Roses 2020: Ready, set ...
I quivered with anticipation of the spectacular season to come, as I did my best to get my roses ready to do what they do best - BLOOM!
And boy, do my roses BLOOM! Just take a look at the healthy leaves and beautiful dark red flowers of my Rosa ‘Heinz Winkler’, which blooms from late spring into autumn!
My healthy red rose bush Rosa ‘Heinz Winlker’ in bloom, summer 2019.
Roses are such hard workers, giving us a breath-taking choice of flower colour, form, fragrance, as well as growth habit and use. So many cultivars! So many bred to generously give us repeat blooms! And let’s not forget the few that bloom in winter in parts of the UK if allowed to. Here, gardeners tend to prune their rose bushes in the autumn or late winter. Rose blooms in December are not uncommon in the London microclimate if gardeners delay pruning until late winter.
Gardeners will have their preference as to the best time to prune their roses, and may argue the pros and cons of different approaches. From 2014 to 2018, I pruned my rose bushes in autumn. I decided to leave them be this autumn and winter 2019/20, rosehips and all - a bonus for wildlife..
I scheduled my rose prepping for February 2020, and I’m almost done now. I took the opportunity to conduct a stock take of my roses while I was at it. All but one, present and counted! The one not counted was present but dead, lying on its side having been cut at the base. It was a clean cut …
Rosa ‘Belle Isis’, it was. I’ve ordered a replacement.
So, what did my end of winter prep entail? Basically, pruning, weeding and mulching the soils around the plant roots with rich, slow-release organic matter such as well-rotted leaf-mould, manure and wood-chip. Leaf buds have started to break on some plants already.
To sustain all their glorious hard work, roses are big, BIG feeders. I will work some specially formulated rose fertiliser containing horse manure into the soil around all of my rose bushes once the first flower buds start to appear. I’ll fertilise repeat-flowering rose bushes again after the second flush of flower buds appear.
Over the years, I have come to understand the direct relationship between the quality, size and quantity of a plant’s blooms, and the pruning regime employed. Pruning is important because it encourages the plant to produce vigorous new shoots with great blooming potential and helps concentrate the plant’s efforts in strong shoots. It reduces the potential for damage from touching cross-growth. It reduces the risk and impact of certain infections that may be exacerbated if the plant becomes too ‘crowded’ when in leaf, and air-flow is compromised. All of these pruning benefits are important for organic gardening - less disease and no chemicals. Finally, pruning helps gardeners maintain a balanced and aesthetically pleasing framework as a backdrop for those beautiful blooms!
I have read that there is little difference in the outcome between a crudely ‘hacked’ rose bush, and one that is carefully pruned, branch by branch, stem by stem. I’ve decided not to risk it so tend to follow the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) advice for the different types and forms of rose bush that I grow. Works for me!
Nearly done! My roses are almost ready and set to GO!
