On 19/09/2015 9:41 AM, David E. Ross wrote:
On 9/18/2015 4:18 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Hypatia Nachshon wrote:
After the customary late January pruning, I neglected my roses for
the first time and am reaping the consequences. Suckers (7 leaves)
now predominate over normal (5 leaves) foliage. The suckers are long,
strong and aggressive

I have gone through and trimmed out as much as I could. Now looking
ahead to January pruning and have the following question:

Can these roses return to normal foliage after seasonal pruning?
Or have I ****ed up big-time.

This is So. Calif coastal, Santa Monica CA.

Any advice on rose situation appreciated.

HB

If the suckers are above the graft this is normal, growing new stems like
that is part of refurbishing your roses. If they are blow the graft cut
them off.


NO, DO NOT CUT THEM. You need to dig down to where they start from a
root or the main shoot of the rootstock and then pull or break them off.

+1 in CAPS and with cream on top. Just to add to that emphasis, David
is right. Do NOT cut off any that are growing below the graft - tear
them off with brute force.

If you cut them, they will send up side branches and still try to
overwhelm the plant.

+1 again.

I do have one rose for which I do not remove any suckers. It is a
cutting-grown 'Color Magic' growing on its own roots. Thus, suckers
will be the same as the top growth.

My roses are going through benign neglect. I groom them to remove dead
flowers. I also remove suckers except for those on 'Color Magic'.
However, I stopped feeding them. I had been feeding them lightly once
each month. Fertilizer, however, promotes the growth of foliage, which
then requires additional water. With our severe drought, I decided that
creating a demand for more water by my roses would be a bad idea. If El
Niño does hit us with enough rain and snow that restrictions by my water
agency can be slightly relaxed, I will resume feeding next year.

Roses are as tough as old boots. I've seen long deserted old houses in
very dry parts of Australia where the only surviving plant were roses
and roses that had the outer parts nibbled at by sheep or cattle or roos.