Flowers

From CFI

The following three articles are by Gypsy Spring

GROWING BAREROOT ROSES ON THE COAST

This is going to be specific to coastal growing conditions, which are very different from inland valley regions. We are blessed with long coolish summers, that give us huge flowers throughout the season, long after our warmer inland brethren have seen their flowers shrink in size. I have been growing roses here for almost 30 years, and have a few ideas on the subject. Currently, we have 80 bushes in production. So, you bought a bareroot rose! Fabulous! Roses of almost all kinds do very well on the coast, with the exception of most yellow (except peace) and true orange (like tropicana) roses. All other colours do well. Do you know where you going to put it? The location is important, roses like LOTS of sun, and we get pretty foggy here. So, you do not want the plant right next to your house, under a tree, or in the shadow line of tall buildings. Make certain that there is good air circulation as well. Found that spot? Good. Now you need to dig the 50$ hole to accomodate the 18$ plant. Go ahead and do it, you will be glad in the future you did. It would be impossible to give a list of necessary amendments, we all have different soils. But, you want a loose, fast draining soil. In almost all soils, it is nice to toss a banana peel in the bottom of the hole, it actually does make a difference in the first year. Take the bush out of the 5 gallon bucket of water that it has been soaking in for at least an hour, and look at the roots. Any broken ones, or just bad looking roots, can be cut off. Look at the root length. You want the hole to not only accomodate those roots, but be bigger, so the new roots have an easier time venturing out. Make a cone on the bottom of the hole, and set the plant on it, with the roots fanning out. My expertise is with grafted roses, so here is my spiel about the bud union. I personally like it to be at least 2 inches about the ground, if you have more neck 4 inches is even better. Once everything is oriented to your satisfaction, fill the hole, tamping as you go, and topping off with water. If you are not using a drip system, make certain that you create a basin to direct the water to the roots. About that bud union. If you like grafted roses, and grow them, you will have suckers. Suckers are the growth from the root stock which much stronger than the bud stock, which is why it is used in the first place. Root stock is generally a very old rose called Red Robin, and like all robins, it is determined. So much so, that allowed to go wild, will take over the entire plant. To take the suckers off, you need to bend them back from the trunk of the plant sharply, and rip them off. This is why i like a high bud union......means you can do this without having to dig underneath the plant to get to the suckers........they will be in a convenient spot to rip off. People in areas of deep freeze cannot do this...........they must protect the bud union in the wintertime, or suffer winter kill. Anyway, if you have the idea of just cutting the suckers off.......don't even go there. Like a hydra, this will make the suckers grow bigger and stronger, and much harder to rip off. They are easiest to rip off when young........2-3 inches. If they get to where they look like young trees, it will be a miserable job. It happens to all of us, and when you rip off a cane with a bezillion thorns, you vow to never let it happen again. So, i gave you the reason about the high bud union. Now i will tell you about the 50$ hole. By planting in this manner, you will avoid a number of problems. One is rust/blackspot disease. Both of those like to be in the shade, in still conditions. I don't promise that you will never have those problems, but it reduces the likelyhood by planting in appropriates spaces. By having the hole filled with the optimum planting mixture, you are allowing the baby plant (bare root can be as young as a 1 year old graft) to have the very best chances of success. Anything that makes it easier for the roots to grow will make a huge difference. So, it is planted, it is watered, and you are impatiently watching red noses push out, waiting for that magick day where it flowers. While you wait, you can water at least and inch of water a week, and feed with a balanced fertilizer. If you choose to mulch, and use bark, use a fertilizer higher in nitrogen. Rotting wood robs nitrogen from the soil, and you need nitrogen to make leaves. It takes about 40 leaves to make one rose. Now you see the red noses turning into leafy canes, and lordy be, there are BUDS on those canes. Grit your teeth, you won't like what i have to say next. With your thumbnail, nip off every bud that you see. If the plant looks very hearty, you may leave one bud on to see the flower. When it flowers, you can admire the flower on the plant, and then nip it off, and either float it in a bowl, or toss it. Do NOT cut a long stemmed rose this year. Your plant will never do as well, and in extreme cases of some fragile varieties, you can kill it. Continue nipping off the buds throughout the growing season, leaving the occasional bud to make one flower at a time for your reward. Well, it has been a good summer, and you have been diligent, and the plant throve. Now the leaves are falling off, and everything is going to sleep. For a first year plant, i would prune no more than 30% of the cane. Pruning is pretty easy, and roses are forgiving. You want to prune just above an outward facing eye, and slant the cut so that water runs off away from the bud.......will help to keep it from rotting. If there are a bunch of branches crossing in the center, you will want to cut those out, to achieve a nice vase shaped plant. Remember that stuff i spoke about with air circulation? This is your chance to shape the plant so that there is maximum air circulation. Now we are lucky on the coast.......we can do our year end pruning when it is convenient, not "just before growth starts" as it is in freezing regions. For years, i religiously pruned all my roses in January..........a wet, cold WEEDY time of the year. Every year, i was soaked, scratched and disgruntled by the time i was done. At my height of growing i had well over 100 plants. Would take me two full days to prune them. And with the best of intentions, by the time January rolled around, i had weeds. Up to my knees, slapping and soaking me as i pruned, wondering why i felt i had to grow roses to begin with. The year came where i pruned roughly around Halloween. NO weeds, as this was the end of growing season, and all the garden was still pristine. NO ticks in the area that i haul my prunings to, because it was too early for them to sprout. NO hassle at all. Got the work done in about 6 hours. So, in our mild climate, figure on pruning at a convenient time, after the leaves fall off. Make certain to gather those leaves, and get them OUT of the garden! They can harbor any rose pests/diseases over winter. You want to start fresh next year. Look out for my article regarding next year..........it is coming sooner than you think!

MAINTAINING ROSES ON THE COAST Well, it is springtime, the weather is beautiful, and you can't wait to get out in your garden. The bareroot roses that you carefully planted last year are pushing out their little red noses, eagerly reaching towards the sun. You are looking forward to an armload of roses this year, since you couldn't cut any off the new plants last year. Well, this year you can do just that. Here are a couple of basics for a floriferous year in your garden. Roses eat and drink ALOT. Flowers are mostly water, so water accordingly. You need a minimum of 1 inch of water per week per plant, flowering plants need more, like about 2 inches per week, with well drained soil. The well drained is important (this is why you dug a 50$ hole) as rose roots will rot if left in standing water. They also eat prodigiously: it takes roughly 40 leaves to make a flower. Each leaf group is about 5 leaves. That is about 8 leaf groups to make one flower. This is a cane that is about 3 feet long. You can see why you need to fertilize........they work hard! I use a balanced fertilizer on a monthly basis. I use no mulch, so i have no issues with bark robbing nitrogen from my soil. I also have no problems with earwigs eating my buds..........i have taken away their secure home (the mulch) where they can hide from the jays and robins, so they just don't cause problems for me. For them with mulch, you may want to consider putting a circle of tanglefoot around the plant........earwigs can wreak havoc with buds. But i digress. The monthly feeding that my mature plants get is about 1/3 cup per plant, per month. This is a lot of fertilizer, and on a new plant, or incorrectly administered, can cause burn. Here is how to do it right: Water deeply the day before fertilizing. Get the soil very wet. On the next day, if it is sunny, fertilize, and water again. Why do you do this on sunny days? Roses can only uptake nutrients when there is sun. They won't do it on an overcast/foggy day. This can make it rather tricky if we are socked in with fog for a week or two. You will need a minimum of 4 hours of good sun for the nutrients to be uptaken by the plant. A full day of sun is much better. They're fed, they're beautiful, and you love having your own long stemmed roses. But you start looking at the perfect hothouse roses in the store and comparing them to yours. Now you aren't quite as happy. Well, you can create that look in your home garden, you just need to do a little extra. Number one: You need a basic hybrid tea rose to do this. Grandifloras and floribundas just don't work as well. Number two: Walk your garden every day, and the moment you notice buds on a plant, look at them. If there are side buds, carefully nip them off as soon as possible. If the cane has more than one bud, select the best one to leave, and nip off the others. This technique will also help some floribundas. Number three: If you have chosen the right bud, with no crooks in the neck, and protected from earwigs, you will have a beautiful, perfect rose for your trouble. I do this by second nature, and am nipping buds off every day during growing season. It really makes a difference in the size and perfection of the flower. Cutting flowers: Think about your vase size. Don't be stingy with the stem, but if you have a 6 inch vase, it is counterproductive to cut an 18 inch stem. Remember: leaves equal flowers. But, if you have that great floor vase, or any tall vase, have at it! I cut very stemmy roses for market. The advantage for to do this, is it cuts out alot of issues with circulation, and i never have disease from old canes. On the other hand, i have 80 plants, and can rotate. The home gardener might not have this luxury. Something that we all must do, is deadhead. And do it daily. When a rose blows, it is sending signals to the plant to slow/stop production. If you snap off the dead head, you preclude that signal from happening. No need to cut with stem, just snap the head off and dispose of. In my grandfathers garden (which was organic before the word was invented) we fed them to the pony. Healthy unsprayed plant material can be composted, or fed out. If you spray, or live where automotive exhaust is an issue, it is best to just dispose of it. Well, the summer has waned, and autumn is upon you. Now is the time for pruning AGAIN (didn't i just DO that?) and the pruning is a little different than with a new plant. Now, you want to take up to 2/3s of the plant off. This would apply to plants that were vigorous in the summertime. Any plants you felt were weak, prune more lightly. Again, you want to make the cuts about an outward facing eye, with a slanted cut, to drain water away from the eye. It was a good summer, the plants were beautiful, and you maybe even got some more bareroot in. That was fun. But you have heard about propogation, and think that it is difficult. But it might worth trying, mighten it? My next article will address simple propogation.

PROPAGATING ROSES ON THE COAST

So, you have been growing your roses for a few years, and love it. But my goodness, those bareroot prices can get high when multiplied by the 7-8 new plants you want. Or there is a plant that you love in your neighbours yard, and have never seen it for sale. Fear not, roses are about the easiest plant to propagate you can find. Bear in mind that it is illegal to propagate any patented varieties. Even your own. That said, for any old, or unpatented varieties, this is some of the simpler ways to do it. And i have about a 90% success rate. For green cuttings, you start in the spring. Have ready a small tall pot 4X6 is ideal, with a sterile potting medium. Have it thoroughly moistened. Stick a sharpened pencil in the soil, and look at the wood. It should be damp. If it is, you are ready to start. Put a couple of bamboo pieces in the pot, about 8-10 inches tall. You need a clear plastic bag that the whole deal fits into, with the bag sealing at the top. Also on your list is a jar of rooting hormone, a small paintbrush, and a sharp knife. Select a piece of new wood no thicker than a pencil. It should have flowered already. It needs to have at least 4 eyes, and preferably, some leaves. You will want 2-3 per variety you are propagating. Each variety gets its own pot, easier to track that way. Bring these to your readied pots, and take the knife and make an oblique cut, about 2 inches long on the rooting end. Pick up rooting compound on the small brush, and carefully put on the cut part of the stem. If you get compound on the bark, wipe it off, it will burn the bark, and inhibit the rooting process. Make holes using your pencil in the rooting medium, about halfway down the pot. Carefully put your annointed cutting in the hole, and press the soil against the cutting. The reason for doing it this way is to prevent the rooting hormone from being rubbed off by the soil, from just pushing the cutting into the soil. Once you have the cuttings inserted, and tamped in, set the whole thing into the plastic bag, with the bamboo supporting it (NOT the cuttings!) and seal the top. Put into a bright area (but not direct sun) and forget about it for a couple of weeks. Then, tap the plastic, to shake loose the condensation, and see what is happening. You should, at the very least, see swelling of the buds. You may even see new growth. Terrific, it worked! Forget about it for a few more weeks. By this time, you should see small branches with leaves coming out. When the leaves are actively pushing against the plastic you may very slowly introduce the plant to the more arid climate that it will inhabit. I start by punching a couple of holes in the plastic, adding a few more each day. You can cut small slits as well. Do this VERY slowly. Making the change too abruptly will kill your new plant. Once you see the leaves getting dry and crunchy, it is too late to save it, so trust me, do this slowly. It takes me a couple of weeks to acclimate them. The plastic will start looking pretty ragged at the end, and the plants pretty much push it off themselves. Do remember that the more are gets IN the thirstier the little plants will be. The easiest way to water them at this stage is to punch holes in the bottome, and set them in a saucer. Put water in the saucer, and allow capillary action to draw the water up. Do this daily to keep the plants moist, but not water logged. Your little plants are hardened off, and you are so proud of them. Well you might be! Not only have you done a very old tradition, but the by product is: NO suckers! Since this is not a graft, you won't have this issue. You will need to just as gradually introduce them to the sun, as you did to the air. If you leave them in the pot, this is easy. Just move the plant from deep (outside) shade, to less etc. When it is fully acclimated, you can then plant it in its designated spot in the garden. This is a real baby...........remember what i said about no flowers on a bareroot plant the first year? That first year was the SECOND year for that plants life. You can see where i am going with this. You may not let your baby plant flower for TWO years from when you started. Not even a test flower to see what it looks like. In my experience, if you let it have ANY flowers before the third year, the die rate is about 80%. The remaining 20% tend to be unthrify, and disease prone. (yup, i get impatient too!) So trust me on this, be patient, and wait it out. The rewards are definitely worth it! Fertilization is minimal this first year. Pruning is nil. On the second year, you can step up the fertilization, and prune by 1/3. After that, if it is hearty, and vigorous, treat as a mature plant. I have my best success with greenwood cuttings. But there are hard wood cuttings as well. They work best on old roses, and climbers. My mother in law taught me this one. Find a nice hardwood cutting of your determined variety. As with the greenwood cuttings, it should have had a flower, and at least 4 eyes. You do this in late summer/fall. Cut and put in the ground, and put a milk jug (the plastic variety ) over it. Forget until spring. Treat as a new plant, -1 year. I have done this, and have had a surprising amount of success with it, about 60%. If you use rooting hormone, that would be more like 80%. My next article will address grafting the rose.

SUMMARIZED ARTICLE BELOW- PRINTED IN FB ADVOCATE NEWSPAPER Posted by Angela Harney May 15, 2008

GROWING ROSES ON THE COAST

So, you bought a rose! Fabulous! Roses do well on the coast. Do you know where you are going to put it? Location is important, roses like lots of sun. Because of the coastal fog, you do not want the plant right next to your house, under a tree, or in the shadow line of tall buildings. Good air circulation is crucial. Found that spot? Now dig the $50 hole to accommodate the $18 plant. Make the hole large enough to allow the roots to easily venture out. Amendments to add to the soil are compost, rock phosphate or bonemeal, oyster shell and a little greensand. Most importantly you want a loose, fast draining soil. In almost all soils, it is nice to toss a banana peel in the bottom of the hole, it does make a difference in the first year.

To plant the rose, take it out of its pot and gently loosen any roots on the outside of the root ball. Set the plant in the hole making sure that the grafted union on the stock is at least two inches above the ground. Once everything is oriented to your satisfaction, fill the hole, tamping as you go and topping off with water. If you are not using a drip system, create a basin to direct the water to the roots. If you choose to mulch, use bark or composted material.

If you have a grafted rose, you will have suckers. Suckers are the twiggy growth from the root stock. To remove suckers, bend them back from the trunk of the plant sharply, and rip them off. Do not cut them as this will encourage stronger growth of the suckers.

So your rose is planted, watered and you are impatiently waiting for that magic day when it flowers. While you wait, give it at least an inch of water a week, and feed with a balanced fertilizer. Now you see the red noses turning into leafy canes, and look, there are buds on those canes! Grit your teeth, you won't like what I have to say next. With your thumbnail, nip off every bud that you see. If the plant looks very hearty, you may leave one bud on to see the flower. When it flowers, you can admire the flower and then cut it off with a very short stem. Do NOT cut a long stemmed rose this year, as your plant will never do as well. Continue nipping off the buds throughout the growing season, leaving the occasional bud to make one flower at a time for your reward. Next year you will be able to enjoy armloads of flowers.