May Rose Growing
...one of a series, for a complete year!

May Rose Growing is a very busy time of year on the Rose Growing Calendar. Because there are so many rose gardening activities to attend to there is a need for a year long gardeners "how-to" calendar. We have one for each month, that you can combine into your own Rose Growers Calendar. Check out all the pages above.

Things To Do For May Rose Growing:

-Mulch in late April or early this month.

-Apply fertilizer if not already done, and water, water, water, (if not raining!)

-Continue spraying program for powdery mildew and black spot including a soluble fertilizer in with the fungicide.

-Continue to check your pruning from previous months. Finger prune and dis-bud hybrid tea roses if planning to exhibit.

-Check for insect damage. Aphids can be squished. Thrips can be stopped at larval stage by Diazinon crystals around the base of the rose or, an organic solution, Diatomaceous Earth is said to work well. Insecticides should only be used if absolutely necessary. `

-Continue to weed. Cleanliness is next to godliness when it comes to the garden! If using a hoe, do not go deeper than 1" to protect the fine feeder roots that lay just beneath the soil surface. Hand picking is best!

-Water. Once roses are established their roots grow deep into the soil. During dry periods roses should be watered once or twice a week depending on the moisture retentiveness of the soil. They require at least 1" of water per week. Water the soil so that the water goes directly to the roots and not on the foliage as this encourages disease - soaker hoses and drip systems work well. Water in the morning and remember to mulch your beds to help contain moisture.

-Roses in containers need watering almost daily during the summer months.

-Dis-budding is usually only done to hybrid tea roses. One bloom per stem produces a finer, larger specimen for competition or simply enjoying. Sometimes nature produces three buds when one is all that is needed for exhibition. Snip off the side buds with thumb and forefinger when they first appear so that only one rose will grow to its maximum size. Hopefully a winner!

-Rose Pests - Healthy plants are better able to resist pests but if you do have an outbreak, the next decision is whether to treat it organically or to try an insecticide. We highly recommend organic methods of pest control, as insecticides can be quite harmful to the environment.

Aphids can be rubbed off by hand, hosed off with a forceful spray from your hose or sprayed with Safer's Insecticidal Soap or a pyrethrum-based spray. The problem is not to kill the "good" predators of the aphids as well.

Leaf-cutter bees eat regular-shaped holes out of leaves but do no other harm to the plant.

Thrips are a minute fly that leave petal edges blackened and flowers and leaves mis-formed and cannot be controlled except with Diazinon crystals or spray or Orthene (toxic to honey bees). Diatomaceous Earth may also work.

Spider mites can be sprayed off the under sides of leaves as can 'cuckoo spit' (the common frog-hopper).

Another pest is rose midge, a minute white bug - found most often in large gardens - the result of its presence is an absence of buds, similar to "blind shoots". Use Diazinon spray to control.

The rose slug, a larva of the sawfly, creates skeletonized areas on leaves, turning them brown and can be squished within the rolled-up leaf it hides in.

-If you do decide to use an insecticide against any of these pests, it is best to check with your local garden center as to the correct identity of the offender and the appropriate chemicals available. In general, it is best to rely on a healthy plant and beneficial insects such as ladybugs, wasps and garden birds through the use of organic means.

Be sure to wear protective clothing and goggles if you choose to use any chemicals.

-Another problem that can affect roses is crown gall, a very large, brown, knobby growth that can grow on the stems or on the bud union. If on the stems, simply cut out. On the bud union or crown of the rose, the problem can be a little more serious. Cut or pull out all of the growth you can and then apply a solution of 1 part bleach to 4 parts water to the area. This appears to have good results in thwarting the problem.

-Mulching - You can help your soil retain moisture by applying a mulch of about 2-3" in depth in late April or early May. Beds should be prepared in advance - dead leaves, weeds, and garden debris cleaned up and the bed should be watered if the weather has been dry.

Many materials are available with which to mulch: well-rotted manure, mushroom manure, bark chips, compost and some people use sawdust, grass clippings or old leaves. A mulch will help keep the weeds away and experts believe it helps reduce the incidence of black spot outbreaks.

Do be careful to use well-rotted material as 'hot' fresh manure can burn your plants and some products such as bark chips use nitrogen to break down, requiring the addition of extra nitrogen to your garden. [October is also a good month to mulch, before the soil is cold!]

Whichever products you decide to use, good garden practice suggests alternating a variety of products over two or three years rather than depending on one product to always do the job for you.

And now the blooms are beginning to fill your rose garden, get out and take some photographs!

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