Pruning roses for fall bloom

16 years ago

Okay I've been pruning my roses and taking out old dead wood etc. in preperation for fall. Did I jump the gun and do it too early? I just read that the new branches can get burnt in the heat and we still have September to go through. Last year I didn't do a summer pruning and got a mass of blooms in August and not so many in the fall. This year I wanted them to go crazy around Octoberish.

Thoughts?

Comments (10)

seamommy
16 years ago
You don't say where in Texas you live, but I assume you'e South of me, and I'm West of Fort Worth. Anyway, I've found that my roses don't really go dormant until late November or early December, sometimes as late as January, but occasionally as early as October. Now I've been here since 2000 and no two winters have been even a little bit similar, one year my roses never went dormant at all and I had new blooms on them on new Years Day.

Right now I have new growth starting on all my roses and many of them are in bloom. I'm keeping them trimmed of dead wood and after blooming. I have been cutting back the very long canes, just in case they do still want to bloom some more. But as far as pruning right now, I wouldn't do it. It will encourage them all to start putting up new growth that will still be too tender at first frost. Mature growth can withstand some cold weather and I think that's why they sometimes are still blooming during the holidays.

Cheryl
denisew
16 years ago
Mid-August is a good time to prune your roses back, but only by 1/3 or less. This will encourage a flush of blooms in October.
Related Discussions
Pruning Roses in fall or spring?
Q
Comments (6)
thanks Karl. That was the information I was trying to figure out. I will get it done in the morning. We planted 8 shrub roses this afternoon and pruned all of them to a degree and it is HOT so I am going to wait until in the morning to attack the Grafted one. It is funny to me that the shrubs I just bought for less than $5 each look better then the Knockouts the landscaper put in earlier this year....at a much higher cost to me I might add. I am headed back to our local Kmart for 4 more to finish edging my parking lot at work. MUCH better than paying the landscaper. I used to grow Dahlias in MA but I had no luck with them here in GA and switched to Roses which I could not grow in MA. I am learning and they are looking good (except that one). The video links were really great as well. Thanks so much!
...See More
When to prune fall canes for shrub roses
Q
Comments (3)
I do NO pruning on shrub roses in the fall. I wait until spring to prune & wait to see what mother nature & the critters have left me to start anew with. I do some late pruning (early Dec.) on the tender roses (HT's, Grandifloras) that get taller than 4' by the end of the growing season. I will trim off some of the upper cane of these tall roses to keep them from rocking in the wind. The theory behind not pruning in the fall in cold climates is that open canes from pruning allows cold to penetrate & kill the rose easier. Plus there are nutrients in the cane that the roots draw on as long as the cane is alive & we never know how much cane will make it thru the winter as winters vary so much from year to year. In cold climates +90% of your pruning should occur in the spring.
...See More
Pruning Greg's Mistflower for Fall Blooms to attract butterflies
Q
Comments (1)
I have read that pruning back by 50% in July will keep them shorter and cause branching which should produce more flower heads. I have never pruned mine. I just allow them to sprawl. I do know that they will get very large and leggy if they get too much fertilizer and water. Not getting enough sun will also make them leggy. Dana
...See More
Can Flower Carpet and/or Drift Roses be pruned in summer/fall?
Q
Comments (1)
Definitely!
...See More
ocdgardener
Original Author
16 years ago
I live in Arlington Zone 8. I had heard that they moved all of Fort Worth up to Zone 8 as well, but may be wrong.

Seamommy your message makes me worry and Denisew Yours is just what I wanted to hear.

I have been pruning less than 1/3 so that's good. I think I'll proceed with the pruning and see what happens come October!

Thanks!
cynthianovak
16 years ago
Tyler folks: When do they prune for the rose festival in October? Anyone have the secret to their success?

good topic, I was trying to decide how to do it better this year
gail_gardener_2007
16 years ago
I'll will ask about Tyler at the next Garden Club meeting or I will go out to the rose garden and see if they are cutting back.

In 8a Jasper ,I always cut my roses in August pretty hard. Cleaned out all the junk,straightened up the bushes. some I cut as much as half but my Teas were huge.

I seemed to always have an October wedding in the Rose Garden in my back yard.

I will ride to the Tyler garden this week end,but I would cut.

Gail
cweathersby
16 years ago
Seems like Tyler prunes them in early September. In general it takes 6 weeks to go from pruning to bloom. Some do it in as few as 3 weeks (single petaled roses), some take as long as 8 weeks (big fat chock full of petaled roses).
I pruned mine hard last year around this time in preparation for my wedding in October. (That's how I figured out exactly how long it took them to bloom!) None of the roses were damaged by the winter any more than they usually are. So I hope you can rest your mind on that part. Maybe if we lived up in Yankeeland we would have to worry about that.
I just pruned some of mine, but it was just because they had gotten too tall to smell the blooms. You can get just as big of a flush by fertilizing and keeping them well watered as you can from pruning. I always hate to prune them during the growing season because you miss out on so many weeks of blooms while they are growing back. Mine bloom from April to November pretty much continuously and pruning puts about a 6 week gap where I don't get to enjoy the roses.
cynthianovak
16 years ago
thanks, that is good news! I'm not too late to prune and I could just fertilize if life stays as busy as it has been recently.

cynthia
ocdgardener
Original Author
16 years ago
That is good news. I guess I'd rather have the roses in October than now when the heat makes them melt!

I gave all of them a big drink of fish solution, and mulched them with cow manure. I plan on spraying them with Howard Garret's stuff weekly as well and also using some Rabbit Hills Farm 'Buds and Blooms' once or twice.

I just LOVE October - and I'll love it even more when I'm surrounded by the scent of roses! :)
ditaroman
16 years ago
I heavy pruned mine July 15 to bloom around Sept. 8 to show off to out of town wedding guests. Guess what they have been blooming for 2 weeks now and will be all brown by the time my guests come. Is it because of the heat? Besides, they have smaller blooms. So I say prune now and you might have better blooms because weather will be a lot cooler than 100's. Don't forget to water a lot (in absence of rain) after you prune which what I did.
burntplants
16 years ago
What kind of roses are we talking about?
Hybid Teas ot Teas?

I've always had old fashioned roses, but have just bought a house with a garden full of HTs.
Cutting them back now sounds good--they look just awful!

Vicky's blog!