Ask Rosenut  

Go to Page 1 Page 2  Page3  Page 4

Q: Crown Gall
Is there a way to save a bush that has crown gall?

A: 
I remove the bush and with a sharp knife remove all signs of the gall, including a little of the wood at the point of attachment. I pour alcohol over the wound then apply a little Wall*Mart's human anti-bacterial ointment on it. I drench the soil in the area with a bleach solution. I pot the bush and watch it for one season. I've successfully eliminated the gall from a number of bushes this way.. Disinfect your tools when you are done. If the bush is too far gone I shovel prune it.

Q: Safe Fertilizers
I purchased about 30 own roots roses from Rose Unlimited and all were over a foot tall and some had blooms on them. They are all planted. 
The only directions they sent me was not to use dry chemical fertilizers the first year. I would like to get them off to a good start.

Can you suggest a fertilization schedule for this year. (Rosetone, 20-20-20 water solvable, alfalfa tea, fish emulsion, etc) I watered them last week, after a heavy rain, with 20-20-20. That is all I have done, so far!

A:
Manures, Mills Magic, Rose Mix or other all organic fertilizer, Fish meal or Fish emulsion, or Alfalfa tea. All will work. You'll be amending and enriching the soil and getting the soil organisms activated. Do that and the roses will take care of themselves. Dry Chemical fertilizers have a tendency to burn the tiny feeder roots that develop in the spring, especially on newly planted bushes. Many years ago I lost many bushes due to over enthusiastic chemical fertilizing when I pruned in the spring thinking that it would help the bushes get off to a good start. I then found out that those feeder roots die off during our winter and must grow back in the spring so I now use organics. When fertilizing a little, often is better than a lot all at once, so let that be your guide. 

Check out an E-Z Grow fertilizer injector from Rosemania and apply very dilute soluble fertilizer every time you water. I have a farm grade injector which I use at 1/3 to 1/4 strength each time I water. Every 3 days. 

Q:  Golden Climbing Roses

First of all, I am sorry to hear about your stroke! My brother-in-law had the same thing happen on Thanksgiving day and he is just 46 years old. It left him completely paralyzed on his right side. I am amazed at the amount of determination and courage it takes to come back from such a state. He is doing well now, as it sounds like you are. I will pray for your continued improvement!

Now, to the roses...
I am not sure if you charge for your help...let me know if there is a fee. :o)

I am hoping that you might have some advice for a woman who has just planted her first rose (a Knock-out) and I am frustrated by my search for a climber to go behind it, as a back drop. I am trying to find something that would be close to the color of a Stella de Oro daylily, a deep golden egg-yolk yellow. I have been looking at pictures of many roses, including Garden Sun, Autumn Sunset, Royal Sunset but it is hard to get a true sense of what the color will be in person. I would love your suggestions. I, too, live in zone 5, so winter hardiness is also a consideration. 

A:
I like Autumn Sunset. It's from Westerland which is a hardy rose, although anytime you get temps below zero for any length of time you'll experience dieback except on the Buck roses or Canadian Explorer roses. Even with winter protection that part of the canes exposed will often dieback. Unfortunately , In our zone all but hardiest climbers seldom attain any great length due to the winters and 6 month growing season. Knock-out is a great rose. Those yellows that are really hardy are only once bloomers.

No I don't charge for advice.

Q: Rose Color
I would like to know if you have seen the Autumn Sunset bloom. I saw one at a local garden center with a open bloom that looked quite a bit lighter yellow than I was expecting. It did not seem to have the golden/apricot color that is so prominent in the pictures shown on the various internet photo sites.

A:
Color depends a lot on the weather. Cool weather give the blooms a chance to develop slower which results in slower opening, longer lasting more colorful blooms. Heat forces blooms to open and often you'll have lighter, washed out blooms. As the bush matures it will often have richer deeper colors also. Fertilizers help also. There are so many variables it's hard to predict.

A:
I had no idea that color was such a complicated factor! Thank you for the education. I will try to continue to read and learn more! 

Q: First Time Growing a Rose Bush
I am a novice gardener and I planted climbing rosebush this spring. I have a few questions if you don't mind. My rose bush has developed some eaten holes in the leaves, even on the new growth. It appears as if gnats are eating it. What should I do? Also, I am noticing some yellow leaves (burning?). Any Ideas? Oh yeah one more thing: When and how should I prune?  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

A:
Don't worry about the insects. They don't eat that much and a few holes in some of the leaves won't harm your rose bush. Not knowing for sure where you live, at this time of the year I'd suspect Japanese beetles. Caterpillars also eat holes in leaves but many caterpillars become butterflies so I don't recommend killing them.

Yellow leaves, if on the lower part of the bush could indicate spider mites. Turn a leaf over a check for very tiny spots. If the spots move you have spider mites. They can be controlled by washing under the leaves with a strong spray from a water wand. The yellow leaves will come off also but they will anyway even without the wash. Doing this every other day for a couple of weeks will disrupt their breeding cycle and they'll soon disappear. There are miticides but they are rather expensive. If you have just a few bushes the water wand is better.

Another reason for yellow leaves is that sometimes leaves just wear out. Unless the whole plant loses it's leaves it's not a problem. One other reason would be blackspot. When a bush becomes infected with that fungus the leaves will get dark spots then turn yellow and fall off. Spraying regularly with a fungicide will prevent that. Any labeled for blackspot will work. Make sure you follow the directions on the label and mix just what you need at the time. I like Ortho's Funginex, Fertilome's Liquid Systemic Fungicide or Immunox. All are available at most any garden center, Home Depot, or Wal*Mart.

Q:  Northern Exposure

I would like to have some roses in the bed front of my house, but my house faces north (actually, slightly northwest) and I have the feeling that you will all tell me "Don't do it! Have mercy on the little roses, Jen!"  Anyway, it gets about half a day of sun, but it is afternoon sun.

A:
I had roses growing on the north side of my home in Griffith. I studied the sunlight for a few weeks. Close to the house there was no sun so I planted hostas and astilbes. About 10 feet out from the house I found I got 3 hours in the morning and 4-5 in the afternoon The roses planted there did well. The shadow of the house in the winter kept the ground frozen and protected the snow cover so they overwintered well in that location.

Q:  Selective Bug-Killing?

Boy oh boy - - I really don't want to spray all my garden with an insecticide. But it is breaking my heart when I get home from work every day and see that another big ripe rosebud that is just about ready to pop open has been chewed in half.

What do you do? I love sitting in the garden on Saturday mornings with my coffee -- watching the butterflies on the echinacea and the bumble bees on the salvia. And then I look at these big fat rosebuds just chewed in half by some scoundrel that I can't even see and I want to Hurt Them. BAD. (They never do this chewing when I am there to see them; they are sneaky.)

I don't want to harm or discourage the bees & the butterflies & the hummingbirds. But whatever is chewing up my roses, I would like to drop a grenade on them and blow them to smithereens. Why don't these scoundrels ever eat the weeds? Why don't they chew on the Rose of Sharon that is popping up in every corner? I've got daisies to spare, why aren't daisies on their menu?

Is there even an answer? As far as bug-killing sprays, is it an "All-Or-None-No-one will be spared!" proposition, or is there an answer...Somewhere out there...??

A:
Most are not selective in their method of killing so just about anything you get will kill the good bugs also. It bothers me too, to see roses nipped in the bud by an evil bug. I close my eyes and ignore it as best I can knowing that soon predatory insects will arrive to do away with a large part of them or they will simply live out their life cycle for the year and go away. You say you enjoy the butterflies but are you aware that butterflies start their life as vegetation eating caterpillars. That's another reason I don't recommend spraying insecticides. I like butterflies also and birds which eat the contaminated insects or feed them to their young.

Q: Mushrooms

I have changed 13 plants to bigger pots this weekend. I moved Graham Thomas too, which is a big one. Before moving for few days I noticed mushrooms sprouting every single day. I took them out. Just when I was changing the pot, I noticed some kind of white substance on the soil (could be fungus)? Is it good or bad? My Graham Thomas doesn't bloom constantly ( I wish he is in full bloom always, my favorite). I am wondering if this fungus has anything to effect flowering. Help is appreciated.

A:
Chances are that white substance is the mushroom spore looking for some rotting woody matter to grow. Mushrooms will often grow in potting soil that contains a lot of partially composted wood chips. I have some Peter's potting soil that looks like it's made mostly from wood chips. At my old house I had removed some very large cottonwood trees and had the stumps ground out. After 16 years I still had mushrooms growing from those areas. Mushrooms are one of the many ways nature breaks down woody materials. As they die the nutrients they take up are released back into the soil in a form usable to the plants. The new fungicides like Compass were actually developed from the properties of mushrooms (a fungus) that prevents other fungi from growing near it. It's a class of fungicides called strobulins.

I don't believe your Graham Thomas is affected by the mushrooms. It's a fast grower and probably needs a bigger pot. To avoid the mushrooms, use a potting mix that doesn't contain so much wood, or horse manure. The commercial mushroom growers grow them in a processed horse manure so horse manure can also promote them.

Q: Planting Time

After reading this forum and doing a little research, I have decided to give roses a try! I am interested in shrub roses due to their disease resistance. I recently visited the local nursery and from information/recommendations on this forum I saw 2 types I would be interested in: Canadian Explorer series (many to choose from, Cabot, Davis etc) and Bonica. I did not find Knockout.

My question is: if I buy a rose now, can I keep it in a pot for a while until my bed is ready and plant in the fall (September likely), or should I wait to buy and plant next spring? I am on Vancouver Island BC, similar to Seattle in climate.

Have Questions?  Write to:  rosenut@rosenut.com

Go to Page 1 Page 2  Page3  Page 4