I do not call myself a "rosarian." I barely allow the term "gardener." The only reason I allow the latter term is because I spend a great deal of time doing it. But then again, I, also, spend a great deal of time tending to roses. In any event, I do not have enough experience to allow the term "rosarian." The only thing I am an expert at is taxation. All that being said, there is a benefit to being a novice. I listen to others.
I am not suggesting experienced people don't but I am more inclined to rebut laws in taxation that contradict my understanding. Why I bring this up, is because I have made an acquaintance named Alicia. Living in a small town, you begin meeting your neighbors. She is a very unassuming, intelligent, mature, and bohemic lady. One day we were on the discussion about roses.
She does not grow roses but her father did, and she asked me one day, "Do you know about the five leaf rule?" I said, "No, I don't." She said her father always cut down to the fifth leaf on a rose stem. So I opted to look it up.
This is what I found. Click HERE. This is a pdf from the American Rose Society about how to deadhead and prune roses to get more roses on a stem. I have recently read (if memory serves and I'm ADHD) that if you want more roses on a particular stem you need to cut the stem a certain distance. I do not know if that is true but it does sound plausible.
In a couple of weeks, I will have a lot of guests visiting my gardens and I want my roses to be pretty. So I usually do two things...give them a feeding Bayer Advanced All In One Rose Care approximately 10 days before (I have heard people who show roses do this as well) and prune them. I always deadhead (snap off the spent blooms). So according to the article I have linked, I will cut above the 3 leaf set today because it is the first blooms of the season and then cut above the 5 leaf set in subsequent blooms. So I feel Alicia was on to something....glad I listened.
Journal Notes
I volunteered at the museum yesterday planting the butterfly garden. I brought them a rose "sampler" I am still trying to get the flowering arranging down...still have a long way to go.
However, they were so pretty it almost looked fake.
6 comments:
Your flower arrangement looks so pretty. I really love that dark one in the bottom middle, with the white stripes/spots. How wonderful to meet another rose lover!
Satisfying to grow; gratifying to share. That was a lovely thing to do and I'm sure it was well received.
When I'm choosing which set of five leaflets I'm going to cut above, I notice which way the new shoot is going to grow.
@Holley...those are the Memphis Music...those are actually spent roses...they were the rose of the week last week...when they become "spent" they turn black...with white strips.
@Nell...tell me what you mean by "which way the shoot is going to grow" I am certain it is of significance but I don't quite understand. The other thing I realized was ABOVE not Below....the devil is in the detail after researching further.
@Holley, that maybe the Rock & Roll you are referencing.
There is a tiny bud inside the base of each five-leaflet leaf. The new shoot is going to grow out in the direction of the bud you cut above. I hope you read the angle at which to cut and how far up.
New shoots growing in toward the center are going to cross one another.
Did I read a while back that you have a good rose book? Does it have photos showing how pruning is done? It's hard to describe how to do it in words only.
One thing I read in the ARS link, roses are tough and forgiving of mistakes.
@Nell...I think I finally know what you mean after pruning a few....problem is that I have to many rose bushes to feed individually...it took me seven hours this time....so I didn't get to the pruning..
.I have several books but I am also ADHD meaning I don't always register what I read and sometimes the "devil is in the details"
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