Rose Selections, 4th of July™ and Betty Boop™, are just fabulous and are doing great in my garden. Neither requires winter protection in my yard, which is in Hardiness Zone 4.

Some of my favorite roses include Show Biz™, a floribunda that just keeps on pushing those scarlet flowers. It's a show-stopper in my front yard. Show Biz™ is always available at nurseries and garden centers. And wait until you see Weeks' Berries 'n Cream™. It's a pink and white striped climber that's really hardy, even in my Massachusetts location. The flowers are wonderful, and it blooms all season long.

I also like the pink hybrid tea, Signature™ from Jackson & Perkins. It has absolutely perfect rose form, and it can be huge, although it wasn't as big as I had hoped last year.

The hybrid tea Sunset Celebration™, Weeks' All-America Rose Selection for last year, is just fabulous. The amber color is darker in cooler weather, and this plant is as close to disease-free as any in my garden. And if you can get your hands on Moonstone™ at your garden center, you'll just love the huge, many-petaled pink and white flowers!

If you like unusually colored roses, you'll love the miniature Incognito™ from Bridges Roses. It's a dusty lavender and the flowers have the most perfect form. It's always a winner on the show table.

The orangy-red floribunda, Reba McEntire™, from Edmunds' Roses is a really bright addition to my yard. It's just perfect if you need a bright splash of color in a foundation planting or in the perennial border.

New this year in my garden will be Climbing Rainbow's End™, a miniature climber from Nor'East Miniature Roses. This variety is really hardy in our cold New England climate, and it will get quite tall. In warmer climates it should be absolutely terrific! The orange and scarlet flowers are to die for.

Top of page Downy Mildew Botrytis Choosing Roses Pruners and Pruning Cane Borers Soil pH Compost and Composting Watering Repelling Deer

Rose Pests and Diseases Crown Gall Clean Tools Rose Arranging Propagating Roses Fertilizing and Fertilizing Regiments American Rose Society End of page

Pruners and Pruning

If you garden on the smaller scale and need only one really good pruner, we suggest the Double-Cut Shear. Roses and many other plants are susceptible to fungal diseases that are really good at finding a weak spot on the plant. Then they imbed their little spores in those moist and lovely places where they multiply at a phenomenal rate. Many pruners tend to tear the bark of the stem, leaving a perfect opportunity for fungus to attack. So the cleaner your cut the better. I have never seen such a clean and perfect cut as with this pruner.

Roses should be pruned in spring (rather than in the fall) in the colder climates. It's sort of alien to us in the Northeast, but those in more temperate areas actually have to prune several times throughout the year to keep rose plants in bounds!

In spring, you must remove all of the dead wood on the canes. After a particularly rough winter some roses may have to be pruned back nearly to the ground. But don't worry they'll throw up new canes and will grow rapidly once the weather warms.

Cut the canes back to about 1/4 inch above an outward facing bud eye. That bud eye is where the first new growth will start, and it should face outward so the new cane has plenty of room to grow. It's best to keep the center of the plant open (without canes and foliage) so air can circulate freely around the plant. Good air circulation goes a long way toward keeping diseases at bay.

Cutting canes lower in spring will result in fewer, but larger, flowers. So even if you don't have a lot of winter kill, you may want to cut hybrid teas back to a foot or so.

Pruning higher results in more, but smaller, flowers. Floribundas are usually pruned a little higher so you get lots of flowers.

Shrubs, climbers, and old garden roses should be pruned of dead wood, and you may want to remove a couple of the oldest canes to make room for new ones coming from the bottom of the plant.

Pruning is always an exercise in judgement, and there's no substitute for experience. Just watch how your plants grow and plan to alter your spring pruning accordingly for next year.

Top of page Downy Mildew Botrytis Choosing Roses Pruners and Pruning Cane Borers Soil pH Compost and Composting Watering Repelling Deer

Rose Pests and Diseases Crown Gall Clean Tools Rose Arranging Propagating Roses Fertilizing and Fertilizing Regiments American Rose Society End of page

Cane Borers

A clean pruning cut will help to keep disease from getting a foothold, but, oh, those cane borers! If you live in an area where cane borers are a problem, you've probably been very frustrated by the damage they can do. Cane borers are bee-like insects that lust after that clean white pith of a rose cane right after you've done your spring pruning or cut a flower. The bee chomps its way right down inside the cane until it finds a really comfy place to lay it's eggs. Cane borers are most evident by their effect on the rose cane. The first thing you'll spot is a nice, clean hole drilled right down into the center of the cane, and everything dies above the place where the nasty critter has chosen to lay its eggs.

Once the evidence of the presence of a cane borer is obvious, the only thing you can do is cut the cane back to a point below where the borer is nesting. Cut the cane back an inch at a time until there is no longer a hole in the pith of the cane. You may run into the larvae as you cut. It looks like a white worm. Yuk!

Obviously, the best way to prevent the damage that borers can cause is to keep them from getting into the cane in the first place. This is done by sealing the newly cut cane with a substance the borer can't bore through. Some people use Elmers glue or orange shellac. But the containers for these products can be unweildy. If cane borers are a problem in your garden, try our new Rose Stick Cane Sealer. It's easy to carry around in your pocket or Gardener's Phone Pak and it's easy to use.

Top of page Downy Mildew Botrytis Choosing Roses Pruners and Pruning Cane Borers Soil pH Compost and Composting Watering Repelling Deer

Rose Pests and Diseases Crown Gall Clean Tools Rose Arranging Propagating Roses Fertilizing and Fertilizing Regiments American Rose Society End of page

Soil pH

We can't stress enough the importance of getting a soil test. No matter what you grow, it'll do better if your soil is well balanced. You should know that your soil is at it's very best, otherwise your fertilizers and other soil amendments just won't do the job they're supposed to. Improper pH can lock up the nutrients in the soil, making them unavailable to the plant.

Here in the Northeast, we really have a problem with low pH. Acid rain, along with a naturally low soil ph, keeps our soil much too acid for roses. We have to lime several times a year. It can be frustrating if your pH is low and you know that the lime you add won't work for several months. We baby boomers demand immediate gratification! So our product, Limestone F, provides just that. It's a micronized lime that works immediately.

We've always been taught that roses like a pH of about 6.5. In New England, however, we've discovered that optimum rose growth takes place at between 5.8 and 6.3, just a skrid lower than tradition dictates. It seems like many things we've always considered optimum at nearly neutral pH do a little better with a slightly lower pH. Even the alpha hydroxy acids we're using on our skin fall into this category.

Did you know that earthworms are a great indicator as to whether or not your soil is as good as it should be? If you see lots of worms whenever you put your spade into the ground, your soil's in pretty good shape. But if have very few, or no earthworms at all, you'd better take a really good look at your soil. It probably needs a big infusion of organic matter, and probably a pH adjustment.

Compost and Composting

So what do you do with your rose prunings and other garden waste? There has been an age-old debate about whether or not to compost rose prunings. The theory is that disease that may be present on the leaves and canes will remain vital, even though the composting process, and that spray materials may inhibit the composting process.

The answer to whether or not to compost really depends on how you compost. If you throw everything onto a pile and wait for it to break down, you may have problems with disease spores multiplying, thus contaminating your compost (that won't be ready to use for several years.) In this case, it's best not to compost rose canes. Most towns now have compost areas, and they'll be glad to take your prunings.

If, however, you REALLY compost, rose canes will be just fine. Really composting means building a compost pile that will heat up rapidly and decompose rapidly. It's a lot of work, but definitely worth the effort.

I dump everything into a pile and wait until I have substantial amounts of green stuff (usually fresh grass clippings,) dead stuff (like dead leaves,) some leftover soil (after digging a new bed,) and some fresh or composted manure (usually horse manure.) Leaves and rose canes or other large prunings should be run through a chipper-shredder because large things don't break down as fast as you need them to in this case. Then make huge pile, alternating 4-inch layers.

Water it real well, and you'll find that it will heat up in 2 days. This means that the bacteria are really working to break down the waste. If you were to dig a hole in your pile at this point and throw in the eggshells from this morning's breakfast, they will be GONE in 24 hours. The bacteria breaks things down that fast! Our new-this-year Organic Compost Activator really helps the decomposition process.

After a week, turn over the compost so that the outside stuff gets a chance to breakdown, and in another week you will have finished compost.

Compost is one of the best things you can use for roses. I grow mine in nearly pure compost and top-dress the beds with it every year.

If you don't want to mess with making your own compost, your neighborhood compost area will have some good stuff. So everytime you make a trip to take your garden waste there, bring home a bushel basket of finished compost.

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Watering

Watering. It's the most important thing you can do for your roses. If your soil drainage is good, you really can't overwater. In fact many avid rosarians and rose exhibitors water every day!

That's not to say we all have to water every day, especially with water prices what they are now. A general rule of thumb has always been an inch of water a week, whether it be rain- or people-applied.

I really got myself in trouble last year, turning on the Dripworks system and then forgetting about it. I did that 4 or 5 times last summer and ended up with a HUGE water bill. So this year I'm using our new water timer. It's not a real fancy one, but it's inexpensive and it'll turn the water off if I forget. That's the trouble with advancing age... you forget stuff!

You'll love the Dripworks Rose Kit. I don't know how I ever survived without it. With more than 300 rosebushes it was getting to be a chore doing all that hand watering. I installed the Dripworks kits in all my beds last year and it really has been a timesaver. (Except for the forgetting to turn it off part.)

The emitters are low enough to keep the water off the foliage, just wetting the soil around the plant. So you save water (unless you forget to turn it off,) and you help keep disease spores from grabbing onto wet foliage.

Rose foliage does, however, benefit from a good bath once in a while. But plan to do it in the heat of the day when the foliage can dry off completely before the sun goes down. A weekly foliage bath also washes off those pesky spider mites. It may not keep roses completely free of mites, but it sure helps.

Our new Rain Wand is great for hand watering and hosing off delicate foliage. And it's angled, making it easy to reach the undersides of foliage where mites hang out.

What would I ever do without my hose quick connectors? If you're not already using them, call us right now! I have a large yard and there's never a hose where I want it. And if the hose is there, you can bet that the right nozzle isn't.

Nothing can help those trips back and forth to the garage to get this hose or that nozzle, but it sure helps to be able to just click them into place rather than screwing and unscrewing. Get the set of one male and one female for all your hoses, and as many sets of the male ends as you'll need for all of your nozzles, sprinklers, and even your brass sihpon mixer. You'll be surprised at how much time they save and how much work they eliminate.

You will love our new Rain Train! I used to spend all my time moving hoses around to water all the grass and all the beds. The Rain Train has changed all that! You can lay out you regular garden hose all over the yard around corners and curves, just everywhere and the Rain Train follows the pattern you've laid out, watering thoroughly as it travels along the path of the hose.

I have lots of irregularly shaped beds and garden areas, and this wonderful item has saved me so much hose dragging time. It really is the greatest thing since sliced bread!

If your roses are planted in beds with good drainage, it's hard to over water. In fact, the more the better. But lots of watering can also send your fertilizer to the center of the earth, so don't forget to apply a good fertilizer after heavy rain.

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Repelling Deer

Tree Guard deer repellant was a great product for us last year, and is selling really well this year. Many rosarians have mentioned problems with deer chowing down on their roses, even in suburban areas. This product not only tastes bad, but has an odor that's not unpleasant for humans, but deer don't like it. Although the label says you only have to spray it once a season, remember that roses grow fairly rapidly and new growth will have to be sprayed for the product to be effective on new leaves and stems.

Rose Pests and Diseases

The rosaceae family of plants, which includes a very large number of different plants including roses, apples, and pyracantha, among others, is quite susceptible to a number of fungal diseases.

Fungal diseases such as blackspot, powdery mildew, and rust can defoliate a rose plant if they are left untreated. While it's unlikely that the disease itself will kill the plant, it will weaken the plant to such an extent that it may not survive any additional stress such as drought or winter weather.

These diseases are very difficult to eradicate once they get a foothold in your garden, so it is, therefore, important to take measures to prevent disease BEFORE it makes itself evident.

While pests that attack roses, such as aphids, midge, and thrips can be destroyed with pesticides once you spot them in the garden, fungi should be treated preventively.

It is possible to grow good roses without chemical insecticides. However, it is nearly impossible to grow them without the use of chemical fungicides.

The major diseases that attack roses are blackspot and powdery mildew. The spores of these fungi hang out in every garden. Other rose diseases include rust, anthracnose, and downy mildew, and while they're very common, they aren't usually seen as of often and blackspot and mildew. The names of both these diseases are descriptive: blackspot is black spots on the leaves, and mildew is a silvery powder on the leaves.

One of our products, Saf-T-Side, is a horticultural oil that works as a fungistat; that is, it makes it difficult for fungus to attach itself to the plant. With a strict spray regimen using Saf-T-Side, you may be able to keep fugus at bay. But once you spot any of these diseases in your garden, it's best to take harsher measures to eradicate them. (As a pesticide, however, Saf-T-Side should not be underestimated. I think it's the best pesticide around for use in the greenhouse, and while it should only be sprayed in the cooler parts of the day outside, it smothers a wide variety of bugs.)

The truth is that all of the chemical insecticides and fungicides we can buy break down rapidly in sun and rain. They pose very little threat to the environment or to humans when use according to label directions.

Avid rose hobbyists and exhibitors utilize a spray regimen that includes regular applications of insecticide, fungicide, and miticide to prevent insects and diseases from even taking one bite out of a beautiful rose. A chewed bloom will never win a ribbon.

But more casual rosarians, who may not want to spend a lot of time caring for their roses, can have perfectly wonderful roses without much effort. A spray once every 10 days or so with Orthenex, which contains a pesticide, a fungicide, and a miticide all in one bottle should keep your roses clean and healthy. This product is quite effective for those with small gardens, but if you have more than a dozen-or-so roses, you may want to consider more concentrated (and cost-effective) chemicals.

When you order any spray materials from Primary Products, you will receive a formulation chart listing all of our spray materials and the correct rate of application for each one, but it's still important that you carefully read the label on each container. Make sure you follow the label instructions carefully. Some of our spray materials require the addition of very little chemical to your spray water. So measure correctly!

Most all of our spray materials can be mixed together to allow only one application, rather than separate ones for insecticide, fungicide, and miticide. Unless the label on any of the spray materials you want to use specifically states that it should not be mixed with other chemicals, go ahead and make your gardening more time-effective.

If you buy Avid for red spider mites, which are evidenced by tiny red spiders on the undersides of rose leaves, tiny webs, and a browning of rose foliage (just before it falls off,) please consider purchasing the pheremone, Stirrup M, to mix with it. It attracts the mites to the chemical and adds an extra measure of protection.

If you live in a part of the country where Japanese beetles devour rose flowers, you may want to consider top-spraying your bushes on heavy beetle days with Sevin. Our new 2-quart pressure sprayer is perfect for the job! Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do to eradicate Japanese beetles altogether, but Sevin is effective in reducing populations if it is sprayed directly on the miserable critters.

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Crown Gall

Sometimes, when you're doing the spring pruning, or at other times during the year, you may notice a woody growth on the bud union. It can be small or large I 've found a couple just below the surface of the soil that were as big as baseballs. This is a rose gall or a crown gall, a fungus that grows on the plant. I've had good luck just cleanly breaking them off the place where they're attached to the bud union, and then swabbing the bud union with a solution of half Clorox and half water. Put the broken-off gall in the trash, not in the compost pile, and clean your gloves, pruner, or any other tools you may have used with the Clorox solution. The plant should continue to grow just fine, but watch it for any signs of regrowth of the gall.

Clean Tools

It really pays to keep your tools clean and disinfected. Tools can spread fungi from one plant to the next, so it's always a good idea to dip your pruners after cutting an infected plant. Our Primary Disinfectant is perfect for keeping pruner blades free of spores and bacteria.

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Rose Arranging

If you like to do flower arrangements with roses, you may want to consider entering your rose arrangement at a rose show. American Rose Society arrangements rules are different than National Council rules they're more slanted toward the quality of the roses. But exhibiting rose arrangements is fun. Why not give it a try?

It's always so sad to see a cut flower fade away. Of course they all do, sooner or later. But if you've grown a beautiful rose, it's certainly worth the effort to make sure the flower lasts as long as possible in the vase. Rose stems should always be cut under water. This keeps air from getting into the capillaries of the stem that carry the water up to the flower. Sometimes when you get cut roses from the florist, you'll notice that the flower head will just droop over, never to return to its former beauty. This is because there is air in the stem, and by the time it travels up to the neck of the rose, water can't get by the air bubble to keep the flower vibrant.

So whether you get your roses from the florist or from your own plants, you should immediately cut the stems underwater to prevent air from getting into the stem. Our underwater stem cutter is great for the job. If you've just cut a rose in the garden, be sure to carry a container of water to the garden to put the stem into as soon as its cut. And then re-cut it underwater once you get it inside.

By adding a flower preservative to your vase water, your cut flowers will stay fresh even longer. The rose arrangers say that our Chrysal is the best one available. It keeps vase water fresh and increases flower uptake capacity. Now it's available in handy packets that make up a pint at a time.

Rose thorns will interfere with the way your rose stem seats itself in oasis, and they are really in the way if you're a purist and insert your stems directly onto a needleholder. Our metal stem stripper quickly and painlessly removes thorns, even from the fattest stem. As an extra added benefit, more water can be taken up by the stem through the bark where the thorn was removed.

We're really excited about our new Pokon Leafshine. Just a tiny squirt from a height of 15 inches makes spray residue disappear! It's so much easier than wiping off foliage. It works great and is safe on all plants. A real timesaver!

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Propagating Roses

Propagating roses can be fun, challenging, and sometimes profitable. There are three ways to go about it:

Hybridizing. Cross pollinating two varieties of roses to get a whole new variety is fun and interesting. And if your new rose is truly wonderful, you might be able to sell it to a commercial rose grower.

Budding is a form of plant grafting that involves taking a bud eye from the variety you want to propagate and budding it onto a hardy rootstock. Some varieties of roses perform better on roostock than they do on their own roots. Most varieties of roses that you buy via mailorder or at your garden center, particularly the hybrid teas and floribundas, are budded plants.

Roses from cuttings - rooting rose cuttings is lots of fun and increases your collection less expensively. Remember that it's illegal to propagate patented roses, so bud and root only those varieties that are off patent.

There are lots of books available on propagating roses. Check with the ARS for their book list or look at your local library. Our pamphlet, "Quickly and Successfully Rooting Rose Cuttings" is the most comprehensive how-to information on rooting cuttings. And it's only $5.00!

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Fertilizing

Fertilizing roses. Where to begin?? Some avid rosarians and exhibitors feed their roses something nearly every day.

While it's true that roses are heavy feeders and it's hard to overfeed them (with fertilizer applied to the soil,) it's also true that a rose plant will do perfectly well with a good feeding only once a month or so.

Whether you're a casual rosarian or an avid one, we are pleased to offer several fertilizing regimens, one of which may be suitable for the type of gardener you are.

Before Tommy Cairns formulated Magnum Grow, he recommended a fertilizer regimen using Grow Vite. This is still a wonderful regimen that produces maximum growth and large blooms with vibrant color.

Tommy Cairns' Fabulous Fertilizer Regimen

Renowned international rose exhibitor Dr. Tommy Cairns and his partner Luis Desamero have more than 1000 rose plants in their Studio City, California garden. And they're all big, healthy, and covered with magnificent blooms. Tommy's fertilizing regimen will keep you busy, but wait 'til you see the results!

• Week 1 20-20-20, one tablespoon per gallon, two gallons per plant
• Week 2 Magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts), 1 tablespoon per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 3 Liquid Fish, one tablespoon per gallon, one gallon per plant
• Week 4 Gro-Vite (8-10-8) one tablespoon per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 5 Start all over again

Now that we have Magnum Grow, Tommy says that it can be used all by itself on a weekly basis. Most exhibitors, however, still want to provide the additional organic goodies in the liquid fish and liquid seaweed, and even some additional magnesium sulfate.

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Fertilizing Regimen for the Employed Rosarian

For those who want really great roses but can't afford the time to feed every day or two, this formula really produces!

• Peters 20-20-20 mixed with Liquid Fish and magnesium sulfate once every two weeks
• For the two weeks before a rose show, apply Peters 12-45 15 once each week.
• For gardeners who want good roses without a lot of time and effort, apply Magnum Grow once a month and water often.

Fertlizer can also be applied to rose foliage. The plants take in the fertilizer through the leaves. They seem to really like this method of fertilization once in awhile. But be sure to apply only the amount recommended. A stronger mixture can burn rose foliage.

All of the fertilizers we offer are designed to be mixed with water for both foliar and soil application. Consider using our Brass Syphon Mixer to make a concentrate and then apply with a garden hose. It sure beats mixing up a gallon or two at a time!

Trophy Hunter's Formula

This regimen provides everything an exhibition plant needs from spring pruning through show day. It works great!

• Week 1 Microbial Soil Conditioner, one cup per plant
• Week 2 Liquid Fish, 2 tablespoons per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 3 20-20-20, one tablespoon per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 4 Magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) 1 tablespoon per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 5 Peters 9-45-15, one tablespoon per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 6 Liquid Seaweed, 2 tablespoons per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 7 Roots 2, 2 and 1/2 tablespoons per gallon, 2 gallons per plant
• Week 8 Start all over again

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Fertlizing Program for Really Good Roses

This regimen will produce large plants and flowers, many of exhibition quality.

Magnum Grow and Liquid Fish once aweek.

Fertilizing Program for the Casual Rosarian

This regimen will produce healthy palnts and flowers that are great for cutting or enjoying in the garden.

Magnum Grow once a month

Fertilizer can also be applied to rose foliage. The plants take in the fertilizer through the leaves. They seem to really like this method of fertilization once in awhile. But be sure to apply only the amount recommended. A stronger mixture can burn rose foliage.

All of the fertilizers we offer are designed to be mixed with water for both foliar and soil application. Consider using our Brass Syphon Mixer to make a concentrate and then apply with a garden hose. It sure beats mixing up a gallon or two at a time!

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American Rose Society

If you're new to rose gardening, the American Rose Society has a wealth of information that can help you grow better roses. And there are more than 300 local rose societies across the U.S. If you really need some help, an American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian in your area will be glad to discuss your concerns with you free of charge. For the name and phone number of a Consulting Rosarian near you, call the American Rose Society at 318 938-5402.

If you have a rose culture question, you can call an American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian in your area, or you can give our resident CR a call. You can reach us on our Answer Line at 781 932-2416. We're not always in the office, so if there's no answer, try again later. (We don't have that line on an answering machine, so you won't have to pay for the call if we're not here to answer your question.) Best time to reach us: between 10:00am and 1:00pm, weekdays.

Many rose hobbyists, particularly those who are members of the American Rose Society, exhibit their roses at local, district, and national rose shows nationwide. During periods of peak bloom in your area, you'll probably be able to find an American Rose Society-sanctioned rose show somewhere close by. If you've never attended a rose show, you'll find it a real treat. You'll have the opportunity to see the finest examples of the rose varieties that you grow or would like to grow, and also, the newest varieties of roses.

Perhaps you'd like to try your hand at exhibiting. Just get the details on show time and place and cut your rose when it's at it's peak about 3/4 open. Cut the longest stem you can. Put it in water and take it to the show. An American Rose Society member will be happy to show you how to enter it!