Rose Report
season filled with stunning, prolific blooms
T
he Laura Conyers Smith Rose Garden has had one of the most spectacular seasons in the 30 plus years I have been working in the garden. This year the Rose Garden started blooming in mid-May and has not stopped blooming, as I am writing this on September 4. In a typical season, the rose garden will provide approximately three big flushes of bloom. Remarkably, this year the whole season has been one big flush of constant blooms. For the past 20 years, a group of dedicated Rose Garden Groomers deadhead the roses weekly during the growing season. This year I am so grateful for the all the help especially since the rose bushes are continuously blooming with a large number of blooms, while simultaneously are pushing out many new buds. The roses are really giving the Groomers and the Felco prun-
ers a workout. There are a few things I did differently this year and one was using compost for mulch instead of bark mulch. I was finding that the bark mulch was eating up the liquid fertilizers and the nutrients were having a hard time getting to the plants. I also fertilized the roses every two to three weeks with a combination of Earth Right Products and then immediately watered in the fertilizer very well pushing it into the root zone. I also kept the roses well-watered throughout the growing season since roses love water but never soggy feet. I am thankful that Janmarie Hornack, owner of Earth Right Products, has been donating product to the garden since 2008, and using natural products has really enhanced the garden. The weather also played a role in the success of the roses this sea-
JUDY PENNER Expert Rosarian 8
October 2020 | kcgmag.com
son. In recent years, we have gone from cold to hot not having a spring at all and having too much rain. However, this year May and June were more spring like, with cooler than normal temperatures and the rain came at just the right time each week. July surprised us with large amounts of rain and cooler than normal temperatures which I and the roses appreciated. August was dry and the spider mites showed up but I continued watering well and fertilizing during August and the roses continued to have continuous overwhelming bloom. I am enjoying the beauty of the garden this year but planning for the future of the garden is always on my mind as it is with most gardeners. The Kansas City Rose Society has a Rose Garden Committee, chaired by Lauren English, who collaborates with me in planning which roses will be removed
and which roses will be added to the garden every year. This process starts around the first of the year and if all goes well we have the order in by September. Well this year Lauren English and the committee worked tirelessly and helped facilitate getting the rose order in by July. I know that may seem early to most people but if you are ordering roses online or just with your local nursery, it is better to order early since roses sell out quickly and can become difficult to find. In some cases you may have to wait a year to get a particular rose but it is worth the wait to get just the right rose. I am thankful for the partnership between The Kansas City Rose Society, Stewards of the Garden and the Kansas City Parks Department. The Rose Society purchases roses for the Rose Garden every year which is a wonderful gift and the Kansas City Parks maintains the Garden and the park. I am also thankful for Moffet’s Nursery in St. Joseph, Missouri. Bob and Debbie Stubblefield have been a great resource for roses for our garden over many years helping us find the roses needed for the garden. Now that October is here we rose growers are getting ready to prepare our roses for winter. I normally teach a rose demonstration in October in the rose garden to show gardeners how to winterize roses, but this year, with the pandemic effecting all public gatherings, I will be teaching this class virtually. I would like to invite you to visit my YouTube Channel Judy Penner to learn how to winterize your roses. There are five additional videos on how to deadhead different types of roses. Please like and subscribe to my channel to get updated videos on roses. Remember to stop and smell the Roses!
Judy Penner is Expert Rosarian at Loose Park, Kansas City, Missouri. You may reach her at judyssecretgardens@gmail.com.
