Bay CrossingsGardens

Roses - No Pain No Gain

By Botany Bob

No more be griev’d at that which thou hast done:
Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

So begins Shakespeare’s Sonnet 35, a balm for the soul as roses are a remedy for the spirit. For some, growing roses is akin to losing the prize, a thing of love most sought after—all those pesticides to keep away molds and aphids (particularly horrible this season, since unseasonable warm dry weather coupled with wind stessed tiny buds excessively).

Why bother? Just pick up a bouquet on the way to the supermarket, or if the budget allows, the florist. But there is something ineluctably rewarding about growing them in your own garden or container, a striving for perfection perhaps, even an award winner.

 

Suggestions for Growing Great Roses
As hard as it may be, one should accept the fact that your microclimate may not allow you to grow the roses you prominently see featured in glossy-covered magazines. The genealogy of many of the hybrids is very complex. A drive through Napa-Sonoma in the dry heat of summer shows roses resplendent in bloom. According to Mary Swift-Swan, these roses are planted as indicators of the presence of danger, like the canary in the coal mine; if the roses get sick, the next thing may be the vinyards. But it is a fact that dry, warm, and sunny conditions make roses relatively easy to grow. California has always been associated with the best roses, and in the past has supplied the nation for funerals and weddings. During the winter, when energy costs were low, they were grown in greenhouses; but today, land is either turned over for real estate or a lower temperature demanding crop like snapdragons or stock is grown. Giving snapdragons to one’s sweetie just isn’t the same.

Soil
A deep, rich, well-composted medium suits roses very well. The first step in helping to aerate heavy clay soil is to incorporate gypsum followed by gypsum and peat moss or better yet, from a renewable source, such as leaf mold, earthworm castings, and well- fallowed (allowed to compost for at least a year) manures. The resulting medium should drain well and be slightly acidic with a pH of 6.4 to 6.7. In lime based clays, such as exist along the coast, water tends to be somewhat basic and over time the pH tends to creep up above 7, which is the reason those blue Hydrangeas keep coming out pink.

 

Water
Roses respond to consistent moisture, but this does not mean using half of Hetch-Hetchy to grow them. It is possible to suffocate the tiny root hairs (made up of only one cell) with over watering.

Infestations
For the most susceptible roses, a regular disease and bug prevention program should be conducted at least bi-weekly, and with inconstant weather such as wind and heavy fog, once a week. The best bet is to have a one-gallon sprayer designated for the purpose, and purchase the concentrated product such as Neem oil (derived from a tropical tree), or pyrethrins( derived from a South African member of the Chrysanthemum family). Neem oil controls both disease and pests, while pyrethrins controls only pests. Two to three tablespoons of Neem oil per gallon may be required to control diseases and thrips. If one has only a few roses, there are pre-prepared solutions containing both pyrethrins and Neem oil within a spray bottle.

 

Air Flow
Good ventilation is one of the most overlooked limiting factors in growing any plant.
Roses easily can become an obsession and the desire to collect more and more compulsive. Beware and forewarned. Plant your bushes at least five feet apart, or further for an especially large variety such as Trier or Rambling Rector, which can cover an entire tree.

Disease-Resistant Roses
Ever heard of a rose rustler. There is actually a group that stealthily goes into wild and abandoned places searching for roses that have been growing vigorously without signs of disease or serious pests, in some cases roses that are well over a hundred years. They pirate old graveyards, open spaces, and occasionaly derelict properties. Below, I have made a list of both modern and some heirloom roses that succeed almost anywhere along our foggy western coast.

Pink
Eden: Both bush and climber, often cited as the most disease-resistant, fabulously full rose in America.

Sheer Bliss: Good disease resistance. magnificent form and color.

First Prize: Good disease resistance, full large pink.