Author: NRS Webmaster

April Rose Growing Notes

by Marty Reich, Master Rosarian, Editor of the Rose Leaf

So you have pruned your roses and cleaned up the beds some time around now. It is still too early to pull the mulch very far away. We could have a freeze until the middle of April and did last year. If you spray, you have done that as well, soaking the mulch as well as the almost bare bushes. It is so much better to get ahead of blackspot and spray routinely than to let it get ahead of you.
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March Rose Growing Notes

by Marty Reich, Master Rosarian, Editor of the Rose Leaf

Pruning is on all rosarian minds right now. Should I or shouldn’t I, that is the question? These mild winters are confusing to both roses and rosarians. We used to say prune when the forsythia blooms, but there are newer varieties of forsythia which bloom perhaps too early. In the last Rose Leaf I talked about pruning Austins and climbers in February. I just pruned some shrubs as well. Last year I pruned my HTs and Fls March 16-18, did some touch-up pruning April 28 and the garden was in full bloom (climbers and all) May 14. That is a general plan for me again this year.

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March 3 – Ron Daniels, “Growing and Caring for Roses – Part 2”

feeding-hungry-roses

My roses are hungry!

Roses however are heavy feeders. At the March meeting Ron Daniels, NRS Co-President, will present the spring time tasks for growing and caring for roses. Ron will talk about how, what, and when to fertilize – affectionately we say feed – your roses.

We will also have Consulting Rosarians share information about pruning your roses, which will need to be done soon.

The meeting will be held from 2:00 – 4:00 pm in the Potter Room at Cheekwood.

February Rose Growing Notes

by Marty Reich, Master Rosarian, Editor of the Rose Leaf

Unpruned climber on trellis
Unpruned climber on trellis
Something you will want to do in February is to prune your David Austin roses. Dr. Rankin, who was a member for many years and grew a huge number of them, gave this advice: Prune and feed them in mid-February. Since I started doing this, it has seemed to make a difference from the years I waited until late March.

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