Date: Fri 25-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Illustration: I

Location: A14

Quick Words:

Gardener-roses-snowdrops-prune

Full Text:

(Gardener on watering & caring for roses, snowdrops, 4/25/97)

Suburban Gardener-

Planting & Transplanting Roses & Snowdrops

By Anthony C. Bleach

All roses need constant attention to be at their best. Water new plants daily

until they have grown new branches and made at least 1 foot of new growth.

Then, a good soak once a week. Avoid sprinklers since they wet the foliage,

setting off fungal disease within a week.

For newly planted roses, add fertilizer only after the first blooming cycle

and then only once a month. Stop feeding your roses by August.

Scatter the fertilizer evenly around the bush, at least six inches from the

base. Scratch it lightly into the soil, and then water it in. If the soil is

dry, water the soil the day before you feed.

On two-year-old or established roses, fertilize now, which is four to six

weeks before the first blooming cycle. Every March, work in a spadeful of

compost or composted cow manure around each bush.

Mulch is important in caring for roses. They are more tender than shrubs.

Mulch will help moderate soil temperatures and slows evaporation from the

soil. It also, almost, eliminates weeds.

Dave Dunn uses three inches of shredded cedar bark. When frost is near, the

mulch should be at least three inches over the graft union. Pruning is

important, as rampant growers will prevent air circulating and sunlight

entering the bed.

With varieties that bloom once, the top half of the plant is removed as are

any tangled stems. With roses that bloom repeatedly, wait until the end of the

season. Also remove dead flowers and rearrange long canes as horizontally as

possible to stimulate increased flowering.

Pruning is essential to control canker, a dead spot that spreads as the

disease spreads. Cuts or even thorns are infected from fungal spores. As soon

as canker appears, cut four inches below and sterilize your shears with

rubbing alcohol.

Old roses need protection against more diseases than most plants, what with

black spot, powdery mildew and rust to contend with. Rust produces orange

swellings on both sides of the leaves. Most are immune, but the Alba group is

susceptible.

Funginex can control all the fungal diseases, and Sevin controls aphids and

Japanese beetles. They can be combined in one spray. Spray early in the

morning, so the plants can dry off. Also, spray only when there is no wind.

Both these practices will reduce danger to bees. A small, light, hand-pumped

sprayer with a wand is best, which will let you mist all parts of the plants,

especially the undersides of the leaves.

I really like Taylor's Guide to Roses . It is accessible as well as portable

and the encyclopedia bristles with information and interesting background.

An Easy Transplant

Nigel Colborn in the BBC Gardeners' World reports concisely on how to

transplant snowdrops. We found his words were sound when we did it two weeks

ago.

Select a clump of snowdrops and lift with a fork, taking great care to get

completely under them. They can be surprisingly deep. Carefully tease out

individual bulbs from the main clump using your fingers, ever so gently.

Replant bulbs singly, making their holes deep enough to accommodate the white

part of the stem completely and about an inch of green stem.

Build the soil back around the newly planted bulb, making sure the stem is

supported. Plants should begin to grow again in just a day or so.

(Anthony Bleach coordinates and teaches the horticulture program at Naugatuck

Valley Community-Technical College in Waterbury.)