Winter Rose-Care Regimen for Northern California

This is the best time of year to plant, prune, spray, and fertilize roses

Winter is the coldest and lactating time of year here in Northern California , and January is usually the quiet month of all for most gardener . For the budding or seasoned rose wine lover however , it is time to get fussy !

Add to your rose collection

Your local nursery has just pick up its shipment of bareroot roses ( Rosaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and whether you ’re looking for a hybrid afternoon tea , floribunda , Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree rose , or climber , the pick available in January are at their very best . Some nurseries tidy sum up their shipments directly away , while others sell their rose bareroot to their customers . Whether potted or bareroot , a rose is best embed while still dormant . As soon as you’re able to after you ’ve bring your rose wine domicile , dig a hollow twice as wide as the roots ’ spread , being sure to break the soil up at the bottom of the hole to permit the roots to interpenetrate cryptical as they produce . Plant your climb up in a intermixture of 50 % native dirt and 50 % compost or E. B. Stone Organics Soil Booster . At the same fourth dimension , give your new rose bush the nutrients it want to advance healthy Modern roots and top growing by adding E. B. Stone Organic Rose Food and a handful of epsom salts . If gophers are a problem in your garden , protect your the roots of your new flora by planting it in a stem guard or pouched rat cage .

Wintertime maintenance in your rose garden

Most roses require a considerable amount of attention from gardener to avail them achieve their full inflorescence potential , and much of the rose gardener ’s most important study study place during the rose ’s winter quiescence . For many of us here in Northern California , this resting period occurs during the month of January .

Pruning : Even though your rosaceous Bush may still have foliage and even a few bloom lingering on them , January is the best time to trim your roses in many parts of Northern California . Pruning in December is usually too other because it promotes newfangled growth that is susceptible to hoarfrost . go out your pruning until February can be problematical as well , since possible February heatwaves may cause a new flush of growth , get the bush harder to prune . No nurseryman wants to get out there with pruning shears and sprays when the rose bush is already flush with beautiful new foliation .

For the long - term wellness of the rosiness and for ease of spray to forestall succeeding fungal or pest problems , it ’s best for the rose to pass some time being dormant . During a mild winter , the weather may not get cold enough here in Northern California to actually stimulate the rose bush to go all dormant on its own by January , so the gardener needs to take measure to encourage it . pull in the leafage off your rose bush forces at least a minor period of sleeping .

Start with this process : pillage all the continue leafage off your rose bush to amply reveal the bodily structure of the flora ( if you’re able to do this a calendar week or two onward of pruning , even better ) , and then commence your pruning . For most New rose varieties , bloom are produced on the current season ’s novel growth . Pruning boost new growth , and the more of it you have , the more abundant the bloom output will be the following spring and summertime . Pruning climber and tree roses can be a little confusing for the first rosarian , so get through your local glasshouse or superior gardener for advice or for a pruning demonstration .

Wearing protective , gantlet - trend gloves and using clean putz , geld your roseate bush back by as much as half . bump off all branchlet , stem , and branches crowding the centre of the rose bush , and snip all remaining cane to an extraneous bud , which ensures outwards - facing growth at bud happy chance . Always snip off any suckers issue from below the bud union . Finally , take out any remaining foliation from your roseate bush that you may have overlook originally before get your spraying .

Spraying : Spray with a copper - based formula such as Bonide Liquid Copper Fungicide ( approved for organic gardening ) to control fungal problem such as black patch , rust , or powdery mildew . Eliminate overwintering insects with Bonide All Seasons Horticultural and Dormant Spray Oil . Rugosa roses ( Rosa rugosa , Zones 2–7 ) are very audacious , naturally disease and insect repellent , and averse to being spray , so be sure to exclude them from your spraying program .

inseminate : Feed your rose with E. B. Stone Organics Rose and Flower Food — an all - natural , time - release plant food — to give your rose the nutrients it needs to ensure healthy growth and abundant bloom production . This fertilizer does n’t immediately pump nutrients into the blush wine ; or else , nutrients are need up by the rose when the weather and grime begin to warm up and the pink wine issue forth out of dormancy . to boot , work a half - loving cup of epsom table salt and four cups of alfalfa meal into the dirt around your rose bush for an append nutrient boost . Finally , mulch the grease around your rose bush , using salutary constitutive compost or E. B. Stone Organics Soil Booster , which will add even more nutrients as it breaks down over prison term while also conserve wet and suppressing weeds during the coming growing season .

— Fionuala Campion is the owner and managing director of Cottage Gardens of Petaluma in Petaluma , California .

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