Overlooked Photos

I was looking through my file of rose pictures that didn't make the cut the first time around.  Usually they get overlooked because the photo was a wide view but the better image is a cropped one.  So for whatever reason they stayed in the file titled "extras".  Now that they have caught my eye I am sharing them with you.

Jeri Jennings, Hybrid Musk

Heritage, English Rose

Unconditional Love, Moss

Popcorn, Miniature Rose

Reine des Violettes, Hybrid Perpetual

Tattooed Lady, Miniature Rose

Separation Anxiety

You might remember an entry I made last year about how roses can sucker.  Suckering is when a rose sends out lateral growth underground that emerges away from the mother plant.  This growth will also send out new roots to support the plant.

Precious Dream is one of my roses that has sent out such growth.  I had been debating whether I wanted to separate this new growth from the mother plant to create a new bush and decided that I would do it this winter.  Precious Dream is in a sheltered area and in this mild winter its dormancy hasn't even caused it to loose its leaves.  To prepare the plant for this separation I have been watering it this past week to make sure it was well hydrated.

Next I dug up the lateral growth to make sure it in fact had developed roots and to track down where it connected to the mother plant.  I even found a new shoot coming from this same lateral growth.  The lateral was shallower than I had expected it to be. 

Then came the hard part, actually taking the shears and severing the plants from one another.  Not that it is physically hard, just the wondering if it is really ready to be on its own.  (Do I sound like a parent with two kids in college.)  This is made easier by knowing that dormancy and being well hydrated keeps the stress levels down on the plants and that now each will be able to recover more easily.  After separating the two plants I added some new soil on top of the uncovered lateral and roots, pulled the mulch back over, and then watered them again.  Now I will wait until March to move the new plant to its new location at the Prague Rose Garden. 

I also, much less delicately, separated a sucker on Reine de Violettes with a shovel placed very near the mother plant and then simple plunged the shovel all the way into the soil and withdrew the shovel without disturbing the soil.  I prepared this plant with some light pruning a week before and keeping it well watered.  It will also be moved to the park in March.  This photo was taken a week after I had separated the connection between the mother and child plants.

Soaker Hoses in the Park

Last summer's heat and drought took a real toll on many gardens in Oklahoma.  My roses at home did fine because I could easily water them on a regular basis.  The roses in the Prague Rose Garden at the park had a harder time.  Angie (my wife and best volunteer) and I walk in the park several time a week on the half mile trail, so we often would take a hose and sprinkler to water the roses as we walked.  We would stop and move the sprinkler every couple of laps.  This kept most of the roses alive; although, we did lose a few of them.  Instead of remembering to take the hose to the park, then carrying it there, moving it around while we walk, and taking it back home, I decided that we could do better this coming year if I were to put in soaker hoses to take advantage of the three water spigots that are conveniently located in the garden.  So I picked up a soaker hose from the hardware store and 5 gallon bucket of gardening tools and started installing the soaker hoses this weekend.  Once they are all installed we will be able to water the garden much more simply and effectively while we are on our walks. 

The soaker hose goes down easily by digging a trench a few inches of deep in the mulch for the hose to lay in.  You can find soaker hoses at Harbor Freight and here are some coupons for Harbor Freight.  Eventually, the hose should settle in right at the surface of the garden.  I only got one of the two small sections put in, and I can tell that it is going to take a lot more hose than I expected but this is a good start. 

Something to remember if you decide to work in a public garden - learn to let go.  Below is the growth of Abraham Darby that was broken off at ground level.  This happened when people were decorating the park for Christmas and someone stepped on the small band sized rose I planted there only a few months earlier.  When laying the hose in the garden, I had to dig up what was left of the rose to find out where to route the hose.  It looks like it will survive just fine but this could easily be very frustrating.  Instead of being upset, I am going to adopt my friend Delbert's philosophy. 

Years ago, Delbert was serving an inner city church that had an empty lot next to it.  He decided to plant a vegetable garden in the empty lot and planted a tall row of sunflowers on the back row.  Since poverty and hunger were issues in the community why shouldn't this land be used to grow food.  The garden grew up beautifully with the sunflowers standing as a beautiful symbol of hope in a despairing neighborhood.  People would tell Delbert, "You know they will steal everything in the garden."  Delbert would say, "No they won't."  "Oh yes they will," his detractor would answer.  Delbert would respond, "No, I won't let them."  Sure of their position they would point out, "You live miles away and when you are gone they will come in and steal the vegetables, watermelon, and anything else that grows in it." Delbert persisted saying, "It is impossible for them to steal anything from the garden.  I'm growing it for them so it is already theirs."  Delbert always helped me to be less tied to the things in my life and more connected to the people.

As you can see, one section down and miles of hose to go.  Next week I will finish the other small section at the other end of the garden and sometime latter I will tackle the much bigger center section.

Rose Foliage? I Must Be Mad!

I have been surprised with my growing interest in the leaves on the roses I grow.  Of course the first thing that draws us to roses are the beautiful flowers.  Then after some time of tending the plants these beautiful flowers grow on, I began to pay more attention to the plant's form and architecture.  Now I find myself looking deeper into the rose and noticing beauty and differences in the foliage of the roses I grow.  This fall I have found myself taking pictures of rose leaves.  They can change color and give a display in union with the trees.  And have you ever noticed the different textures these leaves can have.  Below are a few pictures of Moore's Striped Rugosa with its crinkly leaves in typical rugosa fashion.  

I currently only grow two hybrid rugosas (Moore's Striped Rugosa and Linda Campbell).  The more familiar I become with the class (which frankly very few are grown in Oklahoma) the more I am drawn to them.  Both show a true hybrid leaf that is somewhere between the more crinkled rugosas and the smooth leaves of the modern roses they have been crossed with.

Below is my Climbing Rainbow's End sporting some gorgeously colored fall foliage.  The smooth shiny leaves are just about as different from the rugosa leaves above as they could be.  Both offer nice color to the garden even after the flowers quit blooming.

The final picture shows some bright red leaves on the young growth of Lavender Lassie.  As new growth I think the sugar content must have been high and caused the richer color than normal.

If you find yourself uninterested in this post - don't worry.  It will always be the flower that draws us to roses.  However, if you find yourself more and more interested in things like plant structure, leaves, thorns, and who knows what else - don't worry.  You have just fallen hopelessly in love with the whole rose.

A Christmas Rose

We live in a region that allows many late blooms in sheltered areas.  On the south side of our house is one of those locations.  It is here that we have a few hold on buds that never quite opened and seem a bit freeze dried and will stay on the bush for a while.    The two pictured are the red miniature Sorcerer and the pink/lavender mini Vinyard Song.

There are two traditions regarding the Christmas Rose.  One comes from a legend regarding a story of the little sister of the shepherds who left their flocks following the direction of the angels to the infant child Jesus.  Madelon, as the little sister was called, not wishing to be left behind, had followed her brothers to the lowly manger. There, concealed by the shadows, she watched the wonderful baby and loved him dearly. Yet her heart was heavy for she had no gift by which to express her love for him.

She was crying softly in the darkness; when one of the angels saw her. Suddenly Madelon found a small cluster of roses at her feet where her tears had fallen, which were white with pink edging.  She quickly gathered a handful of them and falling on her knees before the Christ child, presented her gift as a token of her love.

The second is more theological and speaks of Christ himself as the rose.  This is the view that I most identified with and is exemplified most clearly in the the 15th Century German hymn Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming.

     Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
     Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as those of old have sung.
     It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
     When half spent was the night.

     Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
     With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
     To show God’s love aright, she bore to us a Savior,
     When half spent was the night.

     This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
     Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
     True Man, yet very God, from sin and death now saves us,
      And share our every load.

I pray that you know more fully the love God hold for you this Christmas season and that it truely be a holy-day for you. 

A Deeper Look at Rose Rosette Disease

Back in May, I posted some pictures of some wild growth of my rose Tradescant that I called a Monster Rose. Through the help of others we identified that what was affecting my roses was Rose Rosette Disease or RRD.  RRD (Rose Rosette Disease) causes a form of growth that is a hyper frenzied growth that is sometimes referred to as Witches' Broom.  Since that time I have been on the look out for  RRD and found it this winter on the one rose that was at our home before we moved here.  It was growing in two spots on a plant of Blaze Improved.  Isn't Blaze Improved what people grew before Knock Out?

It is believed that RRD is transmitted from one affected plant to another through a wingless mite which chews on an RRD affected plant and then is blown by the wind to a plant that becomes affected when the mite chews on the second plant.  The most complete information of RRD is found at Ann Peck's site  http://www.rosegeek.com/ .  I encourage you to read her site to understand just how pervasive Rose Rosette Disease is becoming.  One interesting feature of the growth is that generally as a branch grows further out the growth becomes smaller.  On a RRD affected plant the growth seems to get larger and sends out more growth than can be sustained.  I have pulled off some of the leaves so you can see exactly what I am talking about.

From the Spring I had three affected plants: Tradescant, Buff Beauty, and Lavender Lassie.  I was not willing to give up on these plants and follow the advice given - to dig up and throw out the affected plants.   So I cut off all the affected areas in an attempt to save the plants.  Of the three I lost both Tradescant and Buff Beauty.  So far it looks like Lavender Lassie will be saved.  Below is a picture of the last part of Tradescant that was dug out and thrown away.  I continually cut the plant back to just find more growth the next time I went out to see the plant.

Through my experience this year, I have been on the look out and what I have seen alarms me.  I found affected roses among my mother's roses, in the Oklahoma City Will Roger's Rose Garden, and in the Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden.  I have seen it everywhere.  After my experience this past year, I have some suggestions for how you might deal with this when you find it on one of your plants. If the plant is widely affected - get rid of it.  If however, you find a small amount of RRD growth on the end of a cane - cut off the cane as far back as you can possible make yourself.  This is the best hope of saving the plant.  It is hard when you have plants that you have been waiting to get to full size but it is better than starting over with a small band.  Radical surgery sometimes is the only thing that will save a life.  One other suggestion,  when you find growth on one of your plants, as soon as you can take several cutting from unaffected portions of the plant and see if you can get a replacement plant started in case you can not save it.

I know this is not a cheery post, but I hope that you will find this information helpful should you see anything like this in your garden.  And from what I have seen, I think it is only a matter of time before we all begin to see RRD in our gardens.  The one available chemical that seems to kill the offending mite is Sevin.  Maybe you should add it to your list for Santa.

The Prague Rose Garden Club

Public Gardens can be wonderful additions to communities by providing beauty and serving as demonstration gardens featuring desirable plants or gardening ideas.  However, when they are not maintained they detract from the community and give a negative impression of particular plants.  The second of these options is what was happening to the the Prague Rose Garden Club.  I'm sure that the original members of the Prague Rose Garden Club could never have imagined that the garden would fall into such a state of neglect.  The great era of civic organizations and gardening clubs seems to be coming to an end.  Just look at the struggle of the American Rose Society to maintain its membership.  It only seems logical when people can learn more about roses in an afternoon of Internet surfing than they would gain in a year's participation the the ARS.  This is not meant to be a criticism of the ARS (I have been a member off and on several times over the past 20 years) just a description of our social reality.

My own involvement with the Prague Rose Garden began as an act of gorilla gardening.  We moved to Prague just two and a half years ago.  After the first year and after I got started on my own rose garden, I decided to start taking care of one of the two end gardens (this one actually did not have any roses growing in it and the other had one hybrid tea in the center). The garden consists of three beds: two 10 foot by 8 foot small plots on each end with a roughly 40 foot by 8 foot center section. After working on this small bed for a few months, I finally got fed up with the care of the center bed.  The city mows the park but since this was a garden with a concrete border which keeps the lawn mowers out, it did not get mowed.  It had gotten so bad that the grass and weeds were over two feet tall and you could hardly see the the six Knock Out, one Double Delight, one Europeana, and one lavender hybrid tea roses in the garden.  I brought my weed eater out to knock down the grass and weeds.  While I was pulling weeds directly around the roses a curious friend stopped and took the picture you see below.  You can also see a corner of the first bed I started on in the picture.

Since then, I have been spending an hour or two each week in the garden and have planted: 7 The Fairy, 3 Popcorn, 2 Graham Thomas, 2 Lavender Lassie, 1 DayDream, 1 St. Swithun, 1 Heritage, 1 Abraham Darby, 1 Twister, 2 Autumn Splendor, 1 Seattle Scentsation, 1 Reine des Viollette, 1 Precious Dream, and 1 Marti Gras.  Wow, that's twenty five rose bushes - more than I thought.  It doesn't seem like that many.  Partly because they are still very small and we did have some casualties from the summer draught and record heat.  A couple of The Fairy, 2 Gertrude Jekyll, one Vi's Violet, and a Tattooed Lady were lost this summer.

The black weed barrier that had previously been put down was removed by the High School FFA because (as so often is the case) it had grass and weeds growing both on top of and underneath it.  As I continue to add to the number of roses in the garden, I plan to install a soaker hose system for easier watering in the coming years.  While I hope that the efforts in the Prague Rose Garden will offer beauty to the park and community, I also hope that it will inspire a few more people to take up gardening with roses and maybe look beyond the most obvious selections. 

The roses I have added have either been own root bands that I have bought or they have been ones that I have started from cuttings.  This means that they are still very small but that since they are own root plants they will live longer once established.  In the Spring I hope to put together a workshop on rose propagation for anyone in the area who might like to attend.

This is the first bed I began working with.  The line of  small roses in the front are The Fairy.  As you can probably tell, two of them didn't make it through the summer.  On the back are Autumn Splendor, Twister, and Seattle Scentsation.  In the middle are two very small starts of St. Swithun and Abraham Darby. 
My long term hope is to get the garden strongly reestablished and then to see if we can get the Prague Rose Garden Club started again.  I know people don't join clubs like they used to.  If I'm successful then hopefully twenty years from now, someone else won't be trying to start up the garden and club again.  One other note, I often hear about rosarians who run out of space in their home gardens.  Why not expand your work into a public garden that is needing some help?  It might be at your local park or even at your church.  I think that there are probably many public spaces who could benefit from your expertise and time.