New to Roses; help!?!

14 years ago

Hi Everyone! I'm really new to growing roses (or anything for that matter) and I could use help!

First of all, I live in Pa, 6b zone (it's been pretty, hot humid, summer rains so far this summer). My soil is very rocky and ... solid? clayish maybe?

I planted a Mister Lincoln by an arch this spring but realize I'm going to have to move it (after doing some reading)... How do I do that? Is a good spot against my house brickish wall? (lots of sun)

I have a Frederic Mistral; I've heard he's vigorous.. should he be planted somewhere stand alone so he has lots of room? or by a wall or fence so he has support? Also, I heard people complaining about how vigorous he is, why is vigor bad? ( i thought it would be good)

Here's a list of roses I ordered last week and will be coming soon hopefully (1 gallon own root).

Stephen's Big Purple-

Maid of honour-

Rouge Royale-

white cap

eden

Abraham Darby

The Lady

I have almost no idea what I'm doing. How should I plant these... I'm starting to realize (based on my research) that I'll be planting late in the season; not ideal.? What should I do? What should my spraying and fertilizing program be? What specific spray/ fertilizer do you recommend? (brand, type)

Any advice that can't be offered would be GREAT!

Oh, and I was watering my roses everyday til I read somewhere just to water them once a week... but then they started getting dried out... (it HAS been rather hot this week tho)

My Mister Lincoln keeps getting black spot and I think one of his 3 canes is diseased.... but I don't know what it looks like for sure.. advice?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

grandmothers_rose z6b
14 years ago
You can water established roses (say a solid 1 year in the ground old) once a week. Newly planted ones need more frequent watering during dry spells.

I throw out a good layer of compost twice a year for fertilizer and use Bayer Advanced Disease Control for a fungicide. I choose not to spray insecticides and have been happy with that for several years, now.

There are several theories on clay soil and roses. I do dig a large hole and fill it with 2 inches of compost in the bottom and refill it with 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 clay and 1/3 good garden soil. So far so good. I have also dug small holes for some tough OGR's and had equally good results in mostly straight clay for those particular roses.

Oh, and did I say make sure you water newly planted roses during dry spells?

The Roses Forums have a terrific search feature located at the bottom of the page, too.
kentstar
14 years ago
Try watching the rose videos by Paul Zimmerman on utube. They will help you out a lot! Very knowledgable rosarian!

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses are Plants Too
Related Professionals
Rocky Mount Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Manchester Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Binghamton Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Kansas City Landscape Contractors · Fayetteville Landscape Contractors · Beckley Landscape Contractors · Waterbury Landscape Contractors · Manhattan Landscape Contractors · Akron Landscape Contractors · Wheeling Landscape Contractors · Florence Home Builders · Salisbury Home Builders · Grand Island Home Builders · Jamestown Home Builders · Cody Home Builders
cecily
14 years ago
Hi Ella, welcome to the Rose Forum. Frederic Mistral is a super rose. He grows very stout canes (you'll need a lopper to prune him) and definitely does not need a wall or arch for support. I love Freddie because he's one of the few roses that I can smell. Roses grow to be different sizes so you should research the size of each of your babies in zone 6 before planning your planting bed.

Several of the roses you listed will not grow well without a fungicide in the mid-Atlantic. Please choose one that does not contain insecticide and take precautions when spraying ( suit up and use a respirator to protect yourself).

Since you're planting in summer and its pretty darned hot here already, it would help your roses immensely if you could rig up shade cloth or use a beach/patio umbrella or cardboard refrigerator boxes with the sides cut out or something to create shade for them until they settle in. Yeah, your yard will look silly but it will keep the baby roses from crisping.

Good luck!
michaelg
14 years ago
Allow 6' width for your Frederic Mistral. It grows to twice the size of normal hybrid tea roses. I prune mine down to 12-16" in spring and then tale 1-2' of stem below each spent flower (all season) to control the height at 6-7'. This summer pruning makes it stay upright rather than arching 8' wide.