Tuesday, June 30, 2020

How to Care for Long-Blooming Roses




Roses, besides being magnificent flowers, have a long history. The oldest rose planted today was in existence some 3,000 years ago according to The Old Farmers Almanac.

Roses crave sunlight and generous helpings of food and water. In most climates, provide at least six hours of sunlight per day. If you live in a very hot climate, plant them where they are shaded from the hot afternoon sun. When watering, water at the base of the plant - water the soil, never pour it over the plant!  Provide at least an inch or two of water per week.  Natural cedar mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil and evens out temperatures in winter as well as on hot summer days.

Coffee Grounds
The reason coffee grounds are so good for rose bushes is because of their high nitrogen content. Roses need neutral to acidic soil, and if you add coffee grounds, it will help take the pH from neutral to acidic. ... Plus, astonishingly as it may seem, many bugs and pests are repelled by coffee grounds.




When to Plant Roses
Bare-root roses: Plant in late autumn at leaf fall, and from late winter to early spring, before growth resumes. Avoid planting in the middle of winter when the ground is frozen. Container-grown roses: Plant all year round, provided the ground is neither frozen, nor dry. Plant roses in rich, well-draining soil. When planting, mix organic matter, such as compost or ground bark, into excavated soil you'll use to backfill the planting hole.


Rose Pruning
Use very sharp rose scissors. If the machine does not cut properly, there is a risk of bruising, the cutting point is not clean and is a target for disease.

An old, slightly neglected bed rose can be shortened more radically, which means "rejuvenating", a young climbing rose just wants to be cleaned out.

Cut all old, dead, and very weak shoots - regardless of the type of rose. Men tend to cut a lot, women usually cut far too little : )

Look for an outward-facing eye, about 20 to 60 centimeters above the ground, place scissors in a fourth-degree angle just above it, and cut off smoothly.

Take a step back and examine your work.  Be stern with yourself and rework.  Ten centimeters more might still work. If you feel that you have cut too much off, it is probably just right.  You can't cut off too much.

Every five years even the climbing rose can tolerate an incision to rejuvenate.  Unlike haircutting, shortening the shoots stimulates growth.  Because roses only bloom on new wood, this is also good for the flowering.  Only if you cut, can the rose bloom again, the cut gives it vitality.

Otherwise, each rose is pruned differently: The shrub roses should grow bushy, the noble rose has only one flower per stem, the bed rose looks nicer if it also bears flowers on the lower levels.  Bed roses don't not have too much-lignified stems, so it must be pruned at the bottom.

You should also avoid spraying, for example, if one plant has developed rust, you must take care that it does not infect the others.  To prevent this, cut off all infested leaves, even a radical cut can be advisable.




Black Spots and Rust: 
I have had the best experience with a simple household remedy:
I bought a big bag of cornflour, lightly sprayed the rose with water, and then sprinkled the cornflour all over the plant.  Two days later the procedure again and the rose was free of the ugly spots.

The annual rose pruning should be done in spring, to avoid severe frost.  Once the forsythia has withered, is the best time.  In autumn you can do a slight pruning, then everything looks a bit tidier - but you also would miss the pretty rose hips.

The tart reddish-orange hips of rugosa rose hips are used for jams, jellies, syrups, pies, teas, and wine. Check out our Rose Hip Jam recipe.  Rose petals are edible and can be tossed into salads for color, candied to decorate cakes, or distilled to make rose water.


See videos about pruning roses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6la_YikkQc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN3G-wpWtFY

Like to have more rose plants?
Propagation - How to grow roses from cuttings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw4d-s9N8zE

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