Vol. XLVIII, No. 10 Patsy Williams, Editor October 2011
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Vol. XLVIII, No. 10 Patsy Williams, Editor October 2011 RE-THINKING THE ROSE GARDEN - This Month's ROSES WITHOUT CHEMICALS Meeting When New York outlawed chemical applications, the New York Botanic Thursday October 13, 2011 Garden had a problem... 3,000 plus roses in a multi-million dollar collection known as the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Faced with 7:00 pm new legislation, Peter Kukielski , curator, had a vision...come up with Come early for Book an environmentally responsible way to grow beautiful landscape roses Signing and Reception with a proven history of superior disease resistance. Roses Without The undertaking was so Chemicals successful that it has been Peter Kukielski showcased nationally and internationally in magazines and 7:30 pm newspapers like the London Garden Center Financial Times, the Washington Hermann Park _________________ Post, and the American Gardener. A horticulture Inside celebrity, Peter is a frequent October Practices..................2-3 guest on Martha Stewart Living, a Rose of the Month....................4 It Really Works .........................4 sought-after garden designer, Library Corner ..........................5 has co-authored The Sustainable Plant in Fall for Spring Color ....6 Rose Garden , and is currently 2012 Award of Excellence........7 working on his second book, Introducing 'American Legacy' .8 Roses Without Chemicals. Under Miniature/Miniflora Hall - Fame 8 Society Potpourri ......................9 Peter’s leadership, the Peggy Consulting Rosarians .............10 Rockefeller Rose Garden was recently inducted into the Great Rosarians of the World Rose Garden Hall of Fame. The Houston Rose Society is honored to have Peter present “Re-Thinking the Rose Garden”. This event is free and open to all. No reservations are required, but seating is limited. Peter’s book, The Sustainable Rose Garden , will be available for purchase at the event. Consulting Rosarian for October is Gaye Hammond. Bring your rose questions. Grand Prix continues. Bring your best roses to enter the competition. Entries close at 7:30 pm HOUSTON ROSE-ETTE Page 1 October 2011 (Vol. XLVIII, No. 10) What Good Rosarians Are Doing in October ANTICIPATION ! That is what we are feeling at temperatures are cooler and some much the moment. Having gone through the hottest needed rain occurs. and driest summer on record, we are looking for something better. We want nice green With new growth, spraying for fungus (read leaves and canes with nice blooms on the "blackspot") should have already been started. ends. Oh yes, we want rain! We have been If not, you are way behind. Your goal is to told that we are 26+ inches below our normal prevent it from occurring, not to try to eradicate rainfall. The only way that we can catch up is it after it gets a strong foothold on your plants. to have a hurricane dump a LOT of water on Spray with your favorite preventive fungicide us. You know, a storm that comes and just sits such as: Funginex, HonorGard, Compass, on top of us like Allison did. No, I'm not wishing Fertilome, or other spray of your choice. If you for another Allison, but the soil could really use already have blackspot, add Mancozeb to your it. brand of spray. You will have to combine the two for a month or so to eradicate the We have had fires burning everything in their blackspot. When no more blackspot is seen, paths. They were closer than I was the Mancozeb can be dropped from the spray comfortable with. I sincerely hope that none of mix. Continue to use the preventive spray. our members were effected. There were way too many acres burned and homes lost. Finger prune to encourage show blooms. As the District Show approaches (October 28- We have lost bushes due to the extreme heat 30 in Farmers Branch), there are ways to make and drought – roses do not like either. We better specimens, and also better blooms, for watered the best that we could, and maybe we you to bring inside and enjoy. under estimated the need that was present. Many were stressed to the point that they To make a better floribunda spray, snap its might still be on the list of no return. I guess center bud off as soon as you can. The that winter will determine the outcome of all the remainder of the buds will then grow closer stress damages. together, making a better inflorescence, thus, a better specimen. Well, it's time that we get to work, and see if we can encourage our roses to put their best To encourage a hybrid tea, all side buds need feet forward and show the life that we want to to be removed as early as possible, to prevent see. Did you fertilize your bushes in scarring, and to allow more food to go to the September? If you did not, about all that you remaining bloom. can do now is add maybe some organics and Recap: Remove side buds for a single bloom, some soluble fertilizer. If you are a granular and center bud, for a spray. fertilizer user and you have not put it out, you have missed your window to do so. The last Leave blooms on the plant after mid-October. granular fertilizer for 2011 should have been Cut a few for the house, some for sharing, and applied by the second week of September. If some for the show. Leave the rest on the bush, you try to use it now, you will be making your signaling to the plant that it is time to slow roses very vulnerable to winter freeze. It takes down and not produce lush new growth that about six weeks for such fertilizer to become might freeze, because there isn’t time for it to available to the plant. That will take us into the harden off before winter. This is done for the middle of November. Too late! plants’ benefit. You will still get enough blooms to enjoy. You should be seeing new growths all over your plants. And small buds should be forming As always, watch for Insects. so that we can have some beautiful flowers by They just never seem to go away. the end of October when, we hope, the HOUSTON ROSE-ETTE Page 2 October 2011 (Vol. XLVIII, No. 10) Thrips are probably our number one note of the poor performers. It also allows you problem. Thrips ruin the blooms, to pick beautiful blooms at their best. causing them to turn brown and look bruised. Thrips are best controlled by spraying Mulch ONLY the buds and blooms with an insecticide Be sure that your rose beds have a good layer such as Orthene. Acephate is the active of mulch as winter approaches. Mulch is a ingredient in Orthene. Orthene isn't being blanket that protects tender feeder roots from a made anymore, so look for another product harsh winter’s freeze. Since you never know containing acephate. A spritzer bottle will do a when a freeze could occur, get ahead of the good job and will not waste a lot of chemical. A weather, and make it an enjoyable event. controlled spraying will also help to prevent Evaluate the performance of beds and killing the “good” insects, which make our bushes. gardens more friendly. Fall is always a good time to stroll the garden Grasshoppers and katydids and pay close attention to how each bush is Larger and more-plentiful than performing. Many of our gardens are maxed ever are our hopping enemies. out. There is no more space to build a new Catching them is by far the best rose bed or to plant a new bush; a bush will control, but you will have to watch for them, have to be removed to plant another. because they camouflage themselves to look There are new varieties introduced every year. like the foliage of the plant. Grasshoppers have There is always a “must have” variety or two; been seen this year at least 3 inches long. or you might have one of which you would like They eat a lot! to have another bush of the same variety. Now They are easy to catch if you wiggle your we have a reason for our strolling the garden fingers in front of them while you catch them by and evaluating. Is there one that hasn’t given the legs or wings with your other hand. You you the satisfaction which you expected? can pull their head off, cut it off with your There always is, in my garden! This one will be pruning shears, or put the critter under your a candidate for “shovel-pruning” (dig up, and foot and squish. dispose). Cucumber beetles A sick, non-productive bush takes as much Pay special attention to the “green lady bug" time, spray, and fertilizer as a healthy bush. look-alike. The green ones damage your The choice as to whether or not to keep a bush blooms; they eat holes in the petals. If you are lies entirely at your discretion. spraying the buds and blooms for thrips, you A declining bed can be the result of the will probably kill this pest also. If all else fails, presence of tree roots in the bed. Tree roots you can always squish them between your grow right under the mulch and use most of the fingers. fertilizer and water that you provide for your Of course, there are always moths that lay roses. eggs near the bud, which hatch out into bud Fall is in the Air. worms. These bore holes in the bud, and in Well, we have finally had a little of that liquid they go, while tiny.