Reluctant roses
Desthemoaner
Posts: 191
Hi All
My cousin paid a visit a couple of years back and brought with her some David Austin roses which we planted in our garden.
Last year they did very well and produced lots of beautiful blooms. This year...not so good. All three bushes were very late flowering in comparison to 2016. When they did start to produce buds, they seemed very reluctant to take the next step and turn into actual flowers.
Two of the bushes have now taken that next step and are looking better. However, whilst there are lots of buds on the third and largest bush at this moment in time, it has so far produced only a handful of half decent blooms. Most of these buds don't seem willing to go one step further and develop into the beautiful, sweet smelling flowers we had last year.
Is there anything I can do to gee them along? I'm no expert in rose growing, and it may be that there's a very simple solution close at hand.
Conversely, after our little dog died in February, my wife bought a 3 quid white rose from Tesco to plant in his memory, and this has already produced the most gorgeous plethora of flowers.
Posts
I'm wondering, after the first year of flowering, did you cut/prune all the rose bushes down in early spring time? If not, sometimes, the shrubs have less vigour when growing from last year's wood. First signs are less leaves and many of the interest starts at a higher level and the base of your rose bushes may look sparse and woody.
Every spring, always put a new layer of compost or manure around the base. Roses appreciate this and if you do this, you'll find you don't even need to feed throughout the year.
Regarding supermarket roses. They tend to grow these roses very well in controlled conditions, and when you get them for the first year, they flower beautifully. But subsequent years, the roses never match the first year's display. They tend to be roses that are kept in pots and don't do well in the ground.
Borderline..........I'm new to rose growing so excuse my ignorance. I understand that one has to cut stems to approx. 2' in Spring, but will this eventually lead to there being lots of brown stumps as the the years go by? I noticed a neighbours old roses, there are many unsightly brown stumps which are look dead, or are they being pruned wrongly?
Hi Mary370, You will see some stumps, and this is normal. They are starting to die, and that is why they go brown. But, most of the year, the shrubs are or should be covered in leaves and you shouldn't notice them too much. But, yes, they're visible in the winter months. The older a rose gets, the more stumps you will see.
Thank you Borderline.....Since I have started a yearly Spring cutting down of rose stems, I am definitely getting lots more flowers, and stronger, sturdier plants.
Sounds good Mary. The great thing with roses, even with years of neglect, with careful pruning back in spring time and a nice layer of compost or manure, they will come back looking better.
Hi Borderline
Thanks for your response.
Our garden is heavy clay. For the original planting, in 2015, I dug out cavities in the clay, filled them with multi purpose compost and feed, then planted the roses. I don't know whether after a couple of years' growth the roots have expanded into the surrounding clay, and if that might be why they're not producing the flowers I expected. Mind you, I think I read somewhere that clay is full of nutrients, though waterlogging might also be an issue.
My cousin's husband grows a lot of roses, so I originally turned to him for advice about pruning. He advised me to cut them down in spring to around 15cm after the first year, 30cm in the second, 40cm in the third and 75cm in the fourth. We're into the second spring since we first got them, so I cut them down to about a foot this April. Would that have been too late?
Must admit to having been a bit sparing with the new compost and feed, so maybe I need to look at that also.
As for the supermarket rose, I'm under no illusions that the current display will be repeated or even exceeded next year. However, it was important to see results at a time when memories of the little chap were still fresh, and I'm really pleased to have seen such a good crop so soon after planting.