Ferdinand Pichard gone blind
Sammymummy
Posts: 202
Hi everyone
I planted a Ferdinand Pichard in the late autumn of 2015, so it's into its 2nd summer. It gave me two flowers last summer and then developed a lot of tall shoots for the rest of the year which I had to cut back.
This summer, there were more flowers (probably about 20) in June but once they were deadheaded, it produced a lot of growth but no more flowers. I checked the tip of the shoots but cannot see any buds on them. It is now over 6ft tall. It is in a mostly sunny position and the other roses in the same bed are doing well.
Would someone know whether this particular variety is prone to blindness and what I should do to make it flower? My garden is only very small and I cannot afford to keep something that does not flower.
Many thanks!
Posts
Are you feeding it? Roses like a generous dollop of slow release, balanced fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone every spring and again during the first flush of flowers. Yours is young yet and still establishing roots and shoots. Extra levels of potassium may boost flowering.
Thank you Obelixx, yes I have fed mine with Uncle Tom's rose tonic early in the season and with seaweed fertiliser solution a few times. All other roses are doing fine so I really don't know why this particular one doesn't flower.
Young ones can take a time to start. I would give it a fairly serious prune, a good meal and a little longer. However, I have a stripey rose which looks a lot like the pictures of Ferdinand, called 'Rosa Mundi' which seems to be extremely floriferous and a good 'do-er'. I think it's much smaller, but you might want to consider that one as a replacement if Ferdy fails again next year.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Thanks raisingirl - I will give it another chance then.