I walked out through the roses in the beds today and yes they are budding out.  That is OK with me but it doesn't signal the need to prune early.  Pruning now will just make them break that much faster and then the new growth will freeze off when it gets cold again; and it will get cold again.  Rest assure that you have plenty of time to prune.

  

Along that line. If you would like a pruning lesson and are getting this newsletter, bring $10.00 and your pruners to Roses inc. on March 20 or March 22 from 5:30 until 7:00 P.M. I will be giving a short course on growing roses which will include pruning lessons in my garden.  

  

  

  

As with most stuff, you get what you pay for.  

Karen with bare root rose 2013

I have noticed this past week that the big box stores have roses for sale.  There are $8.00 roses galore!  Most of them are in plastic sleeves that I saw.  Most were not #1 quality.  That is in fact normal for roses in sleeves.  Earlier this year Karen and I made a whirl wind trip to Tyler Texas and back one day to pick up some of the bare root plant roses we grow out.  The bare root roses we get from two companies there are normally the best we get from anywhere.  We stopped by to see the folks at Certified roses and as usual the roses were first class. Phillip Lee is always a gracious host and was happy to show Karen and I around the plant where the roses were stored and some were being packaged for the mass merchandisers.  It is a very interesting site to see the roses going down an assembly line and being potted and packaged.  I believe he said they packaged about 20,000 a day when running full bore. 

I tell you about this because I want to tell you that if you must by a packaged rose but one with the Certified name on it.  They are still coated with wax and the roots are trimmed to fit in the bag but for bagged roses they are the best.  They use a wax that comes off rather then bakes in the sun and their #1 grade bagged roses meet the criteria for #1 roses.

Let me remind you what to look for no matter where you buy roses.  Roses are graded with the best being #1.  #1 must have at least 3 canes no smaller than your middle finger.  The next grade down in 1 1/2 grade.  They must have 2 canes middle finger size.  Lastly there are the # 2 grades.  Their canes are small and they may just have a couple.  The important thing to remember is that these are all started at the same time in the same field and the fact that some didn't grow to #1 grade means they had some type of problem.  Poor performance can be traced back to lack of water in some cases but normally the field are irrigated.  That leaves another cause which many times is that the plant is just plain weak.   So always be aware of the grade scale when picking out roses.  Some Nurseries buy #1 1/2 bare roots and try and grow them out for Spring. A keen eye can see the difference and will shy away from these sub quality roses.  Always buy and plant #1 roses.  They are worth the money.

Not me silly

Stu and Karen

 

  

At the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce banquet recently, in front of a crowd of more than 300 people, Stuart Barrett proposed to my business partner and friend Karen Gardner.  I hear she acted a bit silly over it.  What a guy that Stuart is.  Proposing in front of a crowd like that took a real man and a really great guy.  Be sure to give Karen a shout of congratulations when you can and expect her to giggle like a little girl.    

5 days, 3000 roses  

  

We finished potting a couple weeks ago.

We used over 3000 pots.  We punch a hole in the rim of all of our pots so we can keep from tying a tag to the bush.  A tag on the cane will always kill it in time. We also used 46,200 pounds of potting mix.  Each rose we pot is graded first, than it is soaked in a solution of root stimulator over night.  Next the rose is pruned and dipped roots, top and all in a disinfecting solution to kill any disease or fungus that might be present.  Lyuba did the pruning and dipping.  The top of the roses are cut from 12" or more tall to 4 to 6 inches to assure strong growth.  Next the Roses are passed to me.  I am the only one who gets to set down throughout the entire operation.  I pick the right size pot for the root system on the rose (we do not prune roots at Roses inc.) and add a scoop of sterile potting mix to it.  Then I put the Rose in the pot and fill the container with the mix as I press lightly to settle it.  Everyone here lifted a lot of pounds over the 5 days but I like to tell everyone who will listen that I lifted 46,000 pounds with just my right arm.  After I pot the rose it goes to Karen or Sharon for tagging.  Everyone works fast but tagging and moving the filled pots, to a wagon for transport to the rows and keeping me in soil and empty pots is as big a job as we have. It takes me just over 2 minutes to use a 40 pound bag of mix. Depending on who is tagging the other moves around the greenhouse, bringing me bare root roses, watering roses in and adding adding two cups of root stimulator to each pot.  It is now Jerry's turn to take the wagon full of roses and place them in the proper place inside the greenhouse.  He must pull the wagon with roses through pea gravel to a distance of as much as 120'.  Not a job for the faint at heart.  That concludes the potting.

I have told you this story because I want you to know just how much tender loving attention goes into each of our roses.  The potting is just the beginning of care.  They are sprayed weekly with insecticide and fungicide.  We use an organic spray the majority of the time.  They are watered when the buds break and then as often as needed up to daily.  All by hand one pot at a time.  They are fertilized as needed to grow strong and healthy.  The humidity is kept high during the time of bud break and the temperature is strictly controlled throughout their stay inside the green house.

I hope I gave you some insight into why Roses inc. roses are the very best you can buy anywhere.

It makes you feel darn good inside, don't it!