All About Roses April 9, 2018

It’s about time to prune your roses. Roses should typically be pruned when the Forsythia blooms or around tax time, right around April 15th. Roses need to be pruned to promote healthy new growth. If the temperature is above freezing and will remain so around tax time then you can prune your roses. Most roses need to be pruned about two thirds from the top of the plant. Rugosas and Climbers should be pruned about one third from the top. If …

All about Roses

April 13, 2017 I’d like to talk about how to help your roses thrive. Some people tell me that their plants are healthy but don’t flower well. Roses need 6 hours of sunlight to do well. There are a few exceptions, one of which we will be getting this season. Another thing that roses need is slightly acidic soil. Roses like a range of 6.5 to 6.2 PH. You will find that roses are fairly heavy feeders. Using Miracid every …

All about Roses

April 2, 2017 It’s April and this is the time to start thinking about your roses. Begin removing any extra winter protection you added to your rose beds. Remove any leaves or soil. In the next couple weeks, you may begin pruning your plants. Climbers should be pruned about 1/3 of their height. Shrubs and Knockout Roses should be pruned to give them good form. Hybrid Teas, Floribundas & Grandifloras need to be pruned about 2/3 of their height. You should …

Fall for Roses?

Are you looking for some late season color or something to fill a gap in a shrub or perennial border where a plant was lost or under performing due to last winter? It is time to consider roses.  Yes, ROSES!  Roses are traditionally promoted as spring items, especially as gifts for Mother’s Day, but the late summer/fall season, from August 15 until September 15, is actually perhaps the best season to plant new roses, or to transplant existing ones. As we …

Grafted vs. Own-Root Roses, So What’s the Big Deal?

Most roses grown for sale to homeowners are produced by grafting the desired rose variety onto a rooted understock of a different rose variety, often Dr. Huey or Multiflora for northern climates, or fortuniana in southern or western climates. There are several reasons this is done: Growers are able to obtain many more propagation materials by taking bud eyes to graft versus cuttings to root, which can be especially important when there is high demand for a new variety. It …

Planting Roses

May is the time to purchase & plant new roses. To plan the best location of your new roses, you need to know how many hours of sunlight will be in that spot. Most roses need at least 6 hours to thrive. You will want to plant at the end of the 2nd week of May. Dig a hole about twice the size of the container & a little deeper. Put a shovel full of composted cow manure into the hole. …

Larry’s Recommended Rose Feeding Schedule

Learn All About Roses from Larry Hill. Larry loves talking about roses and sharing his knowledge and love of roses with others. Hopefully, you have your new roses planted and are seeing some growth. It is important to remember that, like every living thing, roses need to be fed. Here is my recommended feeding schedule for your roses: Two weeks after planting, you should water with a mixture of Atlantis Fish Emulsion, mixed at the rate of two tablespoons per gallon of water. …

Larry’s Rose Care Product Recommendations

Learn All About Roses from Larry Hill. Larry loves talking about roses and sharing his knowledge and love of roses with others. Sometimes it seems there are as many kinds of rose care products as there are roses! Choosing between them can be a daunting task, especially for those who are new to rose gardening. To help ensure your success with roses, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite rose care products: Composted cow manure: It’s cost effective and won’t burn the roots of …

Using Rose Petals to Make Potpourri

The next time your roses start to wilt, instead of tossing those pretty petals in the trash, make potpourri. It’s so easy andwill make your home smell amazing. Potpourri also makes a memorable homemade gift. After dead heading your roses, you can use them to make potpourri: Pull the petals off the roses. Spread the petals out on a screen and let them dry in a warm and dry place (approximately 2 – 3 days). Separately, dry some whole rose …

Preparing your Roses for Winter

It’s not something that you want to think about, but winter will be here a lot sooner than we would like and now is the time to start thinking about getting your roses ready for winter. Do not prune your roses now. That should be done in the spring. Do not fertilize past the first week of September. You want the plant to put most of its energy into the roots, not producing flowers.  You need to protect the graft, …