What do you want? Not what do you have, but how do you see the 'end' result? Do you consider gardening a chore? Are there particular parts of rose gardening you really are trying to avoid?

There are ways to reduce or remove a lot of specfic chores. There are roses that don't need to be sprayed. A heavy layer of mulch takes care of the weeds. Watering can come from the sky. Pruning is the one I haven't figured out how to get rid of yet. However, it won't work in your climate with your current roses.

It's your choice, but I do recommend that you give the matter some up front thought. Most people don't, and end up with a rose garden that's a poor fit for their interests. Then they give up.

MG is right--spend some time deciding what you really want.

Yes, you can rejuvinate those little sticks, but it may take two or three years of really good care--perhaps a regular fungicide program that involves routinely spraying the roses. And then you need to continue the program to keep them healthy--this isn't for everyone.

I'd suggest joining a local rose club to find out what roses grow well in your specific climate. If possible, bring lists of what is doing well and what is struggling. Rosarians are always interested in what does well in adverse conditions.

Good suggestions. I have considered joining the rose society, and maybe that would be a good thing to do.

As far as the rest goes, there are several reasons I let it go for all those years, not necessarily because I wanted to, but life circumstances just made it happen. I really do enjoy working with them, and I don't mind the watering, spraying, and pruning at all. I just don't like the weeds! It is such a chore when I'm spending an hour or more a day just trying to keep up with them, and failing. I never considered that mulch would help with that, I thought mulch was only for keeping water in and for regulating temperature. Do you have to get rid of every single weed in a bed before you put it down? We haven't had any mulch in several years, and I think that is a good suggestion. I'm going to convince hubby to help me go out and get some this weekend and help me put it down. How thick do you put it down, about 4 inches or so?

I know what I really want - formal beds with roses in unusual or striking colors, mostly hybrid teas. Although I am finding that I do really like the English (David Austin) roses, and they seem to have survived the neglect better than most.

I am so glad I found this forum through the suggestion of a friend. I have learned so much just from reading here. I know one thing, I will no longer just order roses from the J&P catalog because I like the color - I will do more research on disease resistance, whether or not it is own-root, etc. You all have already taught me a lot!

2-3 inches of mulch is enough; add some each year as it decays. It will help your soil a great deal, as well as reducing watering and weeding. You do need to weed thoroughly before putting down the mulch. The cheaper grade of pine bark is good, but almost any organic material can be used-- wood chips, partly decayed leaves, etc.

What state do you live in? Add that to your header if you want good advice here. It is easier to grow hybrid teas in western zone 6 than in the Northeast.

The Austin roses have done better because they are more winter-hardy in zone 6. There are some hardier roses with hybrid-tea type flowers that you should consider when you replace the failures.

With good care, some of your roses should be looking decent by late season. Others will probably not ever be any good. It is hard for plants to gain strength when they are damaged down to the ground every winter. To grow tender roses successfully, it helps to start with big healthy plants of vigorous varieties and grow them well the first season. Even so, some will dwindle from year to year.

Hi jplamp! I am in Louisville, too. I really don`t have any suggestions for you that have not already been said. You are right to suggest you will learn much from all the folks here. I sure have. I grow about 125 roses in my yard and could not begin to have success without this forum. Do you know the names of the roses you are working with? This might help us to know if they like our Ohio Valley area. The local Rose Society is very nice here. Give them a call. Good Luck and welcome to the wonderful world of Roses. Lesley

Unfortunately, during the years of neglect a lot of my roses no longer have tags or markers and I can't remember all their names. Some of the ones I know I have are:

Brother Cadfael
Geoff Hamilton
Guinevere
Touch of Class
Memorial Day
Butterscotch (climber)
Lace Cascade (climber)
Veteran's Honor
Mister Lincoln
Garden Party
Paul's Scarlet (climber)

As you can see, most of these are not hybrid teas, but I really want more hybrid teas in my gardens. I'm thinking I will get rid of some of the sickly ones that I don't know the names of anyway, and replace them with something I can get a fresh start on.

I got some new roses from J&P this year, but I ordered them in December, they came in March, and I thought it was too cold to plant them, then I waited too long to plant them and some of them died. The ones that survived are (as I found out after doing a little research) own-root roses, so I guess they will be true to variety, but they have little spindly canes that came out after they were finally planted - the canes that they started with are all dead. They are Kimberlina and Sweetness. Kimberlina already put out one little bloom, which really made me feel better about the whole thing. They are really trying!

I bought one new rose in a pot from Wallitsch Nursery about a month ago just because I wanted to have one rose that didn't look like it was on death's doorstep. It is Sunflare. I planted it in one of the many empty spaces I have. It is doing wonderfully.

Funny thing is (and I guess this was the thing I needed to get me started again) I joined a fledgling garden club last year at the urging of some friends, and in November they made me president! All this socializing with gardeners has really made me want to get back into it again.

Lesley, thanks so much for the welcome. I'm definitely going to call the Rose Society and join up. Maybe I'll see you at a meeting!

I understand your thinking, but March is the ideal time to plant bare roots.

jplamp-hi there! I am kind of new to rose gardening but we have learned a little about weeds. :) If you havn't put your mulch down yet, there is a little more you can do to prevent the weeds. We just finshed a bed last weekend and wanted to do it "right".

If your area is free of any weeds that is good. If not try to get them out by the roots. To help prevent weeds even further, we put down a landscape fabric mat before we put down the mulch. Just make sure to cut pretty good sized holes around the roses so that they get water easily. If you put a good amount of mulch on top of this, it prevents weeds almost all together. It is also good at preventing grass from getting in the bed, except we have bermuda grass and it is very invasive, so we have to take a piece out here and there. We have had wonderful sucess w/ weeds though in another bed. It is definately worth the time it takes to do it.

michaelg, I have learned my lesson, and will not wait to plant bare root roses again! If I get any for next year, I'll plant them the same day they come, I don't care if it is snowing!

dmama, where can you buy that landscape fabric? Do they sell it at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., or would I have to go to a nursery to get it? It sounds like it would be a good thing.

The single easiest and most effective thing you can do for your roses is mulch. The benefits are too numerous to mention. I use partially decomposed wood chips because they look good, prevent weeds, hold in moisture and break down quickly to augment the soil.

I don't recommend the landscape fabric. It will work for a little while, but after a year or so the weeds will start growing in the mulch on top of the fabric and root through the fabric and it's hard to get rid of them then. Also, it's more difficult to get nutrients to your roses as the decayed mulch stays on the surface instead of being incorporated into the soil and any fertilizer you add can get stuck there too. But if you do want to try it, Home Depot carries several kinds.

Instead, you can put a thick layer of newspaper or cardboard around your roses and put the mulch on top of that. The newspaper or cardboard will degrade and feed the soil after it stops the weeds.

If you want to try chemicals, Roundup is very useful to gain control when applied carefully. Remember, Roundup kills everything so you can't spray it on or too close to your roses. You can make a cone from the top of a 2L soda bottle to go on the end of the sprayer to contain the Roundup to just the weeds.

Long term weed control is all about taking the time to go out fairly often and do it. I try to take one day a week for about an hour to weed. I still have weeds but they don't get too big before they get yanked.

If you want really nice roses next spring, visit the Palatine nursery website. They ship wonderful bareroot roses that have done very well for me.

jplamp-Hi, the landscape fabric is great and it does work. You may get the occasional weed but it keeps MANY out. BUT, it is very important to make sure all the old weeds and grass are completely gone.

Like is said in the other post, I leave enough space around the roses so that they are able to get water and I can also fertilize them. You can then put the mulch over the hole around the rose also. Mulch should be at least 3-4 inches on top of the landscape fabric.

We have purchased two kinds of the landscape fabric, both at Home Depot. We don't like the "black" one that much. It's okay, but they make a "greyish-white" one made of another material and it is awesome! I am not sure of the exact name of it, my husband purchased it. We were told by friends to try it out and that it works really good.....

Your roses will likely surprise you, after a little TLC! Good luck, I say go for it.

Thank you all so much for the replies! I am feeling much better about the whole thing already.

I think we will just do the mulch and not the landscape fabric. One of the main weed problems we have is violets, and a friend told me last night that violets will come up in the mulch but then put their roots down through the landscape fabric and will be even harder to remove, as athenainwi said.

greenhaven, I hope you are right, they may surprise me!
I'm going to continue to try my best with the roses I have, but plan to remove some of the unnamed ones that are still sickly at the end of the season.
I would rather have named roses, anyway, for several reasons - one, if I ever reach a point of wanting to enter anything in a show (wow, is that wishful thinking, or what!), and also, I just like to know who each one is. I'm finding that I talk to them and I want to know who I am talking to!

Do new canes come out of the base during the growing season, or only in the spring?

New canes can appear all season. I find that alfalfa tea really jumps the new cane action. You can do a search here and you will find recipes for this fine fertilizer. I plan to brew some today! My first blush is now over and it is time for food. Lesley

I'd also recommend that you use Epsom Salts, 2 T per gal. It really helps them with new basal breaks (new canes). You've come to the right place. People here are terrific and love to help. But beware, soon you'll have 500 roses looking at the beautiful pictures (check out the rose gallery). Good Luck.
Nancy

Nancy, I remember using Epsom salts years ago, and I had forgotten that is such a good thing. I always thought it had to be done in the early season, that it wouldn't do any good after that. I also thought you were supposed to work it into the soil, not dissolve it in water. See, I'm learning already!

I started looking at the Rose Gallery forum today, and WOW! Now I am really pumped to get with the program and do this right.

Thanks to everyone.

I would like to make a few suggestions here. You said that life has forced you to neglect your roses, and now you are inspired to work harder. Are you sure? Has your life changed that much?

An hour a day is nice. From 8:00 to 6:00 or later on the weekends plus time during the week is better.
You can choose your roses, but if you choose roses that must be sprayed, then you must spray them. The weeds won't wait for you to spray. You still need to water, and pull weeds no matter what you do.

If the rose has gone back to the old root, why not ditch it? Why don't you get rid of anything that won't perform well, and start over as you can? There are many pretty seeds, and so many pretty flowers that can make your garden look good until you are ready to care for the roses.

Knock Out roses are very pretty. In a bed they make a pretty display, and do not require the special attention that some of the others require.

When I was younger, I did my very best to play tennis, run, take care of my three children, cook, clean, and garden. It was impossible. A nicely groomed lawn or a few beds of simple roses looks good, and when you can afford to get the David Austins, they will be there.

I think you should enjoy life, and your involvement in your rose society, and limit demands from your garden.

Round Up, landscape fabric, mulch, seeds, and bulbs make gardening very reasonable until you can handle more.

Many people even put their roses in pots, but I am not sure that pots would make gardening easier.

Just my take.

Sammy

I understand what you are saying Sammy. I don't want to go into the details, but I was just not able to care for my yard during those years because of some personal and health issues. My family didn't do much of anything during that time, either, other than just keep the grass cut. Now they see me becoming interested in it again, and it has also sparked their interest. So we are working together, which is a great thing. My life is back to a point where I am able (and willing) to devote some time to this, and I really want to do it. I can easily do an hour or two each day and more on the weekends.

I'm trying to figure out which of the roses has gone back to the old root. None of the suspects still have their tags, so I can't even tell what they are SUPPOSED to be. There are 4 of those, and I think I will definitely get rid of them. They all bloomed early and the blooms were all along the canes, like an old climber, but nothing since then, just long canes growing with no buds. Does that sound like something that would have gone to old root? I know I never bought roses that were supposed to look like that.

I started spraying kind of late, I guess (1st time was June 6) but you can really tell the difference - the new growth since then is not covered with BS and insect damage. So it must have helped. I thought I would do it every 2 weeks, but is once a week better?

I bought some annuals and have put them in the empty "holes" in the rose beds, just to have something pretty to look at this year. I may try a few perennials in the fall, since people keep telling me that they are a lot less work than roses, but I really do love roses the best!

I'm looking forward to being able to post my own pictures in the rose gallery here. One of the nicest things that has happened is that I had a Butterscotch climber that was buried under vine weeds for 3 years and I figured it was dead or gone to old root. But I found it still alive about 6 weeks ago, and I gave it some fertilizer, it shot up a fat healthy cane, and yesterday it bloomed - the right color! Made me feel so good. Now if I can just convince it to put out one or two more canes, it will be even better!

See? Progress already! Good job, and have fun! Pace yourself though so as not to get overwhelmed, which is along the lines of what sammy was saying. When we first get excited or RE-excited in your case, it is very easy to jump in feet first without even thinking then end up taking more than we can handle.

Look after the ones you already have, and figure out at the end of the season (or next Spring) which ones will not be performers for you. THEN have a plan for adding more, which you are bound to want to do.

Best wishes! Hey, what the heck? Post a pic of your one Butterscotch bloom! No shame in that, it's exciting!

The common rootstock Dr. Huey has few thorns and makes medium-sized, dull red flowers in May-June. New foliage is glossy and bronzy. See HelpMeFind for helpful photos including closeups of foliage and stems. The roses you describe are unlikely to be hybrid teas or floribundas, but some Austin roses make a lot of vegetative growth after the first flush.

Spray at the labeled interval. If it says 7-14 days, the shorter interval would be more effective as long as there are symptomatic leaves with rain likely.

I looked up Dr. Huey on HelpMeFind, and that is definitely what I have. I won't be keeping them. No offense against the good Doctor, but I just don't like them very much and I want something that blooms more than once in a season.

I couldn't get a very good picture of Butterscotch and now my camera is in Germany with my son until next week. Hopefully it will bloom again during this season, so I can get a really good picture of it.