Tulsa Master Gardener Fall Garden Festival

Notice how the new canes are larger than the canes they sprout from and are covered with prickles.  They may or may not be red in color.

 Thanks for the tips Mark, looks like I'll be killing and digging up some bushes and bleaching my pruners :-( One thing I read was that you should treat the surrounding dirt with something that will kill the mites (sevin was suggested). Do you think that would help? I'm tempted to just replace all my dirt. I can't believe how fast this thing popped up. It's awful! Thanks for the help.

The Spider Mite

Spider Mites can kill a rose bush in a matter of a couple of weeks if they are not stopped.  They multiply very rapidly when it is hot and dry and I have been seeing an increase in their numbers lately.  The first thing you need to do is confirm their existence.  They are very small and hard to see so I use a small lit microscope to see them.  I have 3 different varieties of the microscopes available for sale here at Roses inc.  They are very useful when you are looking at any pest on any plant.  Since they are lit you do not have to have a light source to use them which makes them handy to carry with you.  Some have carrying cases that make them easy and safe to carry in your pocket. 

If you verify that the mites are present you will need to dispose of them.  I prefer that you use Tetra San for this purpose.  Many other pesticides will kill the mites but there are only a few pesticides available to the home gardener that will kill all stages of the mites including the eggs as Tetra San will.  It is available here at Roses inc.

Spider Mites can be picky in the roses they choose to feed on.  Do not assume that because they are not on one bush that you do not have them at all.  Look for dirty looking leaves on the lower part of your bushes.  The back of the leaves is where you will see the damage first. 

Please note that Spider mites will also attack many other plants in your garden and the Tetra San will be safe and effective on them as well providing that you do not plan to eat the plant or its fruit.

My Rose bushes are pitiful looking!

Believe it or not there are Rose Gardens here in this area that the roses are beautiful.  The blooms are a bit small but the bushes look great.  I could take you on a tour of our area and show you several Rose Gardens that have thrived this Summer.  You ask: "How can that be? Mine are fried, sunburned and generally pitiful." 

First let me tell you that each yard has within it several micro climates.  This is caused by many things like altitude, fences, the plants themselves, wind or the lack of it, the Earth's water holding ability and the position of structures on the property are some that come to mind.

Generally Rose bushes on the East or North side of the houses have faired much better than those  on the South or West.  Roses on the West side of a white wall without any protection from the Sun seem to have taken the blunt of our hot Summer. When the walls behind the rose bushes are white the roses get bombarded from the front and back by the direct Sun and the reflection off the wall.  The fact that they live at all in a Summer with so many 100+ days is a testament to there hardiness.  If you do not believe that, just take a lawn chair out and park yourself next to that same wall and see how long you last. :) 

Plants leaves transpire and are cooled by that action.  They are also dried out by the same action if they do not have enough root system and moisture to supply those roots sufficiently.  Water alone is not the answer in a Summer such as this one.  The roots still must breath and they can not do that if they are submerged in water, they will drown. Rosarians in very hot arid climate like Arizona (and Oklahoma this Summer) must have shade to protect them from the hot afternoon Sun if they are to survive unblemished.  Since this was the hottest Summer on record here in Oklahoma we are not prepared to handle such problems.  Those who were able to spray water on there rose bushes leaves during the heat of the hot days or put up a shade cloth (I saw some where gauze was used with great success) have kept their bushes beautiful.  Others who have done nothing extra have also had great roses through the heat but that has everything to do with the earth the roses are planted in, the amount of mulch on the ground, the correct amount of moisture and the micro climate they are grown in.

My finial thought is.  In just a few weeks our roses will once again be beautiful.  They will put on a wonderful show of fragrance and color.  They will be as they always are when our weather is not extreme.  So be patient and in a few weeks you will remember why you grow roses, The Queen of all Flowers.