Rose Growers Calendar
JANUARY"The hounds of spring are on winter's traces....."
The first month in a new year - not an especially good time for gardening on the West Coast. If the winter has been mild, it has also meant lots of rain. The rose canes may show signs of new growth but resist the temptation to start pruning or removing the winter protection you have around your roses. There could be a freeze or two left in winter. If a sunny day should arrive, here are some things to do in your rose beds.
Things To Do: · Finish stripping old leaves off your rose bushes and more importantly, tidy up any debris left on the ground. · Look over your rose bushes and prune any dead wood from the canes. · If the ground isn't frozen or soaked, move old rose bushes or plant new bushes (bare-root). Bare-root roses are shipped from specialty rose nurseries in the fall (November/December) or in the early spring (March). · Dormant oil and copper spray can be used as a preventive against blackspot spores, powdery mildew, downy mildew and overwintering insect eggs, helping alleviate early symptoms of these problems during the next growing season. Spraying the rose canes should be done twice during January/February and must be applied before new foliage appears on the bushes, as it will damage the leaves. Care should be taken as copper spray can stain wood surfaces or vinyl. Always read the instructions that come with any chemical you plan to apply to the garden. Recent studies have shown that Lime Sulphur has more limited effect on disease control - in our climate copper and dormant oil seem to be more effective. It is still too early to work the soil, especially if the ground is really wet. The best occupation for the rosarian in January is to read the rose catalogues and look for new roses that will look great in your garden! It is also a good time to catch up on your reading and there are many good rose books at the library or your favourite bookstore.
FEBRUARY"When the yellow forsythia blooms around late February to mid-March, it's the time to prune."
February can be a month of temptation for the West Coast gardener. Sunny days lure one outside but unless the forsythia is blooming, it's too early to prune! Things To Do: ` Finish defoliating as many of your roses as you can. If you have used copper spray this will help defoliate; if you haven't sprayed yet, this will be your last chance before new foliage appears. ` Don't remove protective hilling from roses too soon. Safer to wait until March. ` Sharpen your pruners in anticipation of pruning and size up your roses as to how much pruning you'll have to do. Watch for information on a pruning workshop offered by the Vancouver Rose Society in late February. ` General tidying up in the garden. Weed. ` Continue planting new roses or move old roses to new sites if the ground can be worked. February is when the gardener should check the garden to see what needs to be done later. If exceptionally warm, some pruning can be done but one must remember that March can be nasty and colder weather could play havoc with newly pruned roses. However, a lot of preparatory work can be done - if only checking to see what roses survived the winter, reviewing your pruning options or sharpening your tools.
MARCH"The winds of March blow hard & cold But the gardener has naught to fear A well-kept garden stands proud and bold All ready for the coming year".
The warmth of March can deteriorate into more rain and cold weather! If the forsythia's bloomed, tis pruning time!
Things To Do: ` Prune your roses. ` Magnesium is washed from the soil by the rain and can be replaced by Epsom Salts applied at a quarter cup per rose bush. Water the salts in. Magnesium promotes "basal" breaks (new growth from the crown) in roses. ` New foliage will appear in March and can be sprayed with a fungicide or organic alternative if the weather has some dry days. A soluble fertilizer such as liquid kelp, liquid fish fertilizer or 20-20-20 can be added to the fungicide for a foliar feeding.
Pruning - Pruning in the spring stimulates growth and flower production. It also allows you to shape your rose bush or cut it back hard if you feel it is too large. The first rule to remember - you won't kill your roses by pruning them! You will just make them better roses by doing some selective pruning. Hard pruning is sometimes done by rose exhibitors and means cutting the rose canes on hybrid tea roses to 6-8" above the ground to produce larger blooms to exhibit. This method is also used to rejuvenate weak or neglected roses. Moderate pruning is recommended for most gardeners growing hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras, cutting stems back to about 1/2 their original length. New research on floribundas suggests cutting only 1/4 off the stem lengths, a form of light pruning. Every couple of years old, unproductive canes should be cut back to the ground on most varieties of roses along with dead and diseased wood. Miniature and shrub roses require very little pruning except to shape the bush. Old garden roses and wild roses can be left for 3-5 years with little or no pruning other than deadheading. Old stems can be removed if needed. Established climbing roses require little pruning to main stems but side shoots can be reduced to 6-8". Ramblers are best treated as lax-stemmed climbers and not pruned after flowering as is sometimes advised. Prune - generally, cut out, to the ground, any dead or diseased wood, any very thin, weak stems and any stems which cross over and/or rub against another. Rose blooms are produced on new growth (except for OGRs) so old canes that produced very thin, unproductive shoots last summer should be removed. The conventional cut is 1/4"above a bud or leaf joint, sloping away from it at a slight 45° angle. If the pith or soft inside core of the cut branch is not a clear white colour, continue cutting further down the branch until there is no more brown or beige colour, even if the branch must be removed to the ground. In removing branches, try to keep a symmetrical cup-shape to the bush, keeping the centre of the bush free of branches to aid in air circulation. After pruning, clean up all debris and remove any leaves from the beds. Do not compost as you need to destroy any over-wintering disease spores or insects. A truly "easy-care" method of pruning has been recommended by the Royal National Rose Society in England. Roses are literally lopped off with pruners or hedge trimmers at half their height - all weak and spindly growth is left on and dead wood is removed if you wish - the roses seemed to thrive! Spraying - A rose gardener has to decide whether to spray for disease or not. Many gardeners now grow the organic way and do not spray or they choose organic alternatives. If this is your choice it is most important to choose roses with high disease-resistance. Another factor is garden cleanliness. Remove all diseased foliage and throw it out - do not compost. Try to keep rose beds clear of weeds and litter, leaving no place for the disease spores to hide. The three main diseases that affect roses are black spot: literally a black spot with yellow fringes on leaves, causing leaves to fall; powdery mildew: white, powdery mould on leaves and buds; and rust: orange swellings on the underside of leaves (not common). The usual treatment is to spray with a fungicide. There are a number of fungicides on the market, Funginex for one, and we recommend alternating fungicides to help reduce building up resistance to any one product. Visit your garden centre for other alternatives. Read all directions carefully and apply as soon as there is enough foliage. Organic alternatives such as Safer's Defend and Sulfur Powder can also be used. As well, a solution of 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. canola oil and a few drops of dish detergent added to a litre of water and sprayed on the roses, might help with black spot and powdery mildew. Applications of organic products should start in March and be applied every 2 weeks or after a rain. Remember, a fungicide acts as a "preventive", protecting the rose before disease appears, hence, spraying early in spring is imperative. Regular fungicides should be sprayed at least every 3 weeks from March to July or August or until October if you can manage it. Spray both sides of the leaves when the leaves are dry, early in the morning or in early evening, allowing 4 hours of dry weather for the fungicide to take effect. Never spray when windy. Although fungicides are low on the toxicity scale, be sure to protect your eyes with goggles, wear long sleeves and pants and wash up well after spraying. The best defense is still to select a more disease-resistant rose.
APRIL"And April's in the west wind and daffodils"
This is a busy month for the rose garden. The weather is beginning to heat up, and there are tasks to finish and tasks to begin.
Things To Do: ` Finish all pruning by early April. Finger prune any unwanted shoots by rubbing the shoots off with your thumb. Where there are 2-3 buds growing from the same spot, leave only 1 shoot by 'rubbing-out' the others with your finger. This leaves room for one strong cane to grow. As well, rub out excess buds growing into the middle of the bush. ` It's time to start feeding your roses. By early April, the soil should be warm enough to carry the nutrients from the fertilizer to your plants. However, all fertilizers work best when the soil is moist. Depending on the weather, you may have to water your roses before and after you feed them. An example of a good granular fertilizer is the VRS Special Blend, 8-16-20. The numbers represent the chemicals NPK: Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium and you can tell the proportions by the numbers. Follow the instructions carefully for any fertilizer that you buy. ` If you can find a source of alfalfa meal or pellets (rabbit food) at a local feed store, a handful sprinkled around the base of each bush makes a good kick-start for your roses. Scratch into the soil and water well. ` Continue or start spraying with a preventive fungicide for disease (if you have begun such a program). ` Watch for signs of aphids and squish any intruders, wash them off with the hose, or use insecticidal soap. We do not condone the use of insecticides as many of them will kill 'beneficial' insects as well as the bad bugs.
Fertilizing
- Roses are described as 'heavy feeders'. They like an organically rich soil so an addition in the spring of 2-3" of compost or well-rotted manure laid on the beds will give your roses a boost after pruning. Liming the soil with a sprinkle of dolomite lime helps counteract leaching of the soil which comes with a rainy climate and the lime sweetens acidic soils. Balance is key here as roses favour a slightly acidic soil. The main criterion with fertilizer is to provide the necessary nutrients for your roses and we highly recommend obtaining a soil test to determine any nutrient deficiencies before applying fertilizer. A special rose fertilizer can be found at your local nursery. Read the directions carefully and apply as suggested. Liquid fertilizers are also available and should be applied as per instructions. Remember also, that granular fertilizer should not be applied to dry flowerbeds. Wet the ground before and after you fertilize or, better yet, apply in between our usual April rains to let Mother Nature do your watering! Another option is foliar feeding in your sprayer with your fungicide-spraying program or in addition to it. A weak solution of fish fertilizer, liquid kelp or soluble fertilizer such as 20-20-20 may be sprayed on the leaves of the roses. Liquid kelp is good as it contains many trace elements. Organic gardeners will find an array of organic fertilizers at their garden centre. Fishmeal, canola seed meal and other organic products work well in the rose garden. July should be the last time you apply nitrogen-containing fertilizer, as you want your roses to 'harden off' in readiness for winter. Nitrogen stimulates new soft growth that will not have time to harden off and may die back in cold winters. You can continue with foliar feedings, though, into the fall. As well, Sulphate of Potash, 0-0-50, may be applied to your roses in September, about one cup per bush. Potash improves drought and disease-resistance and helps bring your roses into dormancy for the winter.
Rose Lore - The Shapes of Roses
` Usually a description of a rose includes its shape. Not all roses are the same. Some basic bud and flower shapes have been defined to help simplify these descriptions. A bud "either shows no colour or, if it is beginning to show colour, is less than one-quarter open." It becomes a bloom upon opening more than half-way. A blown bloom is a bloom with many petals which has opened wide, exposing its stamens. ` Some rose buds may be: slender or tapered, pointed, ovoid (or egg-shaped), urn-shaped or rounded (also called globular). Flowers may be: pointed and high-centred, globular and globular centred, cupped, flat or thin, camellia-like or imbricated, informal or cactus. ` Some Old Garden and Austin roses will have a rosette shape - many overlapping petals of different sizes or a quartered rosette when the petals are packed into quarters. Small, rounded very double flowers with many tiny petals are described as pompon. ` All wild roses and some modern ones have only 5-7 petals. Such a rose is called single. Roses that have 8-20 petals are called semi-double. If more than 20 petals are present, the flowers are called double. However, some roses have 55 to 60 petals, so most catalogues distinguish doubles as moderately full, full and very full.
MAY"and along came pretty little May"
If the gods are smiling, there will be lots of sunshine and garden time....
Things To Do: ` Mulch in late April or early this month. ` Apply fertilizer if not already done, and water, water, water, (if not raining!) ` Continue spraying program for powdery mildew and black spot including a soluble fertilizer in with the fungicide. ` Continue to check your pruning from previous months. Finger prune and disbud hybrid tea roses if planning to exhibit. ` Check for insect damage. Aphids can be squished. Thrips can be stopped at larval stage by Diazinon crystals around the base of the rose or, an organic solution, Diatomaceous Earth is said to work well. Insecticides should only be used if absolutely necessary. ` Continue to weed. Cleanliness is next to godliness when it comes to the garden! If using a hoe, do not go deeper than 1" to protect the fine feeder roots that lay just beneath the soil surface. Hand picking is best! Water - Once roses are established their roots grow deep into the soil. During dry periods roses should be watered once or twice a week depending on the moisture retentiveness of the soil. They require at least 1" of water per week. Water the soil so that the water goes directly to the roots and not on the foliage as this encourages disease - soaker hoses and drip systems work well. Water in the morning and remember to mulch your beds to help contain moisture. Roses in containers need watering almost daily during the summer months. Disbudding - Is usually only done to hybrid tea roses. One bloom per stem produces a finer, larger specimen for competition or simply enjoying. Sometimes nature produces three buds when one is all that is needed for exhibition. Snip off the side buds with thumb and forefinger when they first appear so that only one rose will grow to its maximum size. Hopefully a winner! Rose Pests - Healthy plants are better able to resist pests but if you do have an outbreak, the next decision is whether to treat it organically or to try an insecticide. We highly recommend organic methods of pest control, as insecticides can be quite harmful to the environment. Aphids can be rubbed off by hand, hosed off with a forceful spray from your hose or sprayed with Safer's Insecticidal Soap or a pyrethrum-based spray. The problem is not to kill the "good" predators of the aphids as well. Leaf-cutter bees eat regular-shaped holes out of leaves but do no other harm to the plant. Thrips are a minute fly that leave petal edges blackened and flowers and leaves misformed and cannot be controlled except with Diazinon crystals or spray or Orthene (toxic to honey bees). Diatomaceous Earth may also work. Spider mites can be sprayed off the under sides of leaves as can 'cuckoo spit' (the common froghopper). Another pest is rose midge, a minute white bug - found most often in large gardens - the result of its presence is an absence of buds, similar to "blind shoots". Use Diazinon spray to control. The rose slug, a larva of the sawfly, creates skeletonised areas on leaves, turning them brown and can be squished within the rolled-up leaf it hides in. If you do decide to use an insecticide against any of these pests, it is best to check with your local garden centre as to the correct identity of the offender and the appropriate chemicals available. In general, it is best to rely on a healthy plant and beneficial insects such as ladybugs, wasps and garden birds through the use of organic means. Be sure to wear protective clothing and goggles if you choose to use any chemicals. Another problem that can affect roses is crown gall, a very large, brown, knobby growth that can grow on the stems or on the bud union. If on the stems, simply cut out. On the bud union or crown of the rose, the problem can be a little more serious. Cut or pull out all of the growth you can and then apply a solution of 1 part bleach to 4 parts water to the area. This appears to have good results in thwarting the problem. Mulching - You can help your soil retain moisture by applying a mulch of about 2-3" in depth in late April or early May. Beds should be prepared in advance - dead leaves, weeds, and garden debris cleaned up and the bed should be watered if the weather has been dry. Many materials are available with which to mulch: well-rotted manure, mushroom manure, bark chips, compost and some people use sawdust, grass clippings or old leaves. A mulch will help keep the weeds away and experts believe it helps reduce the incidence of black spot outbreaks. Do be careful to use well-rotted material as 'hot' fresh manure can burn your plants and some products such as bark chips use nitrogen to break down, requiring the addition of extra nitrogen to your garden. October is also a good month to mulch before the soil is cold. Whichever products you decide to use, good garden practice suggests alternating a variety of products over two or three years rather than depending on one product to always do the job for you.
JUNE"In the leafy month of June"
This is a big month for rose growers. The roses start blooming in earnest and it is also the month of the Vancouver Rose Society's Rose Show. Things To Do: ` Apply a well-balanced granular rose food, 1/2 cup per bush. ` Water at least once a week (if not raining) and watch any pots you have. ` Continue your spraying program with fungicide (foliar fertilize at the same time) and keep a watch for insect invasions. ` Take advantage of any visits available to other rose gardens and make a list of any roses you would like to have in your garden. (This is another advantage to being a Vancouver Rose Society member. Many members open their gardens to VRS members in the summer and these gardens are quite spectacular to see!) ` Weed. (An on-going job.) ` Deadhead your roses to ensure continuing bloom. ` Visit the Rose Show at VanDusen Gardens' Floral Hall. Deadheading - Spent blooms on roses need to be removed to encourage the rose to keep on producing new blooms. Many rosarians cut back the spent stem to the first five-leaflet leaf or a strong-growing three-leaflet leaf. The new school of thought, however, (Lt. Col. Ken Grapes, Botanica's Roses) is that dead flowerheads should be snapped off at the slightly swollen section in the stem just below the bloom, and this applies to all large-flowered roses. Research has shown that the more leaves a rose retains, the better its performance. You don't have to deadhead any roses which have only one period of bloom if they produce attractive hips such as many of the OGR's (Old Garden Roses). Later in the season, in October and November, discontinue deadheading to force the rose to quit production and enter into dormancy for the winter. This also allows for the formation of rose hips for winter interest in a good many different varieties of roses.
JULY and AUGUST"And this first summer month that brings the Rose"
Don't forget to take the opportunity to stop and smell the roses. There are still chores to do, but summer is a time for relaxing and breathing in the scent of roses! Things To Do: ` Continue your feeding, spraying and deadheading program. Don't cut long stems from roses newly planted in late fall or spring. They need all the leaves they can have to provide nourishment to the plant ` Water, water, water, especially during these dry hot days. Dry soil and our hot days and cool nights encourage powdery mildew. ` Keep an eye on any roses growing in containers. They dry out quickly! ` Remember - no more granular fertilizer after the end of July. Foliar-feeding can still be done, acts more quickly and will nourish the rose when the ground is dry. ` Visit as many rose gardens as you can. Make a list of roses you would like to have. ` If you are interested in increasing your own stock of roses, July is the time for budding new roses onto rootstocks. ` Join the members of the Vancouver Rose Society for their annual "garden party" at a member's home in August. A relaxing social event in a lovely rose garden is the perfect way to end a beautiful summer. Bare-root Rose Ordering - The Vancouver Rose Society offers its members a chance to order roses for bare-root delivery in the fall. Those hard-to-find plants can be obtained by the Society as they have a number of sources not usually available to single orders. Budding Roses - The Vancouver Rose Society offers budding workshops to its members in July.
SEPTEMBER"Summer pleasures they are gone like to visions every one And the cloudy days of autumn and of winter cometh on -"
September can be a lovely month on the West Coast, warm and sunny but the cooler evenings indicate the season is about to change as we go into autumn..... Things To Do: ` Cooler temperatures can bring powdery mildew so continue with your spraying of fungicide and remove diseased leaves and dispose of them in the garbage - not the compost. There's always the threat the disease spores won't be killed by the heat of the compost pile and will return to start the cycle over again. Debris clean up is very important at this time, so pick up those fallen petals and leaves and get rid of them. ` Water, if needed, and deadhead, removing faded or diseased blooms. ` You can also prune summer-only blooming OGR's unless they have hips you wish to keep. Cut out dead or diseased wood to the ground and cut back longer canes if your rose is growing too large. You can also trim any broken shoots on other roses. ` If you have ordered new roses for fall planting, prepare beds now. Double-dig and add extra humus. New beds should settle for at least 3 weeks before you plant your roses. ` No more granular fertilizer, but sulphate of potash, 0-0-50, can be sprinkled on the beds towards the end of the month - a handful per bush and watered in well. Hardening Off - Rose bushes should be gradually 'hardened off', to prepare them for winter. Leave the last blooms on the bush to set hips. This discourages the rose from making more blooms. Leave as many leaves as possible as they supply the nutrients to the plant. Plants that go into winter healthy can better withstand the cold and rain of winter.
OCTOBER"T'is the last rose of summer left blooming alone."
All good things must come to an end and October is the month when your roses should begin to go dormant and rest until spring. Things To Do: ` Keep roses in containers moist but hold off on repeated watering of your roses in the ground, unless the weather is unseasonably warm and dry. ` Spraying with a fungicide can continue, if you like, while the temperature ranges between 10-16° C but should be discontinued in November if there's a frost. ` Keep tidying up the rose beds - weed, pick up fallen petals and remove faded blooms. Leave hips you wish to keep in place for winter interest. ` Start thinking of materials (compost, old leaves and mulching stuff) to be used for winter protection if you have some tender roses you think could be vulnerable to winterkill. Also, plan as to where to over-winter any roses in containers. ` Enjoy the last blooms of the season - notice the colour change in some of them as the weather cools down. Over-wintering Containers - Roses growing in containers need special winter treatment to prevent their roots from freezing. Pots can freeze hard in just a few hours, dry out and die, so it is important to give them some protection. If you are lucky enough to own a greenhouse, store your containers there with minimal heat over winter. Other options are to bury the pots up to the rim in the garden or in piles of leaf mulch or to place them in an unheated garage. An open carport would also work by putting the pot inside a box, plastic bag or other container that you can then surround with house insulation, leaves, straw or crumpled newspaper. You want the rose to be in a cold enough area to encourage dormancy but also to be protected from the wind and sudden changes in temperature and from freezing. Prune the roses back, water very occasionally but do not fertilize them.
NOVEMBER"November's sky is chill and drear, November's leaf is red and sear."
November is usually a bleak month on the West Coast, rainy and chilly. Time to bundle up when working in the garden, hoping for a nice day to finish the chores before the year's end. Things To Do: ` Plant new bare-root roses, if any and/or transplant roses you had planned to move to other areas of your garden. ` Weed and pick diseased and dead leaves off the bushes. You can completely defoliate your roses by hand in late November, especially if they had black spot. You want to destroy as many disease spores as possible and not have them over-winter in your garden. ` Cut any large rose canes back by 1/3 to prevent any damage from 'wind rock'. ` Now is the time to complete the winter protection you have decided upon and see your plants are "all secure" for the winter. 'Wind Rock' - That southeasterly wind that is so typical of Lower Mainland winters can buffet exposed roses and cause their roots to be loosened. Usually you will find a hole has formed at the base of your rose and once the rains start and freezing weather approaches, the water seeping into the roots will freeze and kill your plant. Cut your tall roses back so they'll be less susceptible to this effect and you can also add extra soil at the base to anchor them. Winterizing Your Roses - Winters on the Lower Mainland are usually mild but we can get severe frost. All grafted roses are unprotected at the point of their crown, or bud union (where the plant is budded on to root ock). Also, some varieties are more prone than others to winter kill. Most nurseries will tell you if a rose is "tender" and needs extra protection and in general, most hybrid tea, floribunda, tea or noisette roses fall into this category. Winter mulch layered all over your rose bed won't protect your plants from frost. Because our climate is a wet one, this layer can become soggy and interfere with a bed's drainage. It's better to mound a material - straw, old leaves, compost, manure, soil from your vegetable garden, etc. - into a hill over the crown and 8-10" up the stems of to water your rose regularly in the next few weeks, especially if the weather is dry. Bare-root roses should be planted as quickly as possible. Soak the whole rose in water for a couple of hours before planting. Prepare the hole as noted above. Make a small mound of soil on the bottom of the hole to "sit" your rose on, spreading the roots out and over the mound and then add amended soil to anchor the rose. Proceed as for container-grown roses. Transplanting Roses Roses may be transplanted in early spring or late fall. The rose should be carefully dug from the soil getting as much root as possible. Immediately move to the new location and plant as you would a bare-root rose. The roots may have to be trimmed to fit the new hole. Water it in well, cut the stems to 8" high to remove flowers and leaves so the rose can establish itself in the new spot. Do not apply fertilizer until the rose is well established and water regularly. your vulnerable roses. It is the first hard frost that does the damage so late November is a good time to do this. Make sure the material you use will not blow away. You can make collars of landscape cloth, newspaper, chicken wire or old peat pots to keep it in place. Make sure to remove it first thing in spring when the temperatures warm the soil. Climbing roses need their canes tied in place to keep the canes from whipping in any wind and breaking off. Old garden roses, most miniatures and shrub roses are very winter hardy and need no extra protection, unless, of course, you are growing them in containers. In general, it is the hybrid tea roses, floribundas and the afore-mentioned teas and noisettes that should have a little extra attention in November although most roses are generally winter hardy in the Lower Mainland area. It is said that most roses can withstand our occasional -15°C weather with some of the canes dying back to within 1" of ground level or to the top of your protective mulch. Rose Words Balling or balled: Petals cling together preventing the flower from opening naturally . Most common in wet weather and with fully double blooms. Basal shoot: Succulent new growth that originates at the bud union. Leaves and thorns will look the same as the rest of the rose. Bicolour: A rose of two colours. Blind shoot: Mature stem that doesn't produce a bloom as expected. Bud union: The point where the rose plant is budded onto the root stock. Cane: One of the main stems of a bush that originates from the bud union. Crown: The bud union where roots join with the canes just below soil level. Dieback: When a cane or stem dies back to a bud or stem because of a pruning wound or frost damage. Lateral: A stem originating from a main cane. Pegging: Securing long canes to the ground by attaching cane tips to a peg in the ground. Promotes lateral cane growth and more blooms. pH: The H refers to Hydrogen and pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity in soil. Below pH 6.5 is acid, above pH 7.5 is alkaline. Roses prefer slightly acidic soil - pH 6.0 to 6.5. Pith: The spongy material at the centre of the stem that should be clear white colour. An unripe stem is sometimes described as 'pithy'. Remontant: This is the same as recurrent or repeat flowering. Sport: A mutation - a plant that shows a marked and inheritable change from its parent. Standard: The same as a tree rose - a rose grown on the top of a long stem. Sucker: A shoot arising from the grafted rootstock below the bud union. Its leaves, thorns and perhaps stem colour will be different. Remove as close to its point of origin as possible.
DECEMBER"What old December's bareness everywhere!"
It's hard to find a good day to get outside in December. If you do, it's a chance to dormant spray or check that all is well in the rose bed...
Things To Do: ` Continue to defoliate if there are rose leaves still present. ` Beds should be as clean as possible so continue tidying up. ` Leave the rose hips and spent blooms on the plants over the winter for the birds to enjoy. ` You can still plant and transplant roses if the soil isn't too soggy or frozen. ` Now is a good time to consider joining or renewing a membership in rose societies in Vancouver and other parts of the world such as: the Royal National Rose Society in England, the American Rose Society in Shreveport, Louisiana, the Canadian Rose Society in Toronto. Most groups produce a bulletin and there is a lot of good information to be had from reading these newsletters. Also be sure to check out the hundreds of excellent web sites dedicated to rose growing. ` Finally it is a time for the gardener to rest by the fire and enjoy the holiday season whilst reading and planning the garden year to come.
