Growing Wise : roses

Rooting Out Root Suckers

Elisabeth — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:39:00 GMT

The other day I sat through a long, tedious meeting. During the intervals between speakers, I talked about roses with the man sitting next to me. He pronounced roses "the most beautiful of flowers," but went on to say that he only grows a few bushes because they take so much work.

I have heard this opinion before. Well-meaning people will warn you about all kinds of rose problems, including blackspot, powdery mildew, aphids and Japanese beetles. The will regale you with tales of expensive plants that die off during cold winters or languish during hot sticky summers. I ignore those people. My forty-two rosebushes are healthy and happy, growing in the clay soil that is normal in this area. I grow them organically and almost never give them supplemental water during the summer months. My bushes are treated to a top dressing of rotted manure once or twice a year and are mulched along with the rest of the garden. I prune them once a year. Otherwise, they take care of themselves and don't seem to mind a bit. My roses get blackspot during hot, sticky summers and are afflicted with Japanese beetles in July. However, I have never lost a plant because of either problem. Since I am not growing roses for show, I pick off the diseased leaves or offensive beetles when I see them, but I don't get extremely upset if I miss a few. My garden is in balance, so birds help out with the beetles. Good air circulation around the roses helps with the blackspot.

The one problem that watch for carefully is root suckers--rogue rose canes that sprout from the rootstock of grafted roses. Grafting is the traditional way of strengthening a beautiful but somewhat delicate rose by mechanically fusing it to a tougher rose's rootstock. Root suckers happen when that tough rootstock decides to take over and sprout its own canes. If left unchecked, rootsuckers will rob the grafted top growth of water and nutrients. Eventually the grafted rose will die and you will be left with the undistinguished blossoms of the host plant.

How can you tell if you have a root sucker? Be on the lookout for a vigorous cane that appears different from the others. For example, if your rose normally has thick canes with thorns about every two inches and you notice that your bush has sprouted a thinner cane with many more thorns, the new cane is probably a root sucker. Clip it off as close to the ground as possible and keep an eye on the bush. Roses that tend to sucker do so again and again.

Root suckers are not one of life's major problems and they are easy to get rid of. Control just requires a bit of vigilence. If the idea of root suckers is too much to think about, make sure to buy roses that are labelled as "own root". These bushes are not grafted, so that every cane on the bush will be the same as every other one. Own root roses also recover better from hard winters and other weather challenges. Even if they die back to the ground, they will sprout again from their healthy roots.

Buck Roses

Elisabeth — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:49:00 GMT

People complain less than they used to about persnickety roses. This is mostly because breeders in recent years have focused on creating hardy, disease and pest-resistant varieties. Dr. Griffith Buck (1915-1991) was ahead of the curve in his rose breeding goals. While most Americans were worshipping at the shrine of finicky hybrid teas, Dr. Buck was creating roses that could stand up to torrid Midwestern heat and icy Midwestern winters. His workday life was focused on teaching at Iowa State University, but his real passion was roses.

In addition to toughness, Buck roses are generally fragrant and come in an array of complex and dazzling colors. 'Prairie Harvest' is buttery yellow with gold at the center. 'Prairie Sunrise' is a medley of peach, apricot and pink with a hint of gold. Both bloom repeatedly over the summer and need little care once they are established in a sunny space.

Buck bred roses for the love of it, and did not make extensive marketing efforts during his lifetime. Fortunately for rose lovers, his wife, daughter and former students tended his legacy and got his roses into the marketplace. His old employer, Iowa State, has built a rose garden to house Buck varieties and honor his work.

If you love roses, invite one of Dr. Buck's beauties into your yard. They are some of Iowa's gifts to the world.

Making scents

Elisabeth — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:11:00 GMT

Soon the long months of January and February will be upon us, and it will be time to hunker down and dream of next season's gardens. One garden dimension that often get short shrift is fragrance. The following is a handy list of five fragrant plants that no garden should be without:

Lilac: Spring would not be spring without lovely, sweet-smelling lilacs. You can choose from a host of cultivars that have purple, white, blue, near-yellow or bi-colored blooms. There are even relatively small varieties like dwarf Korean lilac (Syringa meyeri 'Palibin') that work in smaller spaces. Lilacs need sun and good air circulation, plus occasional pruning. If they are happy, they will live for generations.
Old-Fashioned Pinks (Dianthus): These low-growers generally smell like cloves. They are great for pots or the front of beds or borders and like sunny to partially sunny conditions
Mock Orange (Philadelphus): While Philadelphus does not really provide more than one season of interest, the white flowers are among the sweetest-scented blossoms around. Many people liken the scent to that of orange blossoms, hence the common name. A sun lover, mock orange is available in single, double-flowered and compact forms.
Roses: Not all roses have a pronounced scent. Read labels and merchandisers' copy to make sure that you invest in those that do.
Lavender: Given well-drained soil and a sunny exposure, lavender will produce lots of sweet scented purple, pink or even white blossoms. Gardeners in northern climates should be sure to select hardy varieties. Remember that the leaves and stems of the plants are almost as fragrant as the flowers and can also be used in fragrant potpourri, sachets and arrangements.

HIps are In

Elisabeth — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:07:00 GMT

Most people buy roses for the beautiful blooms--which is very sensible, since not all rosebushes are lovely when they are out of bloom. Real rose lovers also consider the hips, sometimes called "heps", which are the fruit of the rose. Depending on the species and variety of rose, the hips can by tiny or cherry tomato-size and can range in color from orange to brilliant scarlet.

One of the best roses for hips is a species, Rosa moyesii. It bears pink single blossoms once a year, but its hips are its crowing achievement. Some writers have described them as flask shaped and they are borne in great numbers on a mature shrub. The color is bright red. Even if you have never seen Rosa moyesii, you would know it the minute you laid eyes on it, just because of the hips.

Rugosa roses (R. rugosa) and their hybrids often have very large (over one inch in diameter) hips, which tend to be brilliant red. The hips are full of Vitamin C and make excellent jam or jelly. Popular rugosa hybrids include the famous, fragrant white 'Blanc Double de Coubert'; (above) and the light pink-flowered 'Frau Dagmar Hartopp', more correctly known as 'Frau Dagmar Hastrup'. Whatever her name, this German lady has lovely light pink flowers, followed by big red hips. Both 'Blanc Double de Coubert' and 'Frau Dagmar Hartopp' also smell divine. The only drawback to rugosas is that they tend to be exceptionally prickly.

One of my favorite roses, Rosa glauca or the red-leafed rose, has gorgeous foliage that is reddish when young and later takes on a blue cast. The single pink flowers appear once a year, followed by pretty orange oval-shaped hips.

A Chinese rose, Rosa mutabilis, sports butterfly-like flowers that change color from yellow to pink to red as they age. The hips that follow are like exquisite tiny red beads. They look wonderful in arrangements or on the plant and last well.

Any rose can get you through the summer, but a rose with great hips can get you through fall and beyond.

Rosa Glauca

Elisabeth — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:28:00 GMT

It's a funny time of year to write about roses, but yet I appreciate my Rosa glauca, sometimes known as the "red leaf rose" even more right now. The gray green leaves still cling to the arching stems, so the decorative qualities of the bush remain, even though the flowers are long gone. In certain lights, the leaves have an almost bluish cast. New growth and buds appear purplish-red and the flowers are light pink, with only five petals apiece.

Rosa glauca is a shrub that you can grow purely for its landscape value. I saw my first one, a was a large bush, over six feet tall, in a private garden. I discovered it on a misty day when it appeared almost ghostly (though graceful). I was so taken by its unique coloring that I went home and ordered one right away. Unlike flashier roses, Rosa glauca thrives in light shade. Flowering once a year, it also produces oval-shaped orange hips, which contrast beautifully with the glaucous foliage. If you can stand to cut them, the branches also look wonderful in indoor arrangements.

Most commercial Rosa glauca plants are grown on their own roots, which means that though they may start a bit smaller than grafted roses, they will be stronger and healthier in the long run. Should frost damage the canes--even killing them off to the ground--new ones will grow back true to the rose's type.

If you are starting to plan for next spring, consider Rosa glauca--lovely but not gaudy.

Winter Roses

Elisabeth — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:18:00 GMT

Gardeners have been known to agonize about winter rose care. Most of it comes down to common sense, a knowledge of the weather patterns where you live and good, healthy roses. If you have "own root" roses rather than grafted varieties, your roses have an even better chance of surviving tough weather.

It's easy to tell whether your roses are "own root" or grafted. Just look at the trunk near the soil line. If you see a significant thickening in the trunk, you probably have a grafted variety. If there is no significantly thickened area, your rose is probably "own root."

Gardeners in extremely cold winter areas have historically planted their roses in protected spots and wrapped them for the winter in burlap, sometimes with the addition of leaves to fill in any spaces between the burlap and the rose. In more temperate areas, gardeners simply cut the roses back to keep long canes from flopping around in the cold breezes, ensure that the plants are well mulched and let it go at that. The mulch, which should be laid down around the plants without actually touching the trunks, is especially valuable in areas where there is little snow cover and frequent freezing and thawing cycles.

If your roses are damaged, they will often recover. When spring comes, check the bushes and prune away any dead canes. Chances are there will still be one or more ready to break dormancy. "Own root" roses can grow back from healthy roots even if all the canes are dead. Grafted roses that are killed to the root line may grow back, but the roses that bloom in the spring will be those of the rootstock, not the grafted variety.

Roses are a bit like people. If they are adequately nourished, protected and get enough winter rest, they will awaken refreshed and ready to blossom in the spring.

Rose Care

Elisabeth — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:52:00 GMT

My roses are about to bloom and by this time next week they will be in their glory. As a rose lover, I think this is the very best time of the year.

My garden is home to about fifty rose bushes, all of which are planted in beds of mixed annuals, perennials and shrubs. They are grown organically and almost never receive supplemental water. About half are "own root" specimens, and the other half are traditional grafted plants. Old varieties and species roses mingle happily with newer ones.

My roses are not high maintenance divas and over the years I've had remarkably few fatalities. My rose growing credo is as follows: If I refuse to fuss over my roses, the roses won't need a lot of fussing.

It works for me.

All I do to my roses is mulch them thoroughly, underplant with bug-repelling species like catmint and feed once a year with composted manure. In early spring I prune out dead or weak branches. After the big spring flower blow-out, I prune most of the bushes back by one third.

That's it. Some of my roses develop black spot, especially during hot, sticky summers. I don't worry because the bushes are extremely healthy and rebound readily. Japanese beetles generally appear around here in July. I pick some off, but the resident blue jays do a much more thorough job. Our thriving ladybug community helps dispatch the aphids.

My roses are not always perfect, but they are very plentiful. At the peak of the season I can pick scores of them for the house without diminishing the outdoor display. That makes me feel rich.

So...for those of you who grow roses--stop fussing. You'll live longer and so will your roses.