very old rose branches-will they flower?
Hello everyone, I am new to this newsgroup, my name is Andrew and I live in
Melbourne Australia. My question is about a very old rose bush at our house, where we move recently so I have no idea what its history is. It has about a dozen very thick branches coming up from the ground, they are up to about one inch in diameter. They have been cut off to a height of about three feet (90cm). When we moved here it was thick with shoots and just a mess, so during winter I: 1. Pruned off all the shoots so only the main branches or trunks from the ground remained. 2. Removed many of these branches so we now have the dozen or so left. I then have fed it with rose feed and watered it a lot. Since then lots of shoots have sprouted and it now has lots of green. Now most of the other roses have flowered or have flowers formed but not yet open, but this plant does not look like it will flower at all. Is there anything I can do to help it flower?? I could send an image of it if anyone is interested. Thanks Andrew Melbourne Australia |
very old rose branches-will they flower?
"Andrew Davidson" andrewjd@**no spam**alphalink.com.au wrote in message
... Hello everyone, I am new to this newsgroup, my name is Andrew and I live in Melbourne Australia. Howdy and Welcome! My question is about a very old rose bush at our house, where we move recently so I have no idea what its history is. It has about a dozen very thick branches coming up from the ground, they are up to about one inch in diameter. That's actually not very thick. :) I have a 6 year old modern climber with one cane that's 9" in diameter. If the "branches" (known as canes) of your old roses are coming up from different spots in the ground, rather than from one point (a bud union), then you likely have some kind of old garden rose. They have been cut off to a height of about three feet (90cm). When we moved here it was thick with shoots and just a mess, so during winter I: 1. Pruned off all the shoots so only the main branches or trunks from the ground remained. Sounds like a reasonable thing to do. 2. Removed many of these branches so we now have the dozen or so left. I then have fed it with rose feed and watered it a lot. Since then lots of shoots have sprouted and it now has lots of green. Now most of the other roses have flowered or have flowers formed but not yet open, but this plant does not look like it will flower at all. Some kinds of fertilizer will encourage a lot of green growth and discourage bloom production. Is there anything I can do to help it flower?? I could send an image of it if anyone is interested. Thanks Andrew Melbourne Australia I can't see any way of identifying a rose that's not currently in bloom. However, I'm betting Melboune has a number of nice public gardens where you could probably find a rose expert or two to look at your photos. Most casual rose growers plant roses that are common for their area, so chances are anyone who knows about common local roses might well recognize your rose, even without blooms. That said, here are some ideas: Some roses only bloom in the spring (which is what you're coming into now); some roses bloom twice in the year (spring and fall). That could be one reason why your rose isn't blooming, if it's the kind that blooms only once or twice per year. (My spring-only bloomers usually bloom *after* modern roses have started blooming.) Most modern roses are grown on root stock that is usually a species rose and often does not bloom. When root stock takes over the desirable rose grafted on top (called the "scion"), that's called reversion. Can you tell if there is a bud union? It's hard to *kill* a healthy rose by over- enthusiastic pruning, but you can make it pout if you prune it in a way it doesn't like. g I.e., some roses prefer to be lightly pruned, other roses like to be heavily pruned. Without knowing what kind of rose you have, it's impossible to tell if pruning had any negative effect on bloom production. But otherwise the plant sounds really healthy. Then there's the shrub versus climber distinction. My husband pruned some "shrub" roses that turned out to be climbers. They never did recover enough to put out long canes, although they do bloom. It's possible your old rose is a climber of some sort and is sulking because of neglect followed by hard pruning. You might also get a soil sample, if you have a local nursery that does that. That could help tell what kind of fertilizer is best, or if other amendments are needed. I'd definitely continue to keep after the suckers. Otherwise I'd let the rose "rest" for a month or two, and see if it buds at all. Gail near San Antonio TX USA |
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