You go away for a birthday weekend, and come back to 94 posts to catch up on !!🤯
@Nollie you said you were wondering if Blue for You would take the heat, well it did fine in 40° here, and managed for three weeks when the temp stayed at mid 20s. It will get to 5ft ×3ft easily even with vigorous pruning mid season, so that may give you an idea if you will have room.
Sorry for the lack of Smudge photos Tack, I’ll try and get her to stand still for an pupdate. Having lost her puppy face she hasn’t changed very much tho since the last ones.
@DSrose grow roses have blackspot, comes with the territory I’m afraid! Some roses are more disease prone than others of course and warm, humid conditions can exacerbate it. Most of mine get some at some point regardless (I don’t spray) but as well as removing all the old leaves at pruning time and cleaning up underneath there are a few other things you can do to try and discourage it. Not everyone bothers and there are no guarantees, but the following practices should make your roses healthy and hopefully more resistant to disease..
When winter pruning those roses that need it, such as repeat flowering shrubs, floribundas etc., try to create an open vase shape, removing any crossing or crowded branches in the middle to maximise airflow. Likewise don’t crowd your roses too much with surrounding plants or have things overhanging them. After pruning, spread an inch or two of compost around the base to suppress any spores that have overwintered in the ground. From Spring, water deeply but less frequently rather than an odd regular sprinkle to keep them well hydrated right down to the roots. Apply a good slow-release rose feed in spring and again in summer.
Many of us liked the old, organic-based David Austin rose food, but they no longer do that. Vitax Azalea has the same balanced formula and near identical balance of NPK and trace elements roses need, so is a good substitute.
Thanks @purplerallim, I think I remember you saying that previously which is probably why I thought I would give BfY a whirl. It’s near impossible to predict how most roses will do in my climate, but nothing ventured.. To know it usually gets taller than wide is really helpful though, cheers!
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Quick q- I was given a no-longer wanted Queen of Denmark rose in the autumn, and it had been defoliated and pruned I think then. It's a once flowerer so I think only flowers on old growth. Is it likely to flower this year or not? I don't really want to give garden space to a bloom-free lemon for a whole precious growing year.
@WAMS Yes that will flower this Spring, you should get some good clusters on that, as those canes are already a decent size... mine flowered well from bare root with much less growth.. starts to bloom from late May for about a month.. Removal of those dead brown bits always good idea.
@cooldoc Well ahead of me, nothing to show here bud wise... hope they survive March for you !..
previously I used to get excited with these early blooms.. but then realised that they remain like that for ages.. so no real advantage.. what surprised me was how early they showed up this year.. the green one is Louise Odier with atleast 5 buds that I can see..
Interesting that Queen of Denmark will flower this year.. I always thought once bloomers should be pruned after flowering..
Yes prune after flowering if necessary, or not at all with this rose. Some winter pruning can also be done but you wouldn't want to cut it back too much..
There's enough cane there to produce flowering side shoots for this year.. virtually every node on Queen of Denmark, all the way down, produces a side shoot.. more in the 2nd season..
Another lovely rose, @WAMS was that that your super generous rosy friend again? I don’t technically have any once-bloomers for a couple of reasons, just some roses that may as well be!
I do remember Monty Don pruning his QoS and Kazanlik, though, both once-bloomers on old wood, planted either side of a path. Every year he whacks a third off the top and clears away a good chunk next to said path. They were mature shrubs that had been allowed to grow to full height first, so plenty of old wood left.. he said they always flowered profusely and the fragrance from both was amazing.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Posts
@Nollie you said you were wondering if Blue for You would take the heat, well it did fine in 40° here, and managed for three weeks when the temp stayed at mid 20s. It will get to 5ft ×3ft easily even with vigorous pruning mid season, so that may give you an idea if you will have room.
Hi @DSrose and welcome to this obsession. 😆
And yes I agree tubs of roses do seem to breed, I have twice as many now after last year's acquisitions.🤔
@DSrose grow roses have blackspot, comes with the territory I’m afraid! Some roses are more disease prone than others of course and warm, humid conditions can exacerbate it. Most of mine get some at some point regardless (I don’t spray) but as well as removing all the old leaves at pruning time and cleaning up underneath there are a few other things you can do to try and discourage it. Not everyone bothers and there are no guarantees, but the following practices should make your roses healthy and hopefully more resistant to disease..
When winter pruning those roses that need it, such as repeat flowering shrubs, floribundas etc., try to create an open vase shape, removing any crossing or crowded branches in the middle to maximise airflow. Likewise don’t crowd your roses too much with surrounding plants or have things overhanging them. After pruning, spread an inch or two of compost around the base to suppress any spores that have overwintered in the ground. From Spring, water deeply but less frequently rather than an odd regular sprinkle to keep them well hydrated right down to the roots. Apply a good slow-release rose feed in spring and again in summer.
Many of us liked the old, organic-based David Austin rose food, but they no longer do that. Vitax Azalea has the same balanced formula and near identical balance of NPK and trace elements roses need, so is a good substitute.
Thanks @purplerallim, I think I remember you saying that previously which is probably why I thought I would give BfY a whirl. It’s near impossible to predict how most roses will do in my climate, but nothing ventured.. To know it usually gets taller than wide is really helpful though, cheers!
This is what I was talking about early buds.. the warm temps have confused roses... to make things worse, temps will be plunging again from tomorrow..
Yes that will flower this Spring, you should get some good clusters on that, as those canes are already a decent size... mine flowered well from bare root with much less growth.. starts to bloom from late May for about a month..
Removal of those dead brown bits always good idea.
@cooldoc
Well ahead of me, nothing to show here bud wise... hope they survive March for you !..
Interesting that Queen of Denmark will flower this year.. I always thought once bloomers should be pruned after flowering..
There's enough cane there to produce flowering side shoots for this year.. virtually every node on Queen of Denmark, all the way down, produces a side shoot.. more in the 2nd season..
I do remember Monty Don pruning his QoS and Kazanlik, though, both once-bloomers on old wood, planted either side of a path. Every year he whacks a third off the top and clears away a good chunk next to said path. They were mature shrubs that had been allowed to grow to full height first, so plenty of old wood left.. he said they always flowered profusely and the fragrance from both was amazing.