Question of the Week
Ken Maki, Retired County Agent
Question: I recall a saying about roses and February. Do you remember it?
I don’t remember the exact verse but it is one that I try to remember. It goes something like, Roses in February are for planting, pruning and giving on Valentine’s Day. What do you think?
Answer: February is the time to start thinking roses. The sequence is not the important thing but how you do each thing. February is an ideal time to plant roses. There are not a lot of things on the gardener’s agenda so proper time can be taken to make a good rose bed to plant into. Design the bed to have good drainage. Roses do not like “wet feet’. Raise the bed a good foot above the ground level. Use a mixture of topsoil, peat moss, compost or composted cow manure, and pine bark mulch. The soil needs to drain away from the roots. After building the bed dig a planting hole and fill it with water. If it takes more than an hour for it to drain the bed needs to be reworked to provide better drainage. As the bed is being tilled or worked up a commercial rose food needs to be worked into the soil. A slow release fertilizer will last most of the year. I recommend letting the bed rest for a week after making it before planting. This will settle the soil.
The next step is selecting the roses. There are a multitude of rose varieties to choose from. They range from the miniature to the strong climbing roses: from the new hybrid tea roses to the old time bush varieties. Some varieties need to be sprayed and taken care of almost weekly to those such as ”Earth-Kind” or “Knock-Out” that are almost completely self sufficient. Some of these roses are more than 250 years old and have survived all types of conditions. Many have been found by old plantation homes, propagated and increased from there.
If you want to raise the big budded hybrid tea roses I would recommend talking to an Extension or Nursery-Garden Center specialist about the varieties that do best in your local area. They take a little extra care but the reward of big buds and blossoms is worth the extra care.
When planting it is best to remember that the roses most often were dug and then shipped bare rooted to the nursery or if directly bought from the grower they will most often be shipped bare rooted. Care at planting should be taken to spread the roots so the plant can take advantage of the planting hole. After filling the hole, water the plant in to settle the soil and allow the plant to start growing.
When it comes to how to prune roses it is difficult to describe. Type of rose and size needs to be considered. I always try to start by removing dead or sick wood. Next remove the sick and damaged canes. Bring the plant down to the height that you want to start with. Roses will perform better if they have good air circulation in and around the plant. Often roses planted next to a house have more problems because of poor air circulation which encourages black spot and powdery mildew.
After planting I recommend an application of a mulch material like pine straw or bark and wood chips. This helps to control the other vegetation and also helps to hold moisture around the root system.
The third thing to do with roses this month is to give them for Valentine’s Day. They may tell you “you shouldn’t have!” But the look in the eyes will tell you differently.
For all your additional gardening questions, call Dr. Ron Robbins or one of the Master Gardeners at 323-2251. I can be reached by email at kmaki-agcenter@centurytel.net.