Author: Ann Hooper
Fall is in the air and many of us are seeing the end of the rose season. All in all, my roses performed very well this year with even the Japanese beetles keeping their distance. A regular preventive fungicide spray kept both blackspot and powdery mildew at bay and I was delighted with several new varieties I planted in the spring.
Hybrid teas are my favorites because they are so impressive as cut flowers. The new red ‘In the Mood’ is a huge flower on a strong-growing plant. The blooms don’t have that perfect spiral form that wins at rose shows, but the unusual glowing red color, combined with non-stop flower production makes ‘In the Mood’ a winner in my book!
‘Soaring Spirits’ is the most magnificent climbing rose I’ve ever seen! This was the second season for my original plant, and the first for the additional 3 plants I put in this spring. It, too, is a very vigorous grower, even in my cold New England climate. I think that the cooler growing conditions keep the pastel pink, white and yellow colors more delicate than they appear to be in warmer climates, since my flowers are prettier than the ones in the advertising photos.
‘Wild Blue Yonder’ has wonderful ruffle-y red-purple flowers with lavender centers. It’s a grandiflora that blooms all the time, and the fragrance is outstanding. I think I’m going to move this plant to the front of the house where I require big bloomers that don’t need winter protection.
As always, I’m sad to see the rose season end. Cool weather and shorter days signal roses to transition into the dormant state that protects them from the wrath of winter. The plants’ cells shed much of their water, and the cell walls thicken. For many roses, these natural defenses will provide all the winter protection they need. But the hybrid teas, which have been budded onto a rootstock, need some additional protection. A few shovelfuls of soil over the bud union will do the trick. But wait until the roses are fully dormant. That’s around Thanksgiving in Hardiness Zones 4 and 5.
That’s also the time to move any rose plants you’d like in a different location. Prepare new beds now, so they’re ready to be planted when the roses are dormant. Pruning now will delay the natural dormancy process, so leave spent flowers on the plants so hips will form.
When it’s time to move your rose, cut all the canes back to about eight inches, then dig a wide circle around the plant to keep as many roots as possible attached. Pry up the plant and shake the soil off. Then replant in the new planting hole that you made in October when it was more pleasant to work in the garden! Water the hole copiously to compact the soil around the roots, and add more soil as necessary. Once the rose is well planted, mound the canes with more soil, right up over the top, so that no parts of the canes are exposed. This keeps the plant evenly cold, and safely dormant, over the winter.
Next April, when the forsythia blooms, wash away the soil mound with a gentle stream from the hose. The plant will already have started growing, and it may even be the first rose to bloom in the spring!
Warm-climate rosarians will have blooming roses now, and perhaps right through Thanksgiving. It’s important to keep them insect, mite, and disease free and well fertilized right up until six weeks or so before the coldest part of your season. Then you should allow them to slow down before you prune to force a short dormancy period before they start growing strongly in January or February.
Ann Hooper is a certified American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian, who grows nearly 400 rosebushes at her home near Boston. She is the owner of Primary Products, a mailorder supplier of everything needed to grow fabulous roses. Visit the Primary Products website at www.primaryproducts.com. Ann will always answer your rose culture questions. E-mail her at ann@primaryproducts.com.
This article was originally published in Garden & Greenhouse Magazine. Garden & Greenhouse is written for small commercial growers, hobby greenhouse owners and indoor/outdoor gardeners and is free to qualified readers. For more information visit http://www.GardenAndGreenhouse.net.
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