Well the new seasons roses are now in (or will be in the next few days) and there are lots of neat roses to choose from along with new releases such as…
David Austin Roses: For the very first time in New Zealand, kiwi gardeners can get their hands on three highly anticipated David Austin varieties:
Eustacia Vye (glowing apricot-pink), Gabriel Oak (deep pink rosettes with a fruity fragrance), and Vanessa Bell (soft yellow blooms).
Then there are these new roses too:
Pride: A stunning floribunda honoring the rainbow community, featuring vibrant cerise pink with a glowing yellow reverse.
Fruit Salad: Delicious cream buds that transform into ruffled, brushed strawberry petals.
Fordell: A spectacular sunshine-yellow rose.
Award Winners: Be on the lookout for the AMORÉ® Irish Sunset, an award-winning climbing rose featuring golden yellow blooms with a bright red eye.
Note it will vary from garden centre to garden centre, the types available.
What should you look for when selecting your roses? Firstly you should have in mind any colours that you wish to obtain to complement a garden setting.
If colours are not an issue then its a matter of browsing the coloured label’s pictures to see what appeals to you.
Once you find a specimen that you would like, you will likely find there maybe several of the same to choose from.
With either bush or standard roses, look for the ones that have three or more good strong canes growing out from the root stock.
These canes ideally will be growing outwards, reasonably well apart in different directions.
If say you see a rose with four canes radiating out to the four cardinal points then you have a excellent base to form your new rose on.
Three outward canes in more or less, a manner, which if you drew a line between the tips would make a nice triangle, is also great.
If you have a rose with only two strong canes then it would be best if these canes were as far apart from each other as possible.
If they are close together then it is similar to a rose with only one cane.
Not the end of the world but these roses would need some selective pruning for a season or two to form a base for future seasons.
The next concern are the roots. Most roses these days come in containers or bags with potting mix used to pot them up.
Some maybe found in a bare rooted state with just wet shredded paper or sawdust to cover the roots.
It can be very fatal to a lifted rose, to have its roots to dry out, so make sure that bare rooted rose’s roots are moist.
I have often noted cheap roses in chain stores with their roots wrapped, and the wrapping material has dried out.
If left in this manner for a day or two the rose is dead and a total waste of money to purchase.
Likewise when you get your new roses home ensure that they are kept moist till planted out and then watered sufficiently to keep the area moist.
If bare rooted as above best to ‘Heel them in’ into the vegetable garden till ready to plant out in their permanent places.
(Heeling in is simply temporary planting all the roses together in the same hole in the soil)
When planting your new roses choose a site which is very sunny as this will give you the best flowers, shaded areas are poor for good flowers on roses.
Roses will tolerate a wide range of soil types but if a sandy soil add a good amount of humus to the soil, in a heavy clay soil, dig out a hole twice as large as needed and use peat moss or compost mixed about half and half to line the base of the hole and backfill.
This gives the rose a nice area to get started in.
Otherwise for planting in clay soil, a good sprinkling of Gypsum and sheep manure pellets in the planting hole is perfect.
If you avoid chemical fertilisers, you will not harm the soil life which you can enhance, by drenching the soil after planting with Mycorrcin Plus.
Avoiding chemical fertilisers and sprays, in doing so will make for a healthier rose and less likelihood of diseases such as black spot.
Instead use a good manure type compost as a mulch, Wallys Real Blood & Bone worked into the mulch and sheep manure pellets scattered over the mulch from time to time.
In spring when new growths appear apply 25 grams of Wallys Fruit and Flower Power once a month.
It contains the potassium and magnesium that the rose needs for best foliage and flowering.
Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) should also be applied as a spray over the foliage every 1-2 weeks till end of the season.
I have reports from gardeners that love their roses that doing so makes a big difference to flowers and foliage and in some cases flowers which had no perfume in the past now have lovely fragrances because of the MBL treatment.
Existing roses are likely to be between flowering still, to losing their foliage at this time.
It’s a good time to spray the roses with potassium permanganate at quarter a teaspoon per litre of water to kill any diseases spores that are around.
If there is bare ground under the roses then also use the same spray to spray the soil after any litter has been removed.
I have not only dead headed my roses but pruned back to a lower leaf which has created new growth and another lovely show of blooms.
The final and proper pruning, can be done a month or two after the potassium permanganate spray, later in July is a good time and the extending day light hours at that time will produce the spring growth..
If you have roses growing where they are no longer suitable or where the plants have become too shaded to preform well, then after the above treatment they can be lifted and relocated to a new spot. Treat as a new rose.
It is important after planting that the soil be kept moist for the first year during dry periods. After that normally the rose will go dormant in summer if the soil is too dry.
Avoid picking flowers the first season just dead head them.
If you have a rose that is forever giving you problems with black spot or other diseases and you are about to give up on it then you might like to cut back canes, spray with potassium permanganate and lift.
Move to a sunny spot away from other roses and re-plant using the methods above. Only feed the rose organic mulches and foods along with a monthly application of Fruit and Flower Power.
A monthly spray of Perkfection for roses will build up the roses immune system and help reduce disease problems.
I recall a farmer whose parents hand a large collection of roses that he inherited when they past. He used chemicals such as Shield and Super Shield and the health of the roses got worse every year and was about to plough the whole lot into the ground when he saw an article I wrote on rose care.
He decided to try my suggestions of Perkfection, MBL etc and after one season the roses returned to their former glory. He phoned me and thanked me as he said ‘His parents would be proud’.
Just make sure you don’t use any chemical sprays or fertilisers to weaken the immune system that you are endeavoring to build on the rose. For aphids use Wallys Super Pyrethrum Spray.
Image credit: Rikonvart
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