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Small Blooms in Summer
I went to my extensive file to find a picture of a rose in the Summertime and realized that I did not have any pictures of Summer blooms. I had April, May June and then I skipped to September and October and even November but nothing during the Summer months. So I went into the yard and took a picture of the Olympiad Hybrid Tea above. The car key is there for prospective. If you read about Olympiad it will tell you that it is a large, medium red bloom with no scent. Typically getting 5" across. The key in the photo is just over 2" long.
I feel certain that most of you in Oklahoma can relate to this. I am asked the question: "Why are my blooms so small? The first ones were beautiful but now they are tiny."
For those of you who have never raised Roses here in Oklahoma through the Summer months it will come as a shock and for those of you who live in the Northern parts of the country or on the west coast you will wonder what I am talking about. But, for those of us who have raised roses here in the hot climates it is something that we have come to expect.
Would you like to know what you can do to keep your roses from being so small in the Oklahoma Summer heat? Nothing! No amount of water, fertilizer, soil amendments or magic food will prevent it. Shade cloth has questionable results and though I would like to do it, air conditioning is not practical. :) The small blooms are the reaction of the plant dealing with 95 to 105 degrees for weeks on end and it is to be expected and no you didn't do anything wrong to cause it.
That is the bad news. The good news is that as the weather cools the blooms will once again regain their size and vibrant colors. Keep your bushes dead headed, watered and healthy but hold off on the Roses inc. Special Rose Food food until late August. The reason you should not use our special blend food in July and early August is because the new growth spurred by our Rose food may burn under the intense Summer sun. Be patient and come September and October you will once again be blessed with beautiful blooms.
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Greetings!
I recently received this photo from someone asking me if I knew what it was. Do You? This Rose has two Fragrance Awards and two International Gold Medals to its credit. It was developed by Swim and Ellis in the USA in 1972. Its parents are Granada and Garden Party. It is a Large flowered HT that repeats its bloom through-out the growing season and is therefore a very sought after rose.
I must confess that I am not real good at coming up with the names of a lot of roses. Quiet frankly a lot of them look alike. There are some that stand out as one of a kind that even I can pick out of a group. Roses like the Peace Rose, Crystalline, Heirloom, Mr. Lincoln, Oklahoma, Dolly Parton, Don Juan and America or some that stand out in my mind as roses that are unique enough to be easy for me to identify. One of the great joys of my early days of rose growing was to try and identify no name rose by looking at some of the 100+ books I have on Roses and matching the blooms, leafs, prickles, fragrance, and growth habits. I would spend hours in the garden looking for clues as to the identity of my no names. Sometimes I was asked the question: Why do you care? Why did I care?!!!! Do you not know the name of your pets, your relatives and yes your children? Seriously, I gained great joy in spending time looking through the books and reading all about the differences in roses and on that sometimes rare occurrence identifying one that I was sure of. I think it is very important that we always take time to enjoy our roses. They add so much to our lives and to the beauty in our surroundings.
If you are in to identifying no name roses I would suggest that you buy yourself a couple of books with photos and descriptions, I think Botanica's Roses is one of the best, and have a ball.
Oh yes, the rose above is a Double Delight. Next to the Peace rose it is my favorite among the hybrid teas. We do not have any in stock right now but it will for sure be here in the spring in abundance.
Mark
Mark Stelljes
Roses inc Tulsa.
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Planting Summer Roses
The myths of summer planting.
Like you I can recall a number of the reasons I have been told not to plant in the Summer. The ground is too warm, the new plants will dry out, wilt and die. The bottom line being that if you plant it now it will not prosper and will most likely die. Hogwash!
Roses love the warm ground and if they are planted correctly they will thrive and give you wonderful fall blooms.
Here are some pointers that will help you take advantage of the sales and have beautiful roses in the fall and for years to come.
Do not plant anything but potted roses during the summer months. Buy potted roses that have been growing outside and are acclimated to the summer temperatures. This is not the time to buy the cute little supermarket roses and try to transplant them to the garden. Make sure your hole is dug and the rose is well hydrated before you remove the rose from the pot. Roses bought in pots will not need to be pruned if they were taken proper care of by the supplier. Do not lay the bush for any amount of time on the ground once it is removed from the pot. The Sun is very bad for the little white feeder roots on the outside of the root ball. Place the potted rose in the hole to determine if the hole is the correct size and depth. When you remove the rose from the pot put it directly in the ground and put half of the dirt back in the hole. Pour two to two and one half gallons of water with root stimulator containing vitamin B1 into the hole over the soil by pouring it out of the bucket rapidly. This settles the soil around the roots. Next fill the hole with the remainder of the soil and use two to two and one half gallons of water containing B1 to settle the top half of the soil around the rose. Remember that you should pour the water all the way around the rose bush in a volume that will settle any air pockets that exist. Now that the bush is in the ground you should pull any remaining soil up around the stem of the bush and mulch the soil with mulch at least 4" deep with a circumference of 3' around the bush. For the next three weeks you should check the soil around the rose bush and if it is dry apply a gallon of water containing the root stimulator mentioned above. Be careful not to overwater the bush. After three weeks you can water the rose as you due your established roses.
A word of caution. The rose will not be hurt no matter how hot or how intense the sun is when you plant it providing that the roots are kept from the suns rays. You on the other hand can be. For that reason I would suggest that you do your planting in the evening or early morning. I prefer early morning because I want the foliage to dry as quickly as possible to help prevent disease.
As always I am here to answer your questions. Just come by or give me a call. |
| Our biggest ever Rose sale has been extended through August.
Because we still have a lot of roses in the potting mix that I have told you about before I have decided that rather than us repot them we would continue the sale for one last month. Starting September 1 the roses will once again be $22.95 to $24.95 each. We have pruned the roses back so they will put on a real show for you this fall and our selection is still very good so come by and take advantage of the $5.99 to $12.99 price on everything in stock. If you live outside our area we can ship now but you should call us to get the shipping cost before you order. |
| Annual Seminar.
Please mark your calendar and plan to attend our annual "Year in the life of a Rose" Seminar. The seminar will take place here at Roses inc Tulsa on Sunday October 18, 2009 from 1 PM until 5 PM. Lunch will be served as usual and as always the seminar is free for our customers and their friends. A $5.00 donation per person will be accepted to help offset the cost of the food and refreshments. We will have lots of door prizes, hand outs and cold soft drinks and water. If it is rainy or cold we will meet in the green house so the Seminar will go on no matter the weather. We always have a very good time and I hope you will be able to attend. RSVP is helpful so we will have enough food and soft drinks to go around.
Roses inc Tulsa.
13201 South 129 E Ave
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74011
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