Got a question to ask about roses? Well you're in the right place because Dr. Rose is here to help you! Send in your questions and Dr. Rose will reply as quickly as possible with the answer.
(Dr Rose is an anonymous author whose opinions may differ from those of the society. Any advice given by Dr. Rose and acted upon by the reader is done purely at the reader's risk. Both Dr. Rose and the society cannot be held responsible for damage to a person or their roses)
Question
Hello Dr Rose, I'm a hobby gardener. Two years now on the run I haven't had a rose ready to enter in our small local show. Last year had some lovely ones a week too late, this year none ready or well gone over. I know it must vary with each rose, but any idea roughly the timing from a cut back to a flower for me to try and get it right next year?
Glenda from Merthyr Tydfil
Answer
Glenda, sorry for the delay in answering, my internet has been down here in my remote cottage in mid Wales. It is impossible to time roses for shows because the weather plays a big part in their rate of growth and because they are grown outdoors we have no control over the temperature they grow in. The best way to get them for the shows is to grow some early flowering varieties, some later ones and some very late ones. This way you stand a better chance to get a few on show day. Best regards, Dr Rose.
Question
Dr Doctor, I have bought a polytunnel and have filled it full of Roses. Have I over filled it because I have quite a bit of mildew and the roots have had plenty of water, the vents have been open for air circulation. Could it be cold nights. I am new to this and I am quite puzzled by it all, and don't know how to get rid of it. Michael.
Michael from Llwynypia
Answer
Michael, if your polytunnel only had ventilation on one end, it is almost certainly too hot in there on sunny days. You need a through flow of air. The problem in tunnels is there are no roof vents, therefore heat rises and can't get out. It is an absolute MUST that there is a big opening on both ends so a through movement of air can flow through. Give a spray with Systhane to prevent the mildew getting any worse. These tunnel manufactures think that netting low down is the solution but they are badly misguided. Ask Albert Einstein, hot air rises, and you have to have somewhere for it to get out. Oh I forgot Albert Einstein has passed away, so you can't ask him. Take my word for it! Kind Regards,
Dr Rose
Question
I've heard that bat droppings make the best manure. Sadly, in our part of the country we have very few accessible bat habitats. We do however, since our local council re-introduced donkey rides to our sea front attractions, have a potention source of manure. If you thought it was a worthwhile substitute for bat guano I would instruct Mrs Clave to gather donkey manure every morning when she takes our labrador, Murphy, down the beach for his morning constituational. I look forward to your comments.
Otto from East Coast
Answer
Otto,
Bat droppings are not really an option, you simply could get enough. However if your good lady is prepared to carry the donkey manure home you could certainly use that. Ideally you should rot it down, and you could compost it along with kitchen waste and seaweed or grass clippings. If you use manure fresh the soil bacteria tends to gobble up nitrogen in order to break it down. Temporary nitrogen deficiency can be the result. I presume you will only be able to get the donkey manure during the summer when the donkeys are on the beach. It would be better composted and use as a mulch about two inches thick after pruning and applying a dressing of base fertiliser and lightly forking over the bed in March. Kind Regards,
Dr. Rose.
Question
What new roses can you recommend for my garden that are healthy and vigerous and don't need looking after?
Martin from Nottingham
Answer
Well Martin good news; new roses are getting healthier.
Rambling Rosie; a new ground cover light red variety will take some beating. Another variety you might like to consider is "Friends for Life" - a pink floribunda about 3ft high, masses of blooms all the summer long and needs little attention. Lastly "Home Run" - a bright red single petal shrub rose from the U.S.A. practically looks after itself. Well Martin I think that's enough to get on with, let me know if you want some more.
Regards, Dr. Rose.
Question
Hi Dr. Rose :-)
I'm new to growing and showing roses and would like to start with a winning rose at my local show.. could you help me with varieties of disease / black-spot resistant Hybrid Teas and Floribundas?
Simon from Kidderminster
Answer
Simon, regarding Hybrid Teas I would grow the following varieties:- Silver Anniversary, Red Devil, Wimi, Buxom Beauty, Selfridges, Admiral Rodney, Andria Steltzer, Signature, Debbie Thomas, Gemini, Hot Princess, Julia's Kiss, Norma Major
Floribundas:- Dancing Pink, Escapade, Red Splendour, Sally Holmes, Sea of Fire, Sexy Rexy, Tickled Pink, Rhapsody in Blue, Hannah Gorden, Matangi.
Question
Dr. Rose, how many times should I feed my roses and what type of fertiliser should I use granular or soluble feeds?
Hector from Ton Pentre
Answer
Well Hector, there are a few things to consider here. Have you applied any organic matter to the soil around your rose bushes? If you have then this will feed your bushes long term throughout the season. All you will need is a spring dressing of a granular fertiliser like a blood fish & bone. I would apply 136gms per square metre. Or if you are very old like Dr. Rose then 4oz per square yeard. I never buy rose fertiliser because the manufacturer is cashing in on a niche market. The addition of a few trace elements which you might not need will certainly cost you a lot of money.
If you haven't applied any organic matter then a spring base dressing of fertiliser like blood, fish & bone may begin to run out by August. In this case you can give an additional dressing.
Usually about mid July so it will kick in before your spring dressing runs out. Soluble feeding is normally only applied to plants in pots which are watered much more frequently. However if you find you need to water you could add a soluble fertiliser to the water. There is a school of thought that bushes should have a potassium dressing to prepare them for the winter but really all that is needed is for nitrogen not to be in excess in the autumn. This would encourage soft growth which might be susceptible to frost damage.
Question
Dear Dr. Rose, last year my foliage looked like it got burned, was it the sun or was it something I did when feeding?
Hilary from Blaencwm
Answer
Hilar, I haven't got a crystal ball, how could I possibly know what you fed your roses with or how much. I doubt it was the sun; we didn't get much of that last year. What's more the sun doesn't shine for long in Blaencwm because you are surrounded by high mountains. Are you sure it was not something you sprayed with, did you work out the dosage correctly? Last year growth was very soft with all the rain. Spraying in sunshine (what little we had) could result in scorch on tender foliage.
Question
Dr. Rose, when is the best time to cut roses for cut-flower to decorate my house? My husband says first thing in the morning but I'm not sure. I have a very shady garden.
Name Withheld from Llwynypia
Answer
If you are who I think you are then your husband doesn't get up in the morning anyway. Yes that old man of yours is right, either in the morning or the evening when the stems are full of sap is the best time to cut your blooms. Certainly not at midday when the sun is at its highest. The fact that you have a shady garden is more worrying and I would suggest you could cut your blooms at any time during the day. Then again roses don't do very well in a shady garden, they certainly are a sun loving plant. I suggest you get the old man to bed at night instead of staying up half the night talking to Ray the Rose on the phone. Get him out there in the morning to prune the trees and let a bit more light into your garden. Remember when he was younger and full of sap himself he would have trimmed those trees back long before now. If I were you I would threaten to go on strike because he's pretty hopeless cooking dinner, which should get him out there trimming the trees back. Put your foot down.
Question
Dear Dr. Rose, what are the best roses to buy for lasting, I like lavender colours but they don't last very long.
Cuthbert from Hirwaun
Answer
Sorry Cuthbert but you are a bit dim witted. If you know they don't last then why do you buy them? Why are you wasting Dr. Rose's time with a question like that.
Question
Dr Rose, my rose garden hasn't had lime applied to the soil for years. Can I put some on when I mulch them with horse manure?
Isaac from Cardiff
Answer
Thank you for asking a sensible question Isaac, we've had some stupid questions lately, I thought intelligent people grew roses.
There are two issues here Isaac. First of all does your soil need liming? You really need a pH test to determine what pH your soil is. Then you can decide if you need lime, and how much you need. I know from my own experience of testing many soil samples from the north of Cardiff area that generally speaking the soil is generally around neutral (pH 7). If yours is similar you will not need lime because roses grow best between pH 6 - 7.
The other issue, when you apply lime. Generally not at the same time as manure because it has an adverse effect on the manure so if you mulch with manure in the spring then apply the lime in late autumn or winter. At least a month before the mulch goes on. Parts of Cardiff have very heavy clay in which case you would need to apply (to raise the pH by 1) 408 grams per square metre calcium carbonate (ground limestore) (12 oz per square yard). You can reduce that to 272 grams on a medium loam and only 136 grams on light soil.
Question
Hi Dr Rose, I am a newcomer to the valleys and to Wales. I have heard it's a bad place for black-spot is this true?
Shirley from Tylorstown
Answer
Shirley,
I'm afraid so, it's the rain; it creates the conditions where black-spot will flourish. Totally different from Cambridgeshire where you would be lucky to exceed 25 inches of rain a year. In your new location you will be around 90 inches I suspect. You can spray with Systhane every 2 to 3 weeks which will help. If you have only just moved and haven't purchased new roses yet, then chose your varieties wisely. There is a B.A.R.B. rose trial at Pencoed College, it has been running since the late 1980's. Mike Thompson spends a lot of time down there judging the rose; when he should be pruning his trees and clipping his hedges. He knows all the black-spot resistant varieties. He's got a memory like an elephant, I'm sure he could reel you off a couple of dozen varieties that are pretty black-spot resistant. Some would say he spends far too much time down at Pencoed hence he hasn't got round to trimming his trees which has made his garden very shady. Watch that doesn't happen to you because it will make the black-spot problem even worse because the foliage will take even longer to dry out. It's a good job old Mike doesn't know the identity of Dr. Rose because he might get angry with me if he did.
Question
Hello Dr Rose, I have just moved here from the north of England where we suffer badly with the pollen beetle. Will it be as bad in Wales?
Gary from Barry
Answer
Gary, what is it with rose growers, why do you all like Wales so much?
To answer your question, no the pollen beetle should not be as bad, although you might get a few more in Barry than up in the Rhondda Valley's because there is some oilseed rape grown in the Vale of Glamorgan. There are 36 species of Pollen Beetle in Britain. The most common are the Meligethes aeneus and M viridescens which both breed in brassica flower heads, hence the rise in numbers of pollen beetles since the upsurge in oilseed rape acreage in the UK. The area where this is grown is by far the worse for large pollen beetle populations. In these areas it is futile to spray with insceticide because the beetles will soon re-colonise your growing area. One's heart must go out to people in these areas who want to show their roses at flower shows because the damage they do to blooms will make them uncompetitive to say the least. One would need to erect a tent with enviromental mesh as the buds begin to swell. This is indeed a lot of work, but these little blighters are very destructive.
