Romaggi Plot Bourbon? Hermosa? Or...?

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

In the last several weeks, I've lost 5 roses to voles. I came out in the morning to find a rose leaning over or wilted. It was rootless, every root chewed off. I am trying to salvage a couple but it doesn't look promising.

My Romaggi Plot Bourbon was one of the victims. I had recently moved it because it was struggling to a spot where a number of other roses had done very well, too well, in fact. They were moved when they blocked a busy narrow-ish pathway between our house and the back yard.

The spot faces east in a sheltered ell and receives sun only until 3 or so. This began as my pink rose bed but also became my China rose bed because it's the one place they do well. The spot is directly behind my foundling rose, so a new rose must play nice.

I wonder if I should switch from RPB and try something else. Would Hermosa work well here? It's a pink China. Or???

Spreading and sprawling won't work. Overly thorny roses won't work. I prefer older roses and don't go with many HT's, HP's or Austins because they do so poorly in my no spray garden.

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Kes Z 7a E Tn
Original Author

5 years ago

Just an update- Vole damage continued all summer and into early fall. I have been able to save some of my poor rose victims. In some cases, it took all summer to figure out whether they were going to make it or not, but I'm grateful. The ones that I have managed to save that had no roots (looked like someone had cut them off above the roots): Faith Whittlesey. Tipsy Imperial Concubine, Romaggi Plot Bourbon and Whimsy (the mini). The jury is still out on Cream Veranda and Pompon de Bourgogne. I soaked the victims in a bucket of water and planted them in a pot, sometimes with a little root hormone powder, sometimes without. Gotta say, the root hormone powder didn't seem to make a big difference.

I lost a bunch. Some of the others that were suspects for vole damage lost their leaves and half or more of their canes but were left with enough roots to keep them anchored in place. I just kept them watered and hoped for the best. They seem to be improving and I have hope that the winter won't be too severe.

I ordered chicken wire baskets that I'll be using on all my new roses and those I have to move. They have to be modified to be used in my garden but I hope they'll at least slow the damage.

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Comments (11)

jerijen
5 years ago
Kes -- I don't know whether this solution is reasonable for you, or not. But we have, not voles, but gophers. (Western Pocket gopher)

I know EXACTLY what you mean when you talk about finding a big mature rose laying on its side with no roots. We have had it happen many times, and for the last 20 years or so, we have planted roses inside pots, in the ground.

We're talkin' 15- to 20-Gal. "Squat" pots, with many, many 3/4" to 1" holes drilled in them.

Just as an example . . . This 'Gloire des Rosomanes' was bet. 5- and 6-ft. tall when I found it laying flat on the ground, with no remaining roots . . .

It was an own root plant, so we picked it up, soaked the bottom of it in water for a couple of days, and then potted it into a 20-G pot (with holes).

The rose never looked back, and it's now about 8-ft. tall. Gophers can nibble here and there, I suppose, but they really can't get to the main root ball.
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
That is so wonderful to hear, Jeri, that your roses could make a comeback.

Here, exactly like you and Jeri reported, Kes, I had 6 roses keel over with gophers eating the entire roots. This happened January to March 2021 and after soaking overnight I potted them and they are making a comeback and starting to bloom.

I plan on planting them in 5 gallon rose wire root cages so the gophers will be frustrated. Jeri's 20 gal pot idea is probably even safer. They even are all going to bloom!

We are killing gophers with a Gopher Hawk too. 20 so far in 2021 and 33 last year. I wish you luck with your rescue, even if you want to plant another rose there.

Hermosa here.
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Kes Z 7a E Tn
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your own bad luck and what you did to combat it. It gives me some hope that I might be able to salvage some of mine.

Jeri, six roses! It hurts to hear it. It was painful enough to lose 5 in two weeks. Everything I currently have is own root (well, when they actually had roots) so maybe I have a shot. Do I understand correctly that you put the rose in a pot and then the pot in the ground? It seems a big hole to dig to bury a 20 gallon pot but then I plant trees and that is the same size hole, more or less. As barriers go, that one should last as long as the rose.

Sheila, also six! What is it about that number? It makes me nervous since they only took out 5 of mine. I remember when you described what had happened but forgot that you lost so many. Do you make the wire cages yourself or did you buy them? Thanks for sharing your photo of Hermosa.
jerijen
5 years ago
Yes, Kes. That is a BIG hole. (And it's essential to drill many many holes in it.) It does, yes, need a BIG hole, but once in the ground, it's impregnable. What's more, we have dug some up, years later, and we have re-used those pots. Plastic, after all, lasts forever.

I wouldn't even consider doing something like this in most circumstances, but Western Pocket Gophers are positively LEGION all through these hills. In a flood, my husband once watched one of them swim down the street! And poison is out of the question.

Here's a photo of a rose recently planted this way. You can JUST see the upper rim of the pot:
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Kes, this is what I bought (amazon) and plan to replant in probably this Fall. I hope these roses can move past this and completely recover. They look good now.

They also come in larger sizes.
jerijen
5 years ago
Here's another look at that same bush . . . just now . . . and you can see the rim of the pot more easily. This is 5 years later, and the bush has many open blooms . . . and is covered with buds, ready to open.
Kes Z 7a E Tn thanked jerijen
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
5 years ago
I'm really hoping for the best for your roses, Kes. I did replant my plants in those wire baskets I posted about last week and they had nice rootballs again after their ICU experience in pots. It really was a miracle. We have also caught 29 gophers so far 2021 with the Gopher Hawk. The rim above ground on the wire baskets should block voles too. Best of luck!
portlandmysteryrose
5 years ago
Good luck, Kes! You are a trooper!! 🤞🤞🤞

Sheila, you are one of the most resourceful gardeners on the forum. A gopher hawk! My daughter and I watch a British hawk trainer YouTuber. She’s great! She rescues and/or raises raptors like falcons, hawks and owls. Carol
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
5 years ago
That is so great, Carol. I welcome hawks, owls and would a falcon but my Gopher Hawk is a trap/gopher killer I got on line, so I'm not up to the Brits' level, that is for sure. The post gopher attack rescue of the rootless roses did really thrill me.
portlandmysteryrose
5 years ago
Ha, ha. Oh, yes. A trap. That makes sense! 😊