GARDEN FANATIC:Rising to the challenge of nurturing roses

“I gather roses from thorns...”

“The roses you lifted to your lips ... lucky roses!”

The rose is my flower of choice. What other prickly plant can bestow its master with such elegant blossoms? Of course, one must earn the trust and respect of a rose. Water, fertilizer, vigilance against pest and disease, mulching and proper pruning will win its heart and fill your garden and home with beauty and fragrance.

The quest for perfect roses in your garden begins with the major rose-pruning events that occur during the summer ? flower cutting, deadheading, grooming and disbudding. Although the initial cost of acquiring it may seem a bit extravagant, I absolutely recommend the Felco line of pruning shears; not only are they the finest available, one pair will last a lifetime. My father used his same pair of Felco No. 2’s for well over a decade, changing only its blades after they had worn out.

Cutting flowers is probably the most enjoyable summer pruning job. After all, many of us grow roses so they may be appreciated indoors. Those flowers that don’t make it indoors should be deadheaded. Remove flowers as soon as they have faded and the petals are about to fall. It prompts the rose toward developing additional flowers, instead of ripening seeds.

Catharine asked last week, “Where should I make the cut when I remove a rose flower?”

I replied that rose leaves are compound, meaning they are composed of leaflets, and there is always an odd number of leaflets to one leaf. The general rule is to cut just above an outward-facing leaf with five leaflets. Cut higher at a three-leaf set and the subsequent growth will be weaker and produce smaller flowers; if you cut lower at a seven-leaf set, you’ll be removing a lot of stem.

Cutting at the proper five-leaflet site will be about halfway down the flower stem. At this point, the rose will have the optimum strength to develop its best flower and remain attractively bushy. Take the opportunity to remove unwanted growth from dieback (stems which die in a downward direction from improper pruning) and blind growth (stems which continue to develop without producing buds).

Many rosarians recommend grooming on a constant basis during summer pruning. “Grooming” consists of removing all yellow leaves and spindly growth from a rose.

Clean up any fallen flower petals and foliage from the ground to minimize future insect and disease problems.

Disbudding is the way to develop full-sized flowers, one to a stem, from roses that usually flower in clusters. Many of the grandiflora and hybrid teas produce large flowers in such tight clusters; none can open properly. This can be avoided by removing side buds from the dominant, central bud.

I spent time grooming the roses in our Loretian garden last weekend, discouraged a bit by the feeling that rose care can sometimes seem overwhelming. Then I made my way to Graham Thomas, his blossoms a pale yellow and full of sweet promise. I couldn’t wait to share them with my beautiful wife. See you next time.