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Old 28-10-2005, 03:58 AM
Andrew Davidson
 
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Default 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


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Old 28-10-2005, 07:20 PM
Gail Futoran
 
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Default 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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