Roses

Last year we planted a couple hybrid tea roses and through the growing season they developed blackspot, we treated them with a 3 in 1 fungicide and removed the infected leaves as necessary. At the end we weren't quite as diligent and some of the spotted leaves remained. Is there anything I can do now to prevent this disease from infecting the plants this year? When should i start treatment? Whats the best product to use? Thanx for any advice. Mark

One of my KnockoutsThis is a big duh. Do I even have to laud the virtues of Knockout roses? OK, I will. They're hardy, bloom nearly continuously, fill space well...

I’ve got a couple going now – pink and red -- and wish I had room for more. I’ve still got several fussy hybrid tea roses for cutting, but my heart belongs to Knockouts. -- Craig

We are still getting calls on the Master Gardener Hotline about fall rose pruning. Although you may hear from various sources that roses should be pruned in the fall, the truth is that in our mid-west climate with its bitter winter weather, it is better to wait and prune roses in the spring. Why?

From Carolyn:

I am planning an outdoor wedding and would like to catch the first bloom of the roses in Antioch Park's Helen Cudy Rose Garden. I know it is different every year, but what time frame is typical for this area for the roses to be in their first bloom? Thanks.

Is it too late to trim Roses of Sharon bushes? If so, how much? They are quite tall 8-9 feet) and thin. I am worried about winter winds.

This spring I dug up my favorite hybrid tea rose to move it to another location just a few feet away. But for whatever reason it's not thriving at all there, just staying low and static. Is this a bad time to dig it up and find a better location or should I just bite the bullet and wait until spring, hoping it survives the winter? Thanks.

Hi, I have knock out roses that are about 4 years old and they are growing so fast that I do not know how to trim them or how to keep them smaller than they are now. How do I keep them from getting so big. I would like for them to be no higher than three feet. Help.

From Jennifer:

I am looking for some help any help I can get. I have a rose garden with tons of grass in them. I know that I can not use Round up in the roses. So what should I use? I have heard of a few products Sledgehammer, Q4, MSMA, Manage, and Image. Thank you for your time and help.

Mardi Gras roseLearn about the importance of good soil when the Johnson County Rose Society meets next Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m. Dennis Patton, horticulture agent, Johnson County K-State Research and Extension, will discuss how applying soil test results,

Is now a good time to move rose bushes, im in the north east and the temp is hanging around freezing. I also have Double Knockouts in a 11' X 18" X 4' deep planter, do I need to do something special to them to protect against the winter, there is plastic around the planter now.
thanks

My Red Meidiland rose is a floribunda/shrub/wannabe-groundcover rose. I would like to teach it to be a small (weeping) tree rose. It is well established...can you give me some advice on the best way to train it?

We moved to the KC area in April. There are 3 knockout roses planted together and they surrond the air conditioner. They have expanded in size and now are rubbing against the house and getting too close to the air conditioner. How and when do I take care care of this situation?

Prairie Breeze shrub roseHere's Prairie Breeze, an easy-care rose. (And who doesn't want easier care roses?) Check the link on the left to the EarthKind Rose sumposium Oct. 4. - Craig

By Nancy Brachey
McClatchy Newspapers

Q: I have a rose bush that I planted several months ago. I bought it as just the root ball with minimum amount of soil around it and the stems at the top of the root ball had been cut off. After planting the rose everything was green for awhile. One of the trimmed stems started a shoot and it has leaves on it, but suddenly all the stems started turning black. I’m afraid the whole thing will die, but none of my roses has acted like this before. What would turn stems that had been green for months suddenly black? Can I save this rose?

A: It remains to be seen whether this rose will survive. It is likely to have a problem called canker. A range of disease organisms cause this problem, which shows up as you describe in blackened stems. You must cut these stems back to healthy green tissue now and give the plant time to grow out. Your rose will require TLC with good watering and rose fertilizer while attempting this comeback.

Reblooming rose bedHere's a garden with Flower Carpet Scarlet roses that border a flower bed in the left foreground with pink Knockouts in the background for color. (Click on the photo to enlarge it.) To see a story about reblooming roses, go over under Featured Stories in the right-hand column.

By DEAN FOSDICK
For The Associated Press
Peter Kukielski is a rose fancier with a special fondness for late bloomers — the re-flowering kind that save their best and brightest displays for the invigorating weather of autumn.
As curator of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and Rose Collections at The New York Botanical Garden, Kukielski has helped replace a few hundred less impressive performers with 2,000 new rose plants, many capable of producing constant color from early June until the first killing frosts of fall.
“We tried to bring in more ever-blooming varieties so the garden has interest all season long,” Kukielski said. “In my opinion, late September into October is a very close second to June as far as beauty. The days are nicer, the nights are cooler and the sunlight is better, coating everything with a golden glow.”

Mardi Gras roseFall can be a great time for roses. Here's Mardi Gras floribunda. To read about some of the best, new reblooming roses, check the featured story over on the right called "Fall roses." -- Craig

By DEAN FOSDICK
For The Associated Press
If you’ve ever strayed into a spat between flower growers, chances are it was about roses.
“Queens of the garden,” puffs a supporter.
“Demanding divas,” huffs a detractor.
There are few wider attitudinal divides in gardening.
I didn’t have a single rose on my property as recently as three years ago, and that was emphatically by choice. I considered them too much work.
Now I have dozens of the ever-blooming varieties thriving in sun and partial shade, performing brilliantly on a hillside for erosion control, bidding a cheerful welcome along a quiet country lane and enhancing the looks of a split rail fence.

I have planted 5 double knockout bushes in an eleven foot flower box. They are evenly spaced and the first blooms were great. The three in the middle are doing great, the one on the right which gets the most sun is doing fair but the one on the left barely flowered the secound time and since hasn't flowered and barely grew. They all got rose food in june and get plenty of water. I noticed a hole dug by a squirrel or chipmonk and filled it in. could this be a possible cause for the plants poor development?
Thanks for any help you can give
Wayne

What can I do to get rid of black spot disease in my little bed of shrub roses? I sprayed it early in June with a product that Suburban Gardens suggested but it still got progressively worse. We moved to Olathe from Iowa last July & the rose bed was already in place, some large, most small. They bloomed profusely last summer and (so far) this summer. A few have lost most all their leaves at this point.

My concern is not so much for this year as not having to deal with black spot next year. Should I just pitch the bushes that are worst?

Thanks....