Agnostic.com
5 10

A few brave roses, daring to put out buds just weeks before the annual winter pruning.
My Baton Rouge garden. Roses Over the Moon,(apricot), Wedding Bells(pink blend), Dick Clark(red and cream), Gaye Hammond(golden yellow), Crimson Glory, and Madame Antoine Marie wirth Quick Silver popping up behind(pink/irory blend and Lavender, respectively).

MikeInBatonRouge 8 Jan 2
Share
You must be a member of this group before commenting. Join Group

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

5 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

I finished winter pruning over a week ago, but this one had sent up a brand new basal break, so I spared that. Here is the reward.
Plum Perfect. An impressively blackspot-resistant floribunda. Definitely a keeper. That color is accurate. The plant is appropriately named, lol.

1

Climate change. Ten years ago, I never had blooms in January, and rarely past early December.

2

Beautiful!
Now I wanna know what you use to fertilize & how often?

Heidi68 Level 8 Jan 2, 2021

No-spray garden, just compost, including lots of leaf mold(decayed fallen leaves, and "chop and drop" weeds. Plus two or three times a year I will sprinkle any dry organic mix fertilizer, even Walmart "Expert" brand. And in late February I add a handful of epsom salt around each plant. I live in HYUUUGE blackspot territory, so picking fairly blackspot-resistant varieties is very important.
I used to spray fungicides like clockwork, until I started learning about how critically important fungi are for soil health. I stopped all chemicals a little over two years ago.

@MikeInBatonRouge I have been chemical free for at least 2 years and I have the same blackspot problem.... I have a horse and a huge manure compost pile so I was thinking about using some of that (the black gold portion), especially in the early spring. Not sure if it will help (or hurt).

@Heidi68 anything to nurture overall health helps the roses withstand the damage of blackspot, but I still think starting with very blackspot-resistant varieties is key. Even as I type that, I realize I have kept a few that are my favoraite in bloom that can blackspot pretty badly.
Plant spacing for good airflow is a help, as is keeping the more vulnerable roses near especially resistant ones.
Resistance of a variety can vary from region to region, but my most impressive(aside from the ubiquitous and mundane Knockout)' have been: Wedding Bells, Sweet Spirit, Easy Spirit, Winter Sun, Belinda's Dream, Plum Perfect, Savannah, Beverly, Dark Desire, Grande Amore, Poseidon, Gaye Hammond, Paloma Blanca, and the brand new Lim roses--True Passion and True Friendship. All of these are either fairly recent or really current. There are also some great classic climbers, Crimson Glory, New Dawn, Eden, and the pillar rose Lady Ashe. These roses range from blackspot tolerant to practically immune(hello Wedding Bells, Sweet Spirit, True Passion and True Friendship!)

3

You grow the most beautiful roses. I don't recall any I've ever grown being so lovely. Maybe I didn't choose the right variety, or maybe I was doing something else wrong. Yours are just lovely.

RussRAB Level 8 Jan 2, 2021

Now you've got me wanting to launch a speech, lol. I will try to restrain myself(a little).

My take on the most critical basics:

  1. Pick highly disease resistant varieties that are suited to your growing conditions.
  2. ensure good drainage, as water-logged soil literally drowns and kills rose roots. (Paradoxically, water regularly, as they are thirsty plants. Good drainage ensures you won't over-water. Easy solution...slightly raised beds, of even 6 inches can solve the problem
  3. Roses are sun-loving. 6 or more hours is really important, so pick your sites carefully. Super hot climates can fudge that with some afternoon shade, as I do, but even then, 5 hours is important. Blooming peters out with too little sun.
  4. Emphasize nurturing healthy soil, organically, as that will make the rest of it easier. I have super dense clay soil, which at least can retain nutrients, but it does not drain. Doesn't matter. Clay or sand or loam, all of them improve with regular top dressings of compost/aged manure.
    Okay, I'll stop. Been growing roses since age 10. 43 years and counting. I am still learning, which is part of the fun.🌹

@MikeInBatonRouge - Great advice. I have very heavy clay soil as well which bakes hard in the summer. In the spring, I get enough rain sometimes to leaves pools in the yard. I tried a rose when we first moved in, but the hole I dug ended up filling up when it rained. The poor thing didn't last long. Do you have any recommendations about growing a rose in a large pot?

@RussRAB Maybe, yeah. I rented for many years and so grew roses in pots. It is doable.
Advantages to pots: Flexibility. You can rearrange easily as the roses' varying growth habits reveal themselves over time, and as your preferences vary or you want to transplant for whatever reason or find the sunlight inadequatein a certain spot. Also, pots provide some protection from invasive tree roots.
Disadvantages--Cost. You are not just paying for the plant. Pots can get pricy. Pots dry out more easily, can bake in the heat of summer, and freeze worse in winter(though here in zone 9a that isn't a hard freeze.) (Solution for both is mulch, mulch, mulch. Half composted leaves from the yard make great mulch). Also, a hassle is they really should be transplanted about every three years to rejeuvenate the soil and correct for the tendency to settle deeper into the pot. If you grow organically, sticking to all organic matter, you can keep topdressing, and the soil stays healthier, but it is still advised every few years to tip them out during later winter to check to see if it is getting rootbound. If so, do some root pruning, add a bit of fresh potting medium, and cut the top growth way back. All this means that rose bushes will not look quite as big and mature as those grown in ground, but they can still be healthy.
Tips: Steer toward more compact rose varieties. Pots minimum of 16 inch diameter but up to 24 inch diameter. Larger is better but too large becomes impossible to move. Most of my pots were 20inch diameter.
Avoid topsoil or garden soil. It compacts in pots. Instead use potting soil, or make your own from a mixture of compost, peatmoss (peat retains moisture without being waterlogged)or a peat substitute, and perlite.
If fertilizing artificially, cut the amount in half or even a third, as the pot tends to concentrate it. You don't want to burn those roots. Better to go all organic, imo, but that is preference.
Do not put a tray und the pot. Standing water is the enemy of rose roots. They must have free-flowing drainage.
Water EVERY SINGLE DAY during the summer, unless it has watered for you in the form of a solid rain shower.
I found roses growing on their own roots tended to be happier in pots than those on Dr. Huey rootstock,vwhich is still the most common rootstock used by western and texas nurseries---what you often find in garden centers. You can finds own-root rose nurseries online fairly easily nowadays.
I don't know your growing zone for north of Dallas. 7, maybe? I think that is still warm enough for Fortuniana rootstock, which is by far the best rootstock for the south. Main Problem is just that it is so good, the roses tend to grow bigger, which may not be the goal in potted roses. Still, it lacks thick tap roots so fares better in pots than Dr Huey or multiflora.
Clay pots look nice, but actually they lose moisture too easily, so plastic is actually better. Many plastics will weaken over time, and crack from sun exposure, so just anticipate that.
Putter with the roses frequently. It familiarizes you with the individual bushes and their differences and helps you spot and correct any problems(like insect damage) faster. Buy a couple of good books on rose culture. I probably have 50, lol! "Helpmefind.com/roses" is a great online resource for researching varieties. Also check out any local municipal public rose gardens to see which varieties do best in your locale. Realize that in no way limits you to the few varieties you see there, as there are literally tens of thousands. But it will suggest some to start that you have seen for youself. Disease resistance, especially to blackspot, is my number one most desirable factor in a rose, aside from the subjectives of looks and fragrance. There are many roses, especially modern ones, that will defoliate quickly from blackspot. In southern California where blackspot is non-existent, no big deal. But here blackspot resistance is the King of big deals for roses.

If you care, I could suggest a few of my favorites, and books.

Final tip, concerns drainage. Especially on clay soil, better to put your pot on something to keep it slightly above the clay. I have had pots sink into that clay over time, ever so slightly, but just enough to completely block the drainage holes. Do drill additional drainage holes, a few even on the sides in the bottom half inch of the pot. I like to place the pot on top of an inch or two of a pile of wood kindling from tree prunings, as that gaurantees air space under those drain holes. Alternately, a concrete slab or paver works, too. Just keep the pot out of the clay. Do NOT put gravel in the bottom of the pot. Lots of traditional books teach that, but studies show it just reduces root space, and it adds a lot of weight. I put a scrap of sunshade screening in the bottom to reduce soil loss through the holes.

@RussRAB Oops, so much for sparing you a speech, lol.
Hazard of lazy Sunday mornings.

@MikeInBatonRouge - No problem on the length. Great advice. Thanks.

1

What a beautiful bouquet !

Cast1es Level 9 Jan 2, 2021
Write Comment

Recent Visitors 24

Photos 5,322 More

Posted by glennlab My first flowers of this spring. Lotus and blue bells

Posted by glennlab My first flowers of this spring. Lotus and blue bells

Posted by FrostyJimSeedlings ..

Posted by FernappleIts Hellebore season now.

Posted by FernappleIts Hellebore season now.

Posted by FernappleIts Hellebore season now.

Posted by FrostyJim...don't be silly!

Posted by KateOahuI saw some pretty flowers on a walk today. I’d never seen a white Hibiscus before. And I do not know what the pink flowers are.

Posted by KateOahuI saw some pretty flowers on a walk today. I’d never seen a white Hibiscus before. And I do not know what the pink flowers are.

Posted by KateOahuI saw some pretty flowers on a walk today. I’d never seen a white Hibiscus before. And I do not know what the pink flowers are.

Posted by FrostyJimI usually drink coffee while planting seeds?

Posted by KilltheskyfairyI love all the information on the internet that makes me a better gardener…

Posted by Jaylo64Primative hydroponic system /an old shoe rack and coffee cans ! Cans above drip into the cans below !

Posted by 1patriotOne of the main reasons for last year’s ‘spike’, which the media and government agencies have avoided mentioning, is the Hunga Tonga volcano eruption two years ago.

Posted by FrostyJim...sometimes you just can't help it?

Posted by FrostyJimI got my first seed order in the mail yesterday! WOO-HOO!

  • Top tags#flowers #video #gardening #hope #god #religion #rain #friends #religious #world #reason #weed #weather #kids #book #cats #money #community #church #birds #dogs #Atheist #hell #mother #wife #children #death #Bible #Australia #florida #animals #Texas #Christian #hello #relationship #climate #Organic #agnostic #evidence #advice #parents #humans #coffee #species #belief #sex #atheism #truth #Jesus #apple ...

    Members 1,505Top

    Moderator