- Author: Rosie D
Are you ready for autumn to begin and be done with the heat of the summer? I am looking forward to the fall and it can start anytime in my book! However, looks like we are (still) in for warmer than “normal” temperatures for the foreseeable future.
So, what to do in the rose garden this month? Towards the middle of the month, you can lightly prune your roses. This is not the major pruning you will do in February. Instead, you can cut any spent flowers or hips to the next set of leaflets that have either five or seven leaves. (Some roses have five leaves on their leaflets and other varieties have seven.)
This is a light trim only. Prune by cutting ¼ inch to ½ inch above an outward-facing bud eye. What is a bud eye? It is the small bump found where the leaf meets the stem/cane on the rose bush. If any canes have died during this summer (hint - they are black all the way to the soil), clip those off at the base. Only trim a maximum of 1/3 of the overall size of the bush.
If you see that by trimming the bush, there will be very little foliage left on it, don't trim it at all. Leave it alone and see how the rose bush looks in the spring. Having no foliage on your rose bush is the quickest way to kill it. What typically happens is that, when a rose is cut back with no foliage on it during this time of year, the canes will turn black and the plant slowly dies. I learned this lesson the hard way, when I first started growing roses many years ago. The safest thing is to leave your roses alone if trimming them will leave no foliage on them at all.
Again, always make sure your pruning shears are sharp and clean. Wipe with an alcohol wipe between each rose bush. Don't use bleach on your pruning shear blades as it can damage them. The alcohol wipe won't, and it will kill any diseases on the blade so they don't affect your rose bushes.
If your roses are on drip irrigation, run your system in the early morning or evening (on the days we can water) to give your roses a chance to thoroughly hydrate. Check your irrigation system to see that it is operating correctly and none of the emitters are clogged. If an emitter is delivering more or less water than the other emitters on the line, change it out for a new one. That one emitter can affect the whole system. Replace it when there is a problem.
If you grow roses in pots, make sure that they are getting enough water. If the soil has pulled away from the pot, water can run through the pot but not hydrate your plant. Make sure your potting soil allows water to get to the plant. You should re-pot your roses every couple of years. The longer the soil is in a pot, the less porous it becomes in the root zone. New soil would be in order. Don't do this now. Wait and put this on your spring chore list when your rose is dormant.
Towards the middle of the September, it is time to feed your roses. You can use a rose food (8-10-8), liquid fish or seaweed fertilizer and alfalfa meal. If the fish fertilizer smells like fish and you have a lot of neighborhood cats, you may want to use the seaweed fertilizer instead.
Alfalfa meal (not the pellets which contain sugar/molasses and can attract rodents) contains a chemical called triacontanol. It will stimulate new growth in your roses. Make sure you water the bushes before you add the alfalfa meal. Add about a cup of alfalfa meal to the soil for large, established roses and about a ½ cup for large, established mini roses. Water again afterward. Never fertilize a dry or stressed plant.
If you are using an organic rose fertilizer, apply the recommended amount (it is on the label), after the 15th of the month. You can also put down some compost. Make sure you water after putting down the fertilizer. If you wish to use liquid fish/seaweed fertilizer, mix according to the package directions. You can do this every other week up until the middle of November. Then it will be time to start giving your plants a rest for a nice bloom next spring. You should have lovely blooms for Thanksgiving, and I even have had lovely blooms for Christmas (depending on the weather).
It is still important to watch out for spider mites. You can hose those off with a good blast of water and make sure to blast the underside of the leaves as well. It is still too hot to use horticultural oil. You will burn your plants.
Pumpkin Patch roses
Until next time . . . "Autumn leaves don't fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar." - Delia Owens, "Where the Crawdads Sing"
- Author: Debbie DiNoto
This month we will look at when and how to water your roses. Especially now that the weather is starting to heat up and the rains are probably done until the fall. We live in a Mediterranean climate. Winter rain and summer dry.
I am always asked how much water does a rose need? Ah, the typical Master Gardener answer is, “It depends!” It depends upon the time of year and the type/size of the rose. The typical hybrid tea (we are talking a big, tall and mature plant) will take 6 to 9 gallons a week if the temps are below 80 F (as in spring and fall). A rose bush, such as a floribunda, about 3 feet wide and tall, will need about 3 gallons a week if the temperatures are below 80F and it hasn't rained in a long time. In wintertime, when the temps are much cooler, they will take much less water, especially if we have rain or the plant is dormant. During this and last year's winter, I didn't have to water at all because of the rain we had.
When the temps are over 90 F consistently, they will take about 12 gallons a week (not daily!). Again, this will depend on the size of the rose. Mini roses will take much less water than a full-size hybrid tea. Roses are pretty drought tolerant and can take less water, but they may show signs of stress. Roses in pots will probably require more water during summer.
How can you tell if your rose is stressed by not getting enough water? They will drop their leaves, decrease flower size or show early signs of dormancy.
The amount of water a rose needs will also depend upon the type of soil you have (get your soil tested!). If you have clay soil, it will hold water, so you will need less. If you have sandy soil, the water will permeate more quickly through the soil, so your roses may need more water. If you have nice loamy soil, the recommendations above will suffice.
So what is the best way to deliver water to your roses? It is important that you deliver water efficiently. That means making sure there is no overspray if you are using sprinklers. If you are hand watering, use a water wand that you can turn off at the nozzle. When you are done watering one rose, you can stop the water flow before moving on to the next.
OK, here is where we get into the math of a drip system. How do you estimate the number of emitters each rose plant needs? It is not that difficult. If you use one-gallon emitters, that means that they will deliver one gallon of water per hour. If you place four one-gallon emitters per plant (an emitter in the front and back and one on each side of the plant), that plant will get four gallons of water per hour. We can water 3 days a week until the end of summer. So, if you run your system for an hour each day we can water (either Sunday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday depending on your address), your plant will get 12 gallons of water per week (three days per week x four gallons of water each day, equals 12 gallons per week).
OK, so one more bit of math. It is better for your plant not to get a gallon of water all at once. You want the water to soak into the soil surrounding the plant. I divide that hour of watering into three sessions of 20 minutes each. I stagger those times and water around 5 a.m., 7 a.m. and again in the evening after 7 p.m. Doing this allows the water to reach the roots of the plant. It also encourages the roots to grow deeply rather than on the surface. That is much better for the health of your plant.
Now, if the temperatures are going to be consistently over 107 F for several days, I may water a fourth cycle. I would add another cycle in the morning but keep the one at night as close to 11 p.m. as possible, so my plant can have some water for the next day or two when we can't water.
Mulch will moderate the temperature of the soil and maintain moisture. It will also keep weeds away from your plant! I prefer to do less work in the garden during our hotter than Hades summers. This is a way to make that happen! Don't use rubber mulch. Don't use mulch that has been dyed. Use a mulch that will break down over time and enrich your soil. I like fine wood chips the best. I will often have 2 to 3 inches of fine wood chips over an inch or two of compost around the plant. That way, I am feeding the soil, which the plant appreciates.
Now there are two thoughts as to whether to let your roses go dormant or not during a hot summer. For us, that generally means from the middle of June until at least the middle to end of September when the temps are finally cooler. If you choose to let your roses go dormant:
- Don't feed your roses.
- Make sure your watering system is operating efficiently and continue to water as described above.
- Apply 4 inches of mulch over the entire bed.
- Don't prune your roses.
- You can deadhead them or just remove the spent petals and allow hips to form.
- If the leaves burn on your plant, leave them on the plant to help shade the canes from burning.
There is another school of thought from folks who grow roses in Tucson. Grow your roses under shade cloth, when the temps are consistently over 95 F. June is often the hottest month in Tucson. They use 65% shade cloth as a canopy over their roses. In essence, they create a canopy structure with pipes and shade cloth. It is big enough to cover the roses and still walk under them. Some put a misting system on the pipe as well to increase the humidity.
They continue to feed their roses and don't let them go dormant. I have seen wonderful results. Beautiful growth and flowers all summer long. They remove the shade cloth in the fall, winter and early spring. In Tucson, they are still able to water their roses daily (if necessary and if they don't have monsoon rains that day). We don't have that luxury, unfortunately.
So, I will be trying a modification on this method. I just installed a pergola on my patio that will provide some relief during the summer (about 40% or so), near my rose bed. I may add an additional solar screen between my pergola and roses, so they get more relief from the blazing sun during the hottest part of the day. I will let you know how my “experiment” works!
Until Next Time; “I feel as if I had opened a book and found roses of yesterday sweet and fragrant, between its leaves.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island
