From my Garden, March 2005

February 2005 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 January 2004

Spring Rose Gardening

It’s snowing as I write this but never fear, Spring is rapidly approaching. Daffodils, tulips, and crocus are stirring from their winter sleep and poking up through the winter mulch. I’ve had a few crocus blooms and the leaf buds are beginning to swell on my roses.

I’ve pruned the 150 potted roses I carried over from last year in my greenhouse and picked up 300 hardy Canadian roses to repot and mature for the late spring and summer. A few I’ll plant but most will be sold. Not being able to be as active as I once was, this gives me a chance to feel useful and get in the dirt early each year.

Although I’ve pruned in the greenhouse and the buds are swelling on the outside roses, it’s still too early to think about doing any pruning in the garden except for fruit trees. They should be pruned and shaped before they leaf out. For more information call your County Extension Agent and ask for the bulletin on Pruning Fruit Trees.

Spring pruning of roses should be done when the forthysia bloom. In our area, that’s usually around mid April. Don’t go out and cut them down with out some plan. Shrubs store food and moisture in their canes each fall and that is what fuels leafing out in the spring.

A broken cane that has not dried out will still produce leaves from those food stores, then die. A cane that is diseased at one point will produce leaves above that point but they will shrivel and die when all the stored moisture is used.  All portions of cane above a diseased (cankered) lesion should be removed. This allows viable buds that survive below that to obtain nutrients from the plant’s roots that might otherwise be wasted trying to revive dead or diseased portions of the plant.

All obviously dead and damaged canes should be cut off back to where the inside of the cane is the color of the flesh of an apple. The cut should be made at a 45 degree angle about a quarter inch above an outward facing bud. Doing this will send the plant’s energy to this bud and produce a new cane that will produce flowers. It will also make the plant grow out and away from the center of the bush allowing air circulation to the bushes center, lessening the chance of fungus spores to settle. This also lets the bush dry off faster in the morning or after a rain. With proper pruning techniques we can help nature by forcing the bush to grow in the desired form.

In our area, Nature usually dictates how far back we should prune. Bitter cold temperatures will cause the canes to die back from the tip. Colder and drier winters can cause some roses to die back to the bud union. (That point where the flowering rose you want is budded (grafted) to a different hardy, vigorous root stock.)  Roses on their own roots, will sometimes die back to or near the ground. If planted properly and mulched in the fall, new growth will come from the roots or from the bud union.

Certain hardy roses will not require any winter protection and will have more viable surviving canes in the spring. Many of mine will survive temperatures to minus 30 degrees with no cover.

Knowing that many rose growers do not winterize their plants in the fall, I no longer recommend most tender modern roses unless they have been shown to be winter hardy in our area.

Most in my garden have been replaced with hardy Canadian and Northern grown varieties that are proven winter survivors.  Many climbers will die back to the ground each winter and will only achieve the size of a tall bush by summer’s end. It’s important to purchase hardy climbing varieties or you will never have a beautiful flowering climber in the spring.

Climbing roses should not be pruned until after they flower or you may cut away your first bloom. Dead or damaged canes should be removed. Because of the winter weather in my zone 5a growing zone, it’s difficult but possible to have beautiful flowering roses in the spring. A few simple precautions in the fall and spring will give you the best possible bloom. Visit my yard from late May to mid June to see what you can enjoy. Come anytime before Mid April and I’ll give you a hands on pruning lesson.
My home is located on the NW corner of Hershman Drive and W. Stalbaum Ln. in Scully Square, Wheatfield, Indiana. E-mail <rosenut@rosenut.com> or call me for directions. 219-956-3936

Following is a list of hardy roses I purchased this spring.
I cannot deliver so anyone wishing to purchase will have to visit me. They were purchased in 5.5 inch square pots but will be repotted into larger pots to mature. Cost will be $10 first come. I won’t put any aside as my greenhouse is rather crowded and it’s too hard to keep up with things. There are only 4 each of most varieties although I do have more of a few. Beginning at the April meeting, I will bring ordered roses to the meeting. Remember these are not large plants, they are two year old cuttings but well rooted.

Happy rose growing

I’m available to answer rose growing questions via the internet at rosenut@rosenut.com or visit my website at www.rosenut.com , or you can come by my home most anytime for hands on rose growing tips and advice.

Have Questions?  Write to:  rosenut@rosenut.com