Reviving an abused rose
 

Hi,

I just moved into a new place, and it included this rather sad looking stump
of a rose in the front bed. From the one or two flowers it managed to put
out before winter came on, it's a common pink rose of some sort. No idea on
which one, except that it's a shrub form with a couple short thick old
canes. Is it worth trying to rehab it? I have a hard time just throwing a
plant out, but I'm still not seeing any new growth this season (south
western massachusetts). Could it have finally died over the winter?

Best,

Ali

Reviving an abused rose
 

Ali wrote:
I just moved into a new place, and it included this rather sad looking stump
of a rose in the front bed. From the one or two flowers it managed to put
out before winter came on, it's a common pink rose of some sort. No idea on
which one, except that it's a shrub form with a couple short thick old
canes. Is it worth trying to rehab it? I have a hard time just throwing a
plant out, but I'm still not seeing any new growth this season (south
western massachusetts). Could it have finally died over the winter?

Since I'm in Maryland, I cannot say for sure but it seems like it should
at least have some leaves by now. Do you have other roses that are
leafing out? If so, and if the buds on this one have not even started
to swell, then it is probably gone. If other roses that you (or your
neighbors or whatever) have are just starting to leaf out, then I'd wait
a bit. Also, don't feel like you need to keep a rose that doesn't
thrill you. There are so many good roses, if this one is alive but not
doing well and you don't preticularly like it, replace it. Be aware
that on occasion planting a new rose in the same spot as an old rose
will cause the new one not to do as well. It's called "soil sickness"
and I'm not sure the exact cause is known. I haven't had any problem
with this myself but roses are relatively new to my yard (we've only
lived here 11 years and there were no roses when I moved in).

--
Henry

Reviving an abused rose
 

Xref: kermit rec.gardens.roses:98590

Since I'm in Maryland, I cannot say for sure but it seems like it should
at least have some leaves by now. Do you have other roses that are
leafing out? If so, and if the buds on this one have not even started
to swell, then it is probably gone. If other roses that you (or your
neighbors or whatever) have are just starting to leaf out, then I'd wait
a bit. Also, don't feel like you need to keep a rose that doesn't
thrill you. There are so many good roses, if this one is alive but not
doing well and you don't preticularly like it, replace it. Be aware
that on occasion planting a new rose in the same spot as an old rose
will cause the new one not to do as well. It's called "soil sickness"
and I'm not sure the exact cause is known. I haven't had any problem
with this myself but roses are relatively new to my yard (we've only
lived here 11 years and there were no roses when I moved in).


Thanks Henry, and I think you're right. I hate throwing plants away, but as
I've now waited another week, and nothing's happened... it's likely dead.

I didn't plan to plant another rose in that location, but it's good to know
that I should avoid it, just in case. I think what happened is that on top
of poor care before we got there, it may have been pounded some by water
running off the roof (it's close to the house, and not the sunniest side).
We'd cleaned up around it in the fall when we moved in, but I guess it just
wasn't enough to keep it going enough to survive the winter.

Ah well. Thanks!

Ali