Roses 2020

A Year to Remember by Diane Brueckman

For many reasons 2020 will be long remembered. The country was shut down and most of us were on a forced vacation confined to our homes. Many of us rediscovered gardening. I see vegetable gardens where there used to be lawn, next came flower gardens and of course, roses. I believe there are many new rose growers, judging from the customers who bought our roses. This is an exciting result from an otherwise very depressing year. Working in one’s garden is relaxing, at least it is for me. Up to September, we have been keeping the roses watered and fertilized. Dead-heading has been an almost daily routine for my garden because the roses have been blooming profusely all summer long. Disease and insect control has been an ongoing chore. I have had many calls about blackspot because of all the rain and humidity. Keeping ahead of the disease is the best approach. Start early in the season with a fungicide for disease and neem oil for disease and bugs. If you get on the disease early it should not be a big problem. Picking diseased leaves off plants is also helpful in keeping disease at bay. This is also a good time to take stock of the roses in your garden. Which roses had the least disease? With all the new disease resistant roses, you might consider replacing some of the more disease prone varieties. Fall is a good time to plant new roses or move an existing rose that is unhappy in its current location. September is a transition time for rose care. You want blooms and healthy plants but hold off on any quick release nitrogen. The idea is to slow down the plants. Having the roses put out basal shoots (new canes coming from the bud union) this late in the season is a waste of the plants energy. Chances are the canes will not harden off before the cold weather and they will die. Keep up with dead-heading but don’t do any hard pruning. Bloom booster liquid feeds work well in September. These fertilizers typically have a fairly low nitrogen value and high phosphorus and potassium values. They will increase your bloom but won’t encourage the production of new canes. Potassium also improves the overall health of the plant. Of course, organic fertilizers are always good as they will feed the soil, improving the growing medium for your roses. Weeds! Now is the time to do a thorough cleaning of your beds. Don’t be lulled into believing if you miss those tiny henbit and chickweed babies they will die over the winter. NOT TRUE! Get them out now and save yourself a lot of trouble in spring. I have given in to temptation and used a pre-emergent on some of my beds to prevent germination of weed seeds. One problem is you must get it down and not disturb the soil surface or the protection is gone. Whenever you use any chemical read the instructions and follow them to the letter. Most herbicides and that includes pre-emergent will harm the soil so use with caution. I only use herbicides where I have had a bad problem in the past. It isn’t too early to think about the mulch you will need in November to cover your roses for winter. There are several different types that will work. Woodchips from tree trimmers that includes both wood and green material is great and free. Single ground wood chips are the preferred mulch used by the EarthKind tm program. In the case of EarthKind tm it is also their only fertilizer. There are disadvantages to the single ground wood chips one being tree seeds and another is it is not pretty. Double ground hardwood is much more attractive and stays in place well over winter. Shredded leaves and compost are good for the soil but tend to disintegrate or blow off the plants, so you will need to check the cover periodically.

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Diane Brueckman is a retired rosarian with Missouri Botanical Garden, and currently owns Rosey Acres in Baldwin, Illinois. You can reach her at (618) 785-3011 or droseyacres@ egyptian.net.