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Calling all experts

21 years ago

On March the 4th 2006 there will be a wedding in the garden. A morning wedding. What do I do to make sure the roses are all blooming their heads off for the day? Does it start with the time I do the initial pruning now? Help

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Comments (13)

Deryn
21 years ago
Hi, prune the roses as usual in winter.
Feed them every month with an R in the name (start again in September).
When they start flowering again in October/November note how long it is between flowering flushes. As an average is is said that most repeat bloomers flower about every six weeks - however it varies between varieties and is affected by the weather.
If you can pinpoint how long it is between flushes you can aim to tip prune the roses (cut back by up to a foot on the stem - depending on the growth habit) at six (or seven or however long it is) weeks before the wedding to make sure that they are looking their best on the day. They appear to flower more quickly in flushes when it is hotter - so maybe take this into account - it is a difficult thing to work out.
It is hot in March so make sure that they are well mulched and give them Seasol which helps them withstand the heat.
I'd water them the evening before the wedding so that they look nice and fresh for the day.
I'd also plant lots of annuals for summer colour - the blue bedding salvias are my personal favourite at that time but petunias can look good too. If you choose blue/purple ones as well it will give the garden continuity and blue/purple works well with other flower colours. White would also look good.
I'd buy lots of extra seedlings and pot them up - so they can be popped into any empty spaces.

Good luck
Deryn
gardengirlWA
21 years ago
What fantastic advice Deryn - your words speak true wisdom.
Rach.
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ginnybee
21 years ago
I agree with Deryn what he has suggested sounds good & I can just see how beautiful your garden will look on the day goodluck
Jan.
brenton
21 years ago
true to a point.....that time of year should be more like seven to eight weeks.....if your going to prune for the wedding i'd hack into them say.......ummmmm.....first week of jan....prob is your 2 main variables are temp and humidity....hard to guess....assuming we are talking hybrid t roses (like mr lincoln etrc)...i'd say your chance of getting it "just right" is maybe 10% at best....floribundas....maybe 20-30%....i get this question A LOT....on the farm here and what i always tell people is give it a ood shot....but don't count on it...have a back up plan in place if you need to.....hope i'm not sounding negative....but i know the drill....also....make sure your spider mite is under control as they will "stall" the plants at that time of year......it's funny...i used to think bringing tens of thousands of bushes into flush on time for valentines day was stressfull....it ain't got nothing on weddings!!!!....good luck
lozza
21 years ago
With respect to our W.A. experts, S.W.Vic is quite a cool area, and living in similar climate, perhaps I can add some additional information. Normally, your garden should be in full bloom early-mid-November, and again during Xmas-New Year, and again early-March and mid-May. For showing blooms, we cut out the March flush, for the heat creates smaller and fleeting blooms. By cutting out, and "summer trimming" in early February, we have good blooms in April, when it is showtime.

Your March 4 date is very close to the time of poor early March blooms, and if you did nothing, you would have roses. To have "better" roses, it will require you to trim in January, in effect giving the plants a rest, with the result that better blooms will be had in the next flush. As a general rule, trimming 8 weeks in advance will be OK, but to be sure, trim at 7 weeks and 8 weeks before your date for HTs. For Austins and Floribundas, make it 9 and 10 weeks. This expands the chances of success as desired. This will mean you have to be savage during the Xmas/New Year flush, but your date is the reason for that. Again generally, cut back to a plump bud on any strong cane. It hurts to cut off promising buds and blooms. Put them in the house. Don't be afraid also to remove at this time, weak and non-productive wood. Maintain watering and give a light feed. Your roses should reward you.

Can't speak for other plants, I only know roses.
flytower_au
Original Author
21 years ago
Thank you all very much.I do agree with Iozza, it is much colder here, and I think the South West is colder than Melbourne, so will follow that advice.Only comment, they are nearly all either Alister Clark or old roses going back to mid 1800s. I don't know the names of a lot of them,so....how do I know if they are hybrid tees etc?There are some moss roses, they are easy to identify because of their thorns and shape of leaves.
I do intend to put some annuals in pots amongst the trees,probably in pastel shades.Seem to have plenty of pots empty lieing? around
I have kept all comments and will refer to them frequently as the season progresses
Deryn
21 years ago
Lozza knows your climate and so I would follow his advice.
It sound like you will get some flowers no matter what you do.Best wishes
Deryn
brenton
21 years ago
can't beat local knowledge!
princess_de_monaco
21 years ago
does anyone live in Perth that could help me with my prunning of climbers I really need help I live in Joondalup area I am willing to pick you up feed you thank you and drop you offffffffff and take all the advice you give first time grower

I have prunned all my roses and I hope I did it ok but I can not do my climbers
Thrip
21 years ago
I've always wanted to see W.A.
Mr Thrip
princess_de_monaco
21 years ago
ha ha I am a child care worker and I could get your child to eat as quickly as you could prune my roses ( I read your MY PAGE) to see where you live so bring your wife kids and you work on my roses and I will work on your boy
brenton
21 years ago
hmmmmm i average less than 13 seconds on an old rose....i'd love to see a kid eat that quick...mind you..i don't have any..maybe they do??....if your still having drama's...leave a message...i'll leave a phn no- and talk you through it on the phone...it's a piece of cake
princess_de_monaco
21 years ago
Brenton thankyou for your reply, I deciced not to prune them at all because I wam not sure what to do but now with your help I will give it a go, I am going to take a pic and post it on this page so you can see what they look like my four climbers are growing onto a brick wall they look great but I am not sure even how to train them to grow up the wall I have put string and nails and that does not work well so I will have lots of question to ask you plus I have one growing well trying to grow out the back it looks a bit sad I am sure it was because the way I cut it I will also post a pic of that poor one will I be ok prunning it at this time r am I to late thank you once again for your reply

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