Flower Gardens

» Cottage_Garden - HELP for roses

In response to HELP Please! posted by tazzie068:

I am so sorry about your roses. Without knowing where you are gardening it is a little difficult to make specific suggestions (what climate/region -- is it summer or winter where you are, especially hot and dry or extra wet, etc.)

However, in general the best thing you can do for a badly stressed plant is to keep the soil evenly moist like a wrung out sponge, meaning slightly damp, not sopping wet/saturated and not dried out.

Using several inches of organic mulch over the root area will help keep the soil evenly moist and also help feed the soil slowly over time as it breaks down.

If parts of the canes are dead, trim off the dead tips. Cut until you reach live tissue -- where the cane is healthy it should be firm and plump and have good color. Cut just above a healthy bud facing the way you would like the plant to grow, on a rose this is usually an outward facing bud.

Based on your desription I am not sure if an insect has defoliated the plant or if the plant dropped all its leaves due to disease or weather or what. If it is an insect problem, the insect should be controlled to give the plant a fighting chance at releafing and reinvigorating itself.

If it is a disease problem, that might also need to be treated. But if the infection is so severe that the entire plant is bare and dying back, then it may not be salvageable at this point.

If the plant died back due to chemical exposure, then it may or may not recover.

If the plant died back due to drought stress, then it may recover if the roots are able to support whatever top growth is still alive. Watering correctly is your best way to help it along.

If you are in midsummer, you might try topdressing with compost and also apply compost tea to try to provide a boost. I would not suggest heavy fertilization on a stressed plant. If the weather is extremely hot and dry, you might also shade the plant at midday or during the afternoons to give it a bit of relief from the heat.

I hope this helps! But, it doesn't sound too good. You may have to cut them back very hard to reach live wood, then wait and be patient and see what happens. Sometimes patience is the best gardening skill we have while we wait for nature to do her best.

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

» treehuger - Growing Roses Indoors

In response to Growing Roses posted by Cottage_Garden:

hello, i am amanda and i just discovered this wonderful website! I have a question about growing roses indoors because i am wanting to redo my room with a bunch of beautiful flowers and I thought that roses would be a wonderful addition! Would roses grow well indoors with the right conditions? or would i have to put the outside for the winter? I was thinking that mabye a kind that grew all year round would do good indoors, but is there a kind like that? As you can probebly tell, I'm pretty new at this kind of stuff, I've always liked to grow plants but nothing like what im planing on doing. So if anyone has any answers for me ....

-- posted by treehuger

» Cottage_Garden - Growing Roses Indoors

In response to Growing Roses Indoors posted by treehuger:

Hi! You might be able to grow miniature roses if you have a very bright windowill -- south or west, or even better, a sunny room with windows on both south and west sides.

But, personally, for a beginner I would suggest trying something a little easier to grow when you start out. How about African violets? If you have only a north or an east window, or if you can use sheer curtains on your south or west window then you could grow African violets.

They bloom prolifically, are less expensive than roses, easier to find to purchase locally, easier to grow, and have many different flower colors as well as singles and doubles and some with patterned or variegated foliage. There are also mini's ... and they are easy to start using just a leaf so you can swap plants with other gardeners.

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

» treehuger - Growing Roses Indoors

In response to Growing Roses Indoors posted by Cottage_Garden:

I have both windows in the west and north. there both pretty big but im not so sure much light can get through the north one because of trees. But the other is a big bay window, so i think lots of light should be able to get in. And do you know of any good small trees that would do good indoors because i have a realative that have some small trees he grows inside and they seem to do very well, (but i havnt any idea what they are) Thanks for the suggestions!!

-- posted by treehuger

» Cottage_Garden - Indoor Tree

In response to Growing Roses Indoors posted by treehuger:
Hi Amanda! Maybe a Ficus benjamina, also called a weeping fig tree? These have nice glossy green leaves and do well in bright indirect light indoors. Over time they can grow pretty big you can prune as needed.
If you get one, don't be alarmed if a lot of the leaves fall off right after you bring it home. Fig trees are notorious for doing this. They have a little hissy fit and go through an adjustment period after being moved. Other than that, they are pretty good house plants.

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

» susanhbell - bare root roses

I want to save 11 thriving rose bushes from a southern facing wall and replant them after we build an addition. There will be a new southern wall to put them against, but they must survive construction period of 12 months starting this September. They are pretty leggy, most about 3-4 feet tall. I live in Santa Fe NM. I think I'd like to do this bare root. Is this possible? Can anyone help?
Thanks.

-- posted by susanhbell

» Cottage_Garden - bare root roses

In response to bare root roses posted by susanhbell:

Interesting question! While roses are sometimes stored bare root for months, I think a year is too long for them to stay in good condition. I suspect they would dry out over such a long storage period. Also, they are dormant when put into storage so September would be way too early for that.

You might have better luck if you transplanted them to a nursery bed holding area for the year. Or, you could root tip cuttings and grow those in a nursery bed until you can replant. Or, you could just replace them when the new planting bed is ready. Unless they are very special plants, this last might be the more practical option.

I'd love to hear if anyone thinks they can be successfully stored bare root for such a long time though....

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

» treehuger - Indoor Tree

In response to Indoor Tree posted by Cottage_Garden:

okay, that sounds pretty interesting! That would look wonderful!! So my grandfather has a bunch of roses outside and would like to know if the thing about giving your roses tea would really help it? I thought that the descussion would still be here but i cant seem to find it.

-- posted by treehuger

» Cottage_Garden - Indoor Tree

In response to Indoor Tree posted by treehuger:

It's still there. Go to the bottom of this page and click on "previous" to get back to earlier posts in this thread. Or, click here. HTH (hope this helps)

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

» treehuger - Indoor Tree

In response to Indoor Tree posted by Cottage_Garden:

o, thank you bunches!! Noww, i was supposed to ask somthing about a plant that u can get that grows flowers in the shade for a shade garden but i cant remember what plant it was. so, we r getting our house re painted soon, do u think the smell would bother the plants at all?

-- posted by treehuger