Posted by Ian B on April 28, 2010, 6:29 pm
The garden has half a dozen rose bushes in it, in various states. This one
is about the saddest looking. It had severe problems with black spot last
year, such that I now informally know it as Typhoid Mary.
http://img594.imageshack.us/i/iansrose.jpg/
So this year I read up about pruning for about thirty seconds on the
internet, then hacked savagely at all the bushes in the hope of creating
some improvement. They're all sprooting now, but the big problem with this
one is that it only has one, or if you're generous and squint your eyes a
bit, two canes coming out of the bud union (which also, as you can see, is
rather a long way above the ground for some reason). The rest is just a big
lump of gnarly old bark.
Is there anything I can do to improve its prospects and get some more, I
believe they're called "basal breaks", or is it the Gordon Brown of the rose
garden that is just clinging on until somebody does the kind thing and puts
it out of its misery? It produced one little red rose last year, which was
impressive considering all the leaves it lost (and it had not many to start
with) in my attempts to control the spread of the spot.
Ian
Posted by Sacha on April 28, 2010, 6:38 pm
On 2010-04-28 23:29:09 +0100, "Ian B"
> The garden has half a dozen rose bushes in it, in various states. This one
> is about the saddest looking. It had severe problems with black spot last
> year, such that I now informally know it as Typhoid Mary.
>
> http://img594.imageshack.us/i/iansrose.jpg/
>
> So this year I read up about pruning for about thirty seconds on the
> internet, then hacked savagely at all the bushes in the hope of creating
> some improvement. They're all sprooting now, but the big problem with this
> one is that it only has one, or if you're generous and squint your eyes a
> bit, two canes coming out of the bud union (which also, as you can see, is
> rather a long way above the ground for some reason). The rest is just a big
> lump of gnarly old bark.
>
> Is there anything I can do to improve its prospects and get some more, I
> believe they're called "basal breaks", or is it the Gordon Brown of the rose
> garden that is just clinging on until somebody does the kind thing and puts
> it out of its misery? It produced one little red rose last year, which was
> impressive considering all the leaves it lost (and it had not many to start
> with) in my attempts to control the spread of the spot.
>
>
> Ian
Up to you, really. You could try feeding it and giving it a chance.
But plants, like people, do have a certain life term. Your rose may
have reached it. Personally, I'd give it a good shot of some kind of
fertiliser and a last chance. It's not easy to tell from a photo but
that soil looks impoverished and roses are greedy feeders. You might
do better if you get some good, well rotted manure onto the ground, too
in the autumn. The soil looks compacted so fork it over lightly to let
a bit of air in but without loosening the rose's roots and get some
pelleted chicken manure and scatter it around according to the
instructions and given the current drought, water, water and water
again.
And as a postscript, some roses get blackspot, some don't.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon
Posted by <vicky on April 28, 2010, 7:47 pm
> And as a postscript, some roses get blackspot, some don't.
IME, all roses get blackspot, just some worse than others!
I've found that if you just pick the spotty leaves off as they appear, they
make it through.
I've got one dead rose in the garden. I'm hoping it's not the Blue Moon,
I'm quite fond of that.
Posted by <vicky on April 30, 2010, 7:15 am
>> > And as a postscript, some roses get blackspot, some don't.
>> IME, all roses get blackspot, just some worse than others!
> Some are very resistant to it. I've never known rugosa roses get
> blackspot.
Ah, I don't really count those as roses, they're more kind of hedges with
rose flowers in them. :-}
(In the same way that I count fuschias that are big and bushy and hedgelike
as totally different plants to the delicate little pot-raised standards or
tumblers that won't last a winter ...!)
Posted by Janet Tweedy on May 3, 2010, 6:51 am
>There are well over a dozen *very* different and distinct rugosa
>roses , many of which are so beautiful they merit a space of their own
>and far outclass
I've got your wonderful rosa glauca Janet, it's been fairly thriving in
my front garden as a small standard and the other in the back. Everyone
remarks how pretty the blue tinge is and the flowers when they come.
They don't get much wrong with them either!
Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk
XML site map
> is about the saddest looking. It had severe problems with black spot last
> year, such that I now informally know it as Typhoid Mary.
>
> http://img594.imageshack.us/i/iansrose.jpg/
>
> So this year I read up about pruning for about thirty seconds on the
> internet, then hacked savagely at all the bushes in the hope of creating
> some improvement. They're all sprooting now, but the big problem with this
> one is that it only has one, or if you're generous and squint your eyes a
> bit, two canes coming out of the bud union (which also, as you can see, is
> rather a long way above the ground for some reason). The rest is just a big
> lump of gnarly old bark.
>
> Is there anything I can do to improve its prospects and get some more, I
> believe they're called "basal breaks", or is it the Gordon Brown of the rose
> garden that is just clinging on until somebody does the kind thing and puts
> it out of its misery? It produced one little red rose last year, which was
> impressive considering all the leaves it lost (and it had not many to start
> with) in my attempts to control the spread of the spot.
>
>
> Ian