Roses

[NYEric]

Hi. Our coop group has 30+/- large roses and the older ladies who used to work out back are mostly no longer with us or able. I have cut off the rose hips so the plants don't waste energy on unneeded seed. What would be a good time to add supplements, like bone meal, to the plants?

 

[Ndove]

Hey- I grow roses too! Are these roses well established/older plants? I suppose? And what zone are they in

 

[NYEric]

Yes, well established, some 15 feet high. I'm in NYC. Thanks.

 

[eds]

Mine just get a general feed of pelleted chicken manure and a mulch of compost when I do the.reat of the border.

The RHS recommend two feeds a year. Either general purpose or specialist rose feeds in March/April before growth starts and again after flowering.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/roses/growing-guide
Mine have to make do with one lot when I remember (but I only grow a couple of climbers and ramblers, not hybrid teas or floribundas)

 

[big923cattleya]

Most people around here, Michigan, provide 2 feeds a year. One in early March, another in early September. I myself put down manure and bone meal in early March as soon as I can get to 'work' the soil. I do a good deal of pruning, hybrid teas and long stems, in mid summer, right after they have finished blooming. I lose quite a few stems as they turn brown, possibly from the rigors of blooming?.
I kind of prune for shape too in early fall. I occasionally get these crazy rogue stems that suddenly spring up and take off. I like to keep the whole bush shorter in height. In the cases where I lose a lot of stems, they just go brown, i do a heavy prune. I cur it all back to 9-12" and try to revitalize the bush for next season. If you have roses that have 'escaped due to neglect' I don't think that that is good under any circumstance. Roses can be pretty much pruned drastically and if fertilized will bounce back quickly.

 

[NYEric]

Manure is not the easiest thing to get in NYC. I will try a garden center in NJ this weekend. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[big923cattleya]

Oh yes, I know what you are up against. Lived on Long Island for 59 years!
They do sell bags of a dried or aged manure. That would be useful. My grandma taught me about roses years ago and she used the fresh stuff in the 60’s!! STINKY!!!

 

[hkunberger]

Hi. Our coop group has 30+/- large roses and the older ladies who used to work out back are mostly no longer with us or able. I have cut off the rose hips so the plants don't waste energy on unneeded seed. What would be a good time to add supplements, like bone meal, to the plants?

Growing roses was my first passion-long before orchids! I’m in Virginia, so quite different climate zone. Mostly reiterating what has already been said, but I give mine a generous amount of rose tone and black cow manure (available at Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) twice a year. A good rule of thumb is to give the winter feed when the roses come out of dormancy and start putting on new growth. This does contradict the idea that you should wait till after any ranger of a hard frost. However, after 30+ years I have found this the best practice. Once they start growing they’re hungry-regardless of what the calendar says.