I am proud to announce a new addition to my rose family! I just ordered a rose through Heirloom Roses that beckons romance and exquisite beauty… The Eden climbing rose with her 4.5″ dangling blooms will soon greet me as I pull in my driveway. I have been longing for her graceful presence for a few years now and am thrilled to adopt her as my youngest rose baby! Some garden dreams come true…
Category: Rose Gardening Tips
To Prune Or Not To Prune: That Is The ?
Whether (no pun intended) it’s climate change or other factors, it’s always difficult to discern when to prune your rose bushes and when to patiently wait. Ideally, you want to wait until any hints of freezing temperatures in your area are no longer a threat. Pruning wakes up your sleeping beauties and encourages them to get busy blooming. If this process begins and then a freeze stuns them, your rose bushes are at risk of dying or being exposed to other issues. Although, if you have an established rose bush, it will probably recover just fine, but for ones younger than a year or two in the ground, I would recommend holding off on pruning. Better safe than sorry! Personally, I find it always tempting on Spring-like days to get out there and clip away, but the lows at night, not to mention a last-minute snowfall, could seriously damper the fruits of my labor.
With all that said, when is it safe to prune? Some say wait till you see bud eyes swelling or little red leaves popping out.
Forsythia {photo credit: unknown}
Probably the most reliable indication of when to prune your roses, at least for gardening zones 6-7 such as mine in Pennsylvania and Maryland, is to wait on the forsythias to bloom. When you see those sprawling bushes bursting in glorious yellow, know that it’s time to pull out the pruners!
In the meantime, since you are probably like me anxious to assist your rose darlings before Spring officially begins, you can start clearing away debris and dead leaves that may have congregated in your garden beds. You can also sharpen your pruners and loppers in advance, and stock up on soil, pots, fertilizer, and other gardening supplies. I also call around to see who has the best deals on mulch.
Different regions prune in different calendar months. As for me and my garden, we’ll wait on the forsythia factor!
PRUNING BY REGION
Northeast / Mid-Atlantic: March or April (once)
Southeast: January & August (twice)
Southcentral / Lower Midwest: February & August (twice)
Midwest / Plains: March or April & August (twice)
Pacific Northwest: February or March (once)
Southwest / California: January or February & August (twice)
Perennials Please!
With much anticipation, I long to adopt a few eye-appealing perennials into my family of rose bushes. Nestled within this city, my small urban rose garden will once more delightfully flourish! Soon my hybrid teas, climbers, shrubs, and drifts will swell with new growth as we dance away winter’s frigid blasts of crisp blunt air. As I await such new birth, I find myself perusing a few perennials in shades of blues and purples to (hopefully!) compliment my roses arrayed in yellows, pinks, peaches, corals, creams, and red. Thus far, here is my selection:
Delphinium (Larkspur) Purple Passion {photo credit: unknown}
Clematis Venosa Violacea {photo credit: unknown}
Campanula Bavarian Blue {photo credit: unknown}
Lavandula (Lavender) Hidcote Blue – The rose is David Austin’s “Harlow Carr”. {photo credit: unknown}
Do you have any of these in your garden? What perennials have you found to add interest and beauty to your roses?
Growing Horizontally
Growing Horizontally
Fourth of July
Have you ever noticed how climbing roses produce far more shoots and consequently, stunning clusters of blooms when forced horizontal? As a rosarian, I’ve learned if I gently bend the rose’s cane while fastening it securely with string, the cane will produce significantly more blooms than if I let it grow as it pleases. I have to be careful though as the pliable and tender canes can snap. Equally important is the tension of the string. If the string is too loose, it defeats its purpose of guiding the growing cane. Conversely, if the string is too tight, it can pierce the tissue of the cane causing damage or complete destruction. Ultimately, I have the authority as the master gardener to sculpt each cane as I see fit.
“My body and mind may waste away, but Elohim (God) remains the foundation of my life and my inheritance forever.”
Psalm 73:26
Blaze (Note: Blaze is a climber that only blooms in the Spring)
Similarly, once upon a time, this frustrated cane found herself no longer free to grow or go wildly as she pleased. Instead, Jesus, the Master Gardener, placed enough strings to tenderly, but securely force me horizontal through intense back and joint pain preventing me from escaping my bed.
Much to my despair, in a matter of weeks, my full-time income rapidly dwindled to part-time income, then unemployment. My financial stability was seemingly ruined! But God provided and worked everything out for my benefit just as Romans 8:28 promises. Consequently, those difficult days produced a soul harvest I would not trade for any paycheck or even my health.
“I have riches and honor, lasting wealth and righteousness. What I produce is better than gold, pure gold. What I yield is better than fine silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, on the paths of justice, to give an inheritance to those who love me and to fill their treasuries.”
Proverbs 8:18-21
Though uncomfortable, OK, frankly it was miserable at times, I blossomed spiritually and emotionally. Through that season of physical pain, this life slowly, but surely surrendered to His nurturing as He wasn’t hesitant to tackle my prickly thorns one by one. His strings were His boundaries inviting me to grow according to His purpose for my life. I could have rebelled against His plans and His boundaries or I could cooperate. The choice was mine. Thankfully, whether vertical or horizontal, I decided to grow with God’s flow!
