- Author: Rosie D
Well, we normally start to cool off somewhat in October, but Mother Nature seems to have other ideas in mind for the first few days of this month. So, when the weather is cooler, you can fertilize your roses with a good organic fertilizer and compost. This will result in wonderful blooms for the holidays. Again, watch for those insects that are pests, such as aphids and spider mites.
You might also see some wonderful semi-circles on your rose leaves that look like they have been cut with a hole punch. Those cut outs have been made by leafcutter bees.
Leafcutter bees are great pollinators, and a specific variety of leaf cutter bees are used commercially to pollinate crops, such as alfalfa and blueberries. According to the farmers that use them, they are more effective in pollinating their crops than honeybees. They are wonderful and adorable little critters and are very welcome in my yard.
It is time to make sure that your irrigation system is up to snuff. October will be the last month in 2024 when we can water three days a week. We go to the one day per week starting Nov. 1. So, check your sprinklers and/or drip that the emitters and sprinkler heads are working properly. As the days get shorter and (hopefully soon) cooler, I notice that my plants don't need as much water. I will be cutting back on the number of timed watering cycles. I also am putting down fresh mulch in any spot that might need it to maintain that moisture and keep weeds at bay.
Fall is when a lot of nurseries have plants on sale, and it is still a good time to plant new roses in your garden. So go and enjoy a walk through a nursery and see if there is a wonderful plant that catches your eye. Next month, the new roses for 2025 will start being advertised. I just received an email from David Austin roses that Dannahue is one of their new roses for 2025. It is a tannish apricot color that has a fruity fragrance. It was named after the English gardening celebrity Danny Clarke. Yes, in Great Britain, gardening is a big deal. British gardening has its celebrities, and they have weekly television shows.
Star roses have several new roses coming out for 2025. Loves Me, Loves Me Not is a deep pink rose with over 200 petals. The blooms are enormous, and this rose has a sweet fragrance. Sunbelt Garden Flame is another new one. Note: any of the Star roses with the word Sunbelt in its name means they can take the heat and full sun during summer and still look beautiful. This rose was bred by Kordes in Europe. They are known for breeding exceptional roses. This rose has a multicolor effect that starts out deep yellow and transitions to orange and then to deep red. Tiamo is another new rose that is a deep red double petal bloom that has high disease resistance. This one is gorgeous! A new compact rose, Winning Streak, has cherry red and fuchsia petals with yellow stripes. If you check out their websites online, you can see pictures and read more about these new roses.
Until next time . . . "If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime." ~ Swedish Proverb
- 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: Rosie D
Is everyone ready for some fall and winter weather? This summer's heat has been horrendous. I know I went over how to care for your roses in hot weather last month, but I thought I would stress again how to care for your roses during this miserable summer. After a brief cool down (if one calls 99 F cool), we are going to get into the triple digits again in the first part of August and climate experts are predicting August to be another very hot month.
How do you help your roses survive this heat? Make sure you water deeply on the days you can water. Cycle your watering. It is best if you stagger your water times, so it gives the plant an opportunity to absorb the water and have the water go down to the roots. I went over how much water your roses need (average amounts during summer) in Rosie's Corner June 2024. You can find that article on our website: Rosie's Corner June 2024.
Mulch (about 3 inches of a good organic mulch, not rubber) around the base of your plants to help conserve water and keep the roots cooler during this weather. Now it not the time to feed your plants. They are just trying to stay alive. Let them flower but don't prune or deadhead them after flowering. Especially if you don't have them covered with a shade cloth or umbrella. You can let the flower petals fall off and just leave the remaining flower to form a hip. You can give your plant a light deadheading when the weather is cooler.
Go ahead and cover your plants with either an umbrella or solar screen. That will help your plant to not get sunburned. This year, I did this for some of my roses and what a difference solar screening made. At the left is a picture of my “test” rose, Pretty Jessica. As you can see, no sunburned leaves and the flowers are gorgeous. On the right is a picture of a rose in my garden that was not protected. That rose is Jubilee Celebration. There is quite a difference in the way the roses look.
Below is a picture of sunburned leaves on my rose. Do not remove those burnt leaves. They will provide some shade for the plant/canes.
You can tell the difference between the green leaves of the rose that was shaded, and the burnt leaves of the one that was not.
The members of the Tucson Rose Society cover their roses with shade cloth (about 60-68% screening). Their roses bloom all summer long. As we continue to experience the difference in our climate due to global warming, I will be covering all my plants in the future throughout the summer season. You can see the difference it makes.
As far as critters (bugs) go this month, continue to be on the lookout for spider mites. (For reference, see UCANR spider mites.) They do love this time of year. Spray them off with water. Don't use a horticultural oil. It is too hot outdoors and it will burn your leaves even more severely than the sun is doing right now.
If your roses are in pots, move them to a shady area under a tree or patio. You can also cover them with shade cloth. The temperatures under trees are about 5 to 10 degrees cooler. Make sure you water them in the morning and in the evening on days you are allowed to water outdoors. Let's hope for cooler weather soon!
Until next time: “Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness, know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.” - Anonymous
/table>- Author: Rosie D
Now is not the time to fertilize. Your plants are struggling to remain hydrated. You can remove your withered petals and let hips develop for the time being. Make sure your plants have at least 3 to 4 inches of mulch around the dripline of the plant to help keep away weeds and help to maintain moisture.
When temps get over 90° F, roses will lose moisture through their leaves. This sometimes shows up as browning along the edge of the leaf. Insufficient moisture in the root zone of your roses will cause this. It is a sign of heat stress. Make sure you give your plants adequate water on the days when we can water. If you see this, don't be tempted to remove the leaves. They will help the canes of the plant to stay shaded from the sun and not get sunburned. Sunburned canes can kill your plant.
If the edges of the leaves of your roses are crispy dry, they are sunburned. It happens here in Fresno this time of year. What causes this and do you need to cover your leaves in sunblock? No to the sunblock. Just make sure you wear it when you are in the garden. What causes sunburn on the edges of your leaves is that we have various salts in our water and in our soil. According to Curtis Smith, retired New Mexico State University Horticulture Specialist, the rose plant will take up those dissolved salts to the leaves from the roots during transpiration. As the water transpires from tiny pores in the leaves, the dissolved salts are left behind. The salts left at the leaf margin kill the plant cells in those spots when they get to toxic levels. This causes the leaves to look burned and can also cause a crusty white build up on older leaves.
So, is there a way to fix this? Make sure you water deeply (see Rosie's Corner for June 2024), to help push those salts down through the soil profile and away from the roots. Don't over fertilize with inorganic fertilizers, which are made up of salts. Use mulch to conserve moisture and it will help to keep the soil temperatures moderate. However, once a leaf is burned, it will not green back up. Best to be patient and wait for new green leaves to emerge when we deadhead again in cooler weather.
Again, check your plants for any signs of pests. Thrips and spider mites love this time of year and these temps. A strong spray of water below the leaves, followed by an overhead shower can help to keep those little critters away. Do this early in the day, on the days you can water, for at least 10 -14 days. Inspect your plants daily for any signs of infestation. A bonus is walking in the garden, a great way to reduce stress. (Did you know that in England, physicians can prescribe gardening as a treatment for reducing anxiety and stress? Scientists have found spending two hours a week in nature can lead to better health and well being.)
So, on that note, it is important for you to take care of yourself when you are in the garden. Work in the garden early in the morning and use proper, sharp and clean tools. Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts and covered shoes. Shorts and swimsuits don't give skin protection and sandals, or bare feet won't protect your toes from dropped pruners. Use sunscreen when you are outside. A broad brimmed hat or a hat with neck protection will also help. Drink water before and after working in the garden to keep yourself hydrated.
Dainty Bess Rose
This is one of my favorite roses. It has ruffled pink petals that surround maroon stamens. Those open blossoms allow our important pollinators to enjoy the rose as well. This is one tough rose, named in the 1920s after Bessie Archer, the wife of breeder William Edward Basil Archer of England. Archer was a furniture designer, but bred roses as a hobby. He and his daughter, Muriel G Archer, sold roses from the 1920s to the 1940s in Kent, England. As a rose breeder friend of mine said, “You don't name a bad rose after your wife if you want to stay married.” Dainty Bess is a great rose! She is a hybrid tea and comes as a climber as well.
(Photos: Wikimedia Commons)
Until next time...”It's OK to feel delicate sometimes. Real beauty is in the fragility of your petals. A rose that never wilts isn't a rose at all.” - Crystal Woods, Write Like No One is Reading
- 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