Ben, just went to Houston today to SW Fertilizer for rose appreciation week for the Houston Rose Society - 15% of everything! My yearly jaunt.......Got my Mills Magic Rose Mix among some other things, and got some liquid seaweed. What kind of seaweed do you use? I also got a bag of kelp too - isnt that a form of powdered seaweed? How do you apply yours?

We are to get temps next week in the 30's - not freezing, but cold. I was hesitating about starting to prune this weekend. Do you wait to prune until temps warm a bit or just go ahead? And when do you start putting fertilizer down? I have added some Mills and alfalfa [though Mills has it included in its mix] to some of my potted roses already. I may wait to prune, but want to go ahead and apply the fertilizers this weekend - what do you do?

BTW, my K&M roses on fortuniana were waiting for me when I got back from Houston this evening! I got Abe Darby, Lady of Megginch and Blueberry Hill. Cant wait to try this new [to me] rootstock that you recommend. Your photos are fabulous!

Judith

I generally don’t care for red roses, but I ordered a Vet & jumbo Firefighter because of yours BenT, so stunning! Im excited to see how they do.

I refuse to wear gloves unless I’m digging/planting, I absolutely hate wearing them, and yes, I currently look like I caught a wild cat! I stripped and pruned all my roses Dec 21st, a few weeks early, and all of those roses are leafing out nicely.

I also strip my roses around the end of December - it doesn‘t get cold enough here for them to naturally drop the leaves. I feel like it helps mimic dormancy & encourages nice fresh spring growth, plus it gets rid of the old tired leaves (I put the leaves in a brown paper bag while stripping, and then drop the whole bag into the municipal compost bin).

Re pruning, thank you for sharing your photos! I do pretty well with cutting out the dead & crossing canes, but I need to force myself to trim more of the length.

I also try to take out inward facing lateral canes to improve air circulation since I get a lot of rust, but I’m sure I sacrifice some blooms doing that. Does anyone else do that? (I mostly have shrub roses.)

Corinna,

Those climber canes are spring loaded, aren’t they? Be careful.

Vap,

I’m sure a mask would do a good job, but when tying a rose I can’t use masks or gloves, I need the vision and the dexterity.

Nick

Welcome to the Firefighter / Vet’s Honor club with Dianela and me! You must post a pic of Jumbo Firefighter when you get him, SpringHill didn’t have anything in Jumbo that I wanted or didn’t already have, I really wanted to try just one plant for curiosity. Watch out, someone is going to report you to Rose Gardener Protective Services when they see your hands and forearms.

Judith,

I love the Mills Easy Feed, it never goes on sale, so lucky you. I put the 1st dose of liquid fertilizer down as soon as I’m done pruning, so I’ll finish pruning today and fertilize this weekend. I’ll mix the Mills Easy with Alfalafel Tea and Kelp and Water Every rose, they like a jolt of liquid nitrogen after pruning. A couple weeks later I follow up with solid fertilizer. I wouldn’t worry about light frost, its going to be 28 tomorrow here, roses can laugh that off.

Cyndita,

My natural tendency is to prune too light too. I hate cutting off all that healthy cane. I have to remind myself that I’ve never pruned too heavily, only too lightly.

Judith, did you call K&M to order?

I placed one online weeks ago for Evelyn and Lady of Megginch (never hear about this one) and never heard back.

I probably should have called, but got what I needed elsewhere. I am also curious about trying fort rootstock.

JC - yes, I called K&M to order. James Mills is the nicest man! It is not a big corporation business and he gives personal attention. Has a superb list of roses - if these on fortuniana work out, as Ben says they do, I will get more.

Ben........I was not able to get any other Mills products yesterday in Houston. I wanted the Easy Feed and the Mills Bloom Kote so will just order them. There are 2 kinds of Easy Feed - one sounds like a dry mix [20-10-6] and the other a concentrate to be mixed with water [14-6-4]. Which one do you use? Or should both be used? I am confused..........

Did some more pruning, gradually getting it done

Vote for worst one to prune so far is Young Lycidis . It had about 50 canes all crossed and thorny .

I showed it who is boss

20 more to go.

Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, California, just pruned their Old Garden Roses section a couple days ago. They started almost a month ago in the Hybrid Tea beds and cut most of those to two feet and removed all leaves. The Hybrid Tea climbers were also pruned, stripped of leaves and given many new ties to keep them on their trellises. Then they mulched heavily. I was curious to see what they would do in the OGR section with the Teas and Bourbons etc. Well just this week they did the OGR, next to last and did basically the same but only pruned lightly. All the OGR were left tall. They are doing the Old Garden Climbers last and are halfway done with them. Here are pictures of the OGR. The signs are 3 feet tall so you can see that the two Teas pictured, Monsieur Tillier and Rosette Delizy, were left as very tall 6-7 ft shrubs.

Stephanie great photos and reporting on how the roses are pruned there. So even though its a warm enviornment they prune the Hybrid Teas back pretty decently. Maybe I should be pruning down to 2 feet on all the HTs. Maybe they would get bushier. I also need to step up my mulching :/

In all the years I have been a member there I never paid attention to the particulars of rose pruning, but this post got me focused on it, and being on this forum in general :-) Some of the Hybrid Teas were left a little taller at 3 feet, but most in the main beds were cut back a lot. What I didn’t check was if they treated the David Austin Hybrid Tea beds the same as the general Hybrid Tea beds. If I go back soon I’ll take a look at them. I did notice that they left David Austin’s Huntington Rose as a tall 4 foot shrub, but it is planted on the edge of the OGR bed. It might be more about aesthetics for some of the pruning decisions. However, I know that the ORGs can be killed if pruned hard like a Hybrid Tea. Descanso Gardens, also near my house, is doing their best to kill their Monsieur Tillier....not sure how much longer it will last being treated like a Hybrid Tea.

Judith, you only need one between Mills Easy Feed and Mills Liquid Feed. I did some calculations and it seems Easy Feed (the granular dissolvable) is the better buy, so I always get that.

Stephanie,

Wonderful pics and descriptions, I enjoyed seeing how lightly those teas are pruned. I’ve been to Huntington several times, always enjoy the variety of roses they have.

Stephanie - thank you for sharing the photos, and the pruning descriptions! I grew up in SoCal and have a couple of nice memories of visiting Huntington Gardens with my mother, who has since passed away. (She wasn't a gardener, so I'm actually not sure why we went there! Just a pleasant place to visit, I suppose.)

What a difference a month makes!

This is my Abe (2 plants one on each side of arch) but night came before I could tie up the canes on the left side. The blooming photo is from spring before last. I found the summer blooms very sparse this last year after the flush of spring was over. My bushes are over 10 yrs old so maybe this is the reason. I thought I would try a heavier prune to see if I could get more basal breaks. I may just need to plant a new bush. Anyone with similar experience please chime in here. I assume they were originally grafted but maybe not. My husband (now deceased) and I traveled to Tyler to buy them and got a bunch of plants from the Chamblee's of 12 yrs ago

Nice job on pruning, Austin, makes me think maybe I should take a few more canes off my climbers. I see a bunch of trees at the neighbors, could increased shade be a cause of less summer blooms?

Gorgeous rose Austin. I think it will reward you with lots of new growth and blooms after such a nice trim.

storms trimmed them way down that year not long after I took the picture so do have more sun now.... But yes, I chase the sun everywhere/ God never granted me a home with a south facing garden and unlike you I do not garden in the front yard beyond neat and orderly. As time has gone on my street has more and more traffic. Park Cities is no longer the sleepy quiet neighborhood we chose in 2005.

Great job and photos, Austin! I hear you about chasing the sun! :-)

Austin,

I only garden in the front yard because I’ve used up all the sides and backyard! There‘s also a pool in back, thankfully I have a pie shaped lot that gives me some extra room. My neighborhood doesn’t have an association, folks do what they want, for better and worse. I’m sure Park Cities cares far more about maintaining a coherent neighborhood. I must say, gardening in the front yard has been the best decision, almost all my neighborhood

and gardening friends have been made while out front.

I hope you didn’t get too much damage from the recent storms. I visited North Haven Gardens recently, the place looks like a war zone, very sad. They still plan to do Rose Day on March 7, I plan on being there with friends.

Ben, I lived in Dallas many years ago......loved it! North Haven Gardens was one of my most frequently visited nurseries. Back then, I was into fancy begonias and they had loads of them. It was a nursery that had so many unusual and interesting plants. So sorry they were hit by storms but so glad they are still in business. If you go to Rose Day there.......would love it if you could post some photos!

Judith

Ben I can see why....if I lived in your neighborhood I would also be drawn to your front yard beauty. Working in my garden has been my version of meditation; a place I go when joyous and happy or lonely and sad. As such, i always preferred privacy rather than being interrupted. Maybe I should rethink my front yard and my attitudes, though very comfortable it probably does not serve me well.

Judith,

North Haven is THE nursery for me in Dallas, everybody else is just mass plant pushers. The grounds are huge, there was a restaurant aNd an art gallery, huge greens houses,flower and veggie display beds. Every spring they load up on roses from Weeks, Star, Certified, even Antique Rose Emporium. No one else even comes close In DFW, I was heartbroken to see the tornado go through it and the surrounding area. I’m so glad they decided to rebuild , that land is now very valuable and they could have easily sold it.

Austin,

For many years gardening was just something I did to relax for ME only. But with the garden out front I made so many true friends, other gardeners and dog lovers are the best people. Now I have lots of folks with similar interests to go grab a bite with, go nursery shopping, visit public gardens, it really has been wonderful.

BenT, I hope planting in my front will do the same for me. Most of my front yard is enclosed with a wall and only a bit is open that leads to the drive. I recently put in a metal fence there and planted climbers. Suddenly, people talk to me when they walk by as I'm always out there at afterwork dog walking time. Sometimes they say the nicest things. Before all I got was fast food trash being thrown from passing cars trying to hit the wall.

Almost done with pruning

8 to go

So far 3 of the Austins have been the worst to prune. Young Lycidis and Lady of Shallot were the worst but I haven't done Teasing Georgia yet.

Lady of Shallot second year and it must have had 40 canes. It was almost 8 feet tall and a thorny beast.

Runner up for biggest pain in the backside was taking the leaves off of White pet. It is small so all of the leaves are tiny and were hanging on like grim death . I still have to do the same thing to The Fawn.

I really appreciate roses that cooperate and drop those leaves .

The weirdest one to prune is Olivia

She puts out a cane and at the end of the cane she sends out 4 or 5 canes almost like a spoke on a wheel

Very odd and not sure that I pruned her all that well .

kristine_legault's ideas · More Info

Lady of Shallot, what a major grower you turned out to be

Kristine I am working at training my Olivia to climb up one side of an arch because she outgrew her space. By winter (2019) she had thrown a lot of basal canes to replace the cutoff "branches"; kinda like thumbing her nose at me I thought. She is a lady that just likes to grow it seems or maybe she just likes the weather here in Dallas. Last week I cut off all but half a dozen strong longer canes and all the side shoots on those canes down to 2 buds, like I do for climbers. The jury is out on the results I will see this year. The only thing I am certain of is that I can't kill her via a haircut no matter how I cut. Mine is 4 yrs old but I moved her once to grow on the arch.

That's the thing with pruning, I'm not sure that you can do it wrong.

My neighbor just pruned his 4 roses and it looks like he used a chain saw

But his roses always look great lol

I thought that the most challenging rose to prune would be Teasing Georgia but actually was one of the easiest

Ok, I removed a rose and my husband actually noticed

Busted!! I thought that I could sneak it out without him noticing. I guess that he is more observant than I thought

With me it usually works in the other direction. I add one hoping no one will notice! :-)

Well, I removed it to make room for Boscobel and he is smart enough to know that I leave no space unplanted. So now he knows that roses are on their way

Good luck with Boscobel. It did not like me or my garden. I have had weak or few summer blooms and weak growth. It is a hit with everyone and people have posted some wonderful pictures so this should not be a discouragement/ mine are NOT the average results... Maybe this year; ever hopeful.. Wonder if anyone else in Texas has had my results?? Maybe I will go play it a tune or two to put some buggy to its step.

I have a potted Boscobel - it has thin canes. I am not ready to plant it but want to give it Mills Magic Rose Mix, epsom salts, and alfalfa to see if I can encourage it to be more robust. Maybe brew up some alfalfa tea. I have found that some of the Austin roses tend to have smaller canes. Is there a fertilizer that can help with bulking up these roses that tend toward these thinner canes? I did order a potted Boscobel from David Austin, to be picked up in April. The blooms are lovely and wanted to try another one.

Judith, I have added all the items you listed plus several addition items...several times a year for 3+ yrs. if is the only plant that my PLANT SUCCESS did not help. It is in a primo spot in my garden not the shadier areas. Mine was a grafted from DAustin as I recall. This year it seems to finally be getting thicker (but not thick) canes. The flowers are not pretty (not many petals and shatter) on mine after June and barely good in June. That is my main complaint. Hope u have better luck. I water lots and often.

Sorry be be discouraging. Maybe it doesn’t like Dallas and will do better for you in East Texas. Good luck.

Well.........if it doesnt, wont be the first [nor the last I am sure!] time I have had bad luck with a rose. We do all we can.........there are wimps and there are hunks. Golden Fairy Tale, for instance, is a hunk for me. Just a super growing rose! Nothing that spectacular individually, but the bush in full bloom is just lovely. Maybe Boscobel is just one of those that would rather be in England. Will give it my best shot. I just dug up a Griffith Buck rose today - Folksinger - that had been sort of on its on near Mel's Heritage along my front fence. It is a lovely rose and I have been thinking it deserved to be dug up, pampered, and brought back to what it can be. I bought it years ago at Chamblees and when I dug it, found another piece of it so I have 2! Chamblees would put 3 cuttings in a pot - many people would divide the 1 gallon rose and get 3. I preferred to just let them grow in one pot, but think these 2 will do better individually. Hope I can make a hunk out of a wimp! Thanks for the advice austin!

Oh no! I just removed a wimpy caned Austin in that spot. It grew so tall, I guess that it wanted to be a climber but those skinny limp canes.

This is front yard focal point. Good grief.

Maybe I will plant Bliss Parfuma out there instead.

Maybe I should trade out Boscobel for something different. I have been back and forth on Hot Cocoa. That would look pretty against my navy blue house. Northland is going to think that I am a little crazy girl to keep changing my mind

ohh Kristine I hope you still give Boscobel a chance. He ( to me he is a sweet boy) lol has the most glorious blooms. In my garden Boscobel is a small rose at 3 feet tall and perfect for the front of the border. Diane‘s Boscobel is much bigger so it has the potential to get larger. He does want full day sun and doesn’t love the less sunnier spots. It does have thin canes it’s first year, but I’ll go outside and take picture of the difference between the ones I have that are one year old and the 3 year old so you can see. It is a small rose here compared to my other Austin’s.

Maybe Boscobel can start out in a pot. Thanks Dianela for the encouragement. Now I won't have to call Northland again lol

I've been lusting over everyone else's Boscobel, mine has been a rather weak plant, it put out a few blooms and they only lasted a day. I kept thinking I must have a dud of a plant... Turns out I forgot to add a drip emitter to it. SMH With that problem fixed, I'm expecting great things from that little guy!

Kristine.........I like Hot Cocoa but if you havent tried Cinco de Mayo, its about the same color and a real blooming machine! Mine makes a nice sized shrub and always has blooms and is very healthy. Like it so much I bought another. I think its classified as a shrub.

I was just talking about roses that don't make you smile and I have a feeling that Boscobel may be that rose

Alameda, I'm glad that you reminded me about Cinco de Mayo . That might blend better with Julia Child.

Another fear with Boscobel is that it's going in to my yellow/peach/orange color scheme and it may be

Ok so I looked up Hot cocoa and it is also a beautiful rose :) so hard. I just went outside and tried to edit my post for of course houzz wouldnt let me.

Baby Bosco from 2019

Baby Olivia from 2019 with red canes post-pruning. A big difference between the two, but I expect Olivia will be a solid large rose here. Boscobel is the green twiggy on either side behind Olivia from this angle.

Now the 3rd year Boscobel. still tops at 3 feet with minimal pruning but the stems are nice and solid. They still had a bit of nodding on their second year, but not too much.

I know I am biased, but just for the color of the blooms is worth trying. The range of strong peach to soft pink is very beautiful.

Still nodding due to the weight of the blooms. some of the newer more orange blooms holding up higher.

Oh oh Kristine lol we crossed posted. I just saw your post mentioning Boscobel doesn’t make you smile. If a rose doesn‘t tug at your heart strings then forget it. It could be the best rose in the world and it won’t make you happy. I would switch her for something that appeals to you more. cinco De Mayo is phenomenal.

I just texted Northland to see if it is too late to switch out the Boscobel for Cinco de Mayo

The color is unique and somehow I think that it would look cool against the house siding

Space to the right of the window is where it will go

Space on the left is Julia Child and the middle is At Last

Ooooh that is a gorgeous blue!!! We redid our stucco in 2018 in a tan color, in part since I wanted to grow roses of any color against it, but whenever I see dark colors on houses I love it. There is a house in our neighborhood that just painted their stucco black and it looks stunning with white iceberg roses at the front. We also wanted a light color to reflect heat when its 100 degrees in the summer. I always wonder if their air conditioning bill went up after the black paint.

Stephanie, the problem with dark colors is that it shows every imperfection and dust

I really like the color but it is more work than I realized. That black house sounds gorgeous

Cinco de Mayo will look great with your house color! You will really like this rose - it is one of those interesting colors that looks good with yellows, mauves, purples, apricots. Post photos when it starts blooming. I have 2 and love them! Dont hear much about this rose but it needs to be talked about more.

Kristine that blue color is spectacular. I love deep blue hues like that. I also think the colors of Cinco de Mayo will really set off that beautiful blue. I hope Northland changes your rose because if it hasn’t shipped yet, it can’t be a big deal.

I also love CdM, so much so that I also ordered another last year. However, here in the land of endless rain, it will partially defoliate. It re leafs quickly and blooms constantly. It's over 4' tall here, but can be easily pruned to keep it shorter.

Someone (probably Ben) posted a link to a video from Weeks from a few years ago. Weeks lined their drive with CincodM. It was fabulous. I think they said they used it in mass because it is so carefree. In Texas Cinco d M is very popular, it blooms constantly more than any rose I ever grew. I put mine with Distant Drums and it is smashing to my eye. I will add KokoLoco to the mix this year. For my buck you can't miss with Cinco. That video was a keeper and very informative. Maybe someone will post a link I am sure it is well known.

If my Boscobel looked like yours dianela I would love it also. No way will my plant ever deliver that many blooms- maybe it is climate specific. I am giving mine one more year. I shovel pruned sharifa asma today and nothing gave me more joy. Strong plant, nice blooms but they turn iky whitish in summer for me but it is the thorns that was its death sentence.. That succor bit me one too many times. It has been growing for years and I have never liked it. Roses, like mates, are very personal. I say love 'em or lose 'em, roses that is... so many choices that can make you smile and give joy.

Austin, your color combination with Cinco de Mayo is just like mine - I love the nuances of the brown/rust tones of Cinco with the pale lilac, lavender, purples and putting Koko Loco with it is beautiful! If you dont have Spiced Coffee - you would love that one too. I plan to surround my Cincos with these lavender colored roses and a couple of Koko Locos.

Distant Drums has the most intoxicating fragrance! The open roses in the middle. I brought home this bouquet after a visit to Grace Rose Farm last fall.