Pictures would help. When you say bulb are you talking about the grafting joint?

Hello,

Yes, my apologies, I am learning about roses as I go but that is what I meant. I took a picture, I had a trench dug, put good soil and compost in when I planted the roses. Excuse the sand and weeds, I am working on getting that cleaned up, putting a border and then mulch.

I hope this helps and the leaves on the roses, I cut the ones off that were there when I planted them but these are new leaves. I did not fertilize them, I read not to do so until the first bloom. The roses in the back are from last year.

Thank you!

Lisa

Normally in a warm climate like yours it's not necessary to plant the graft/bud union below the soil. That's more for cold climates where you want to protect that part from winter's worst. My only concern about it is the nematode problem with Florida soils. Otherwise their being buried a little deeper shouldn't make any difference. I have planted mine as much as 6 to 8 inches below surface for cold protection and they do just fine.

Hello Seil,

I sprayed the soil last year with an organic nematode formula that was for grubs. I dug around the soil to fertilize with the organic mixture of fertilizer and found a few grubs so I sprayed the soil and haven't seen any since.

Is there anything you would suggest I should do to avoid problems with the unfriendly nematodes?

I appreciate your reply, thank you!

Lisa

Florida has a native nematode in it's soil that attacks rose root systems. That is why it's suggested that you only use Fortuniana root stocks on your grafted roses because the nematodes don't seem to attack that root stock the same way they do both Dr. Huey and Multiflora root stocks. Since I live way up in Snow Bird country and have no experience with it so you really should find a local rose society to talk to about that problem. Or you can contact a CRS in Florida who would have better first hand knowledge. You can locate either of those by going to the American Rose Society's web page.

Hi Seil,

I know they are not the Fortuniana root stock roses, since they are already planted and as long as the depth they are at is okay, I will water them, fertilize and hope they do well.

I will contact someone at the American Rose Society in Florida about the nematodes and roots on these roses, maybe they will have a suggestion on how to keep them from bothering the plants.

Thank you!

Lisa

I think they are too deep. You don't need to bury the graft in Florida, but at the best the graft should be right above the soil. Now you do have sandy soil, so it's possible that the good drainage will protect the canes from rotting, But by having the canes buried that much, the rose may go own root, which I'm not sure is good or bad for Florida.

Hello,

I agree, I will be re-planting them and adding a bit more soil and compost. I will have to be careful not to damage the roots, should I soak them again or just put them right back in the ground?

Lastly, do you agree with adding bone meal and Epsom salt to the soil when planting? I did not do that but will if it can help the roses.

Thank you again for your suggestions and replies!

Lisa

I've taken an interest in learning about Florida gardening because I plan to move down there eventually. What I've read again and again about discouraging nematodes is to maintain a heavy layer of organic mulch. This will eventually break down and improve your soil. Some people mix in cheap clay kitty litter to make their soil heavier. Another possibility is to heavily underplant roses with Marigolds. There is one seed strain of French Marigolds in particular which tested as being very effective at deterring root-knot nematodes -- Tagetes patula 'Ground Control' (aka 'Single Gold'). The one caveat is that the effects won't be seen until the following year, and to maintain the effect, you'll want to replant them every year.

As far as planting too deep -- I think many here would say I am guilty of this, but there hasn't been any negative effect which I can see. When I was putting this garden together, I planted my roses (own-root bands that were grown-on in pots for a few months) directly into the native soil in late Summer 2013. Prior to planting them, I had laid down sheets of cardboard to smother weeds and grass, and covered that with trimmings from a tree I was cutting back. This accumulated to about three inches, but it was a very "airy" three inches. Over all that, I put down an additional 6-8" of "proper" mulch (partially composted shredded wood chips). At first, I made concave "dishes" around each rose to allow water to be directed towards their roots and keep mulch away from the canes as I kept reading I was supposed to do, but after the first Winter, the beds were pretty much leveled out. In Spring, I worked an additional 2" of composted manure into that layer of mulch. This meant that what was once the border between canes and roots was now about 8-10" below the surface. Why did I do this? I wanted to give the roses an "early start" on having deep roots for getting water, and anticipated that canes buried beneath the mulch line would eventually root further up, allowing for easier access to fertilizer applied at the surface. Companion perennials were planted directly into this "mulch/compost" layer in Spring 2014, and they grew like gangbusters in their first year.

Last Autumn, I wanted to continue adding organic matter to the beds, so I "harvested" fallen tree leaves and spread them to a "fluffy" three inches thick. I also started collecting used coffee grounds from Starbucks -- one 13gal kitchen garbage can-full per day -- and spread this about 2-3" over the leaves. It took about three months to complete. Winter snow has packed this down a bit, and the previous year's additions have started breaking down, so where I'm at now is about where I was after the first layer of mulch -- about 6-8" above the original soil line.

This week, I started some early pruning. While there is some snow still remaining in half of the garden, where it is gone there was already life in the top layer of coffee grounds and leaves -- various soil critters are waking up and finding lots of food waiting for them. I've noticed some freeze damage (naturally) on some rose canes, but nothing soft and mushy which would indicate "cane rot". True, this could emerge later in the season, but I also never saw it last Spring when the roses' canes were also buried to about the same level.

Why is this not harming my roses? Perhaps because what's covering the canes is actively being broken down by the various organisms in the soil, and that process is different than simply being a blanket of "wet" around the rose canes. Worms and critters keep moving the material around, and fungi digesting the material are sopping up the extra moisture. I don't know for sure -- all I can say is that I don't see any negative effects.

:-)

~Christopher

I lived in FL (Hollywood, Winter Haven, Port St. Lucie) for 50 years and grew roses for about 40 of those years. I'm no expert but I learned a lot over those years about growing roses in FL. It looks like you have some good looking roses planted a little (?) to deep. It will take a little work but your roses can grow AND thrive where you live. Have on hand, several bags of good potting soil, several bags of pine bark mulch, not nuggets. One bush at a time. dig it up and gently shake off the soil and put the bush in a bucket of water while you prepare the planting hole. Dig your hole 28/30 in. wide and 24 in. deep. Get rid of ALL that soil (spread across the lawn). Now line the bottom of the hole with a layer of pine bark and build a wall of pine on the sides. Fill your hole with potting soil and mix some more pine bark in with it. Water it down good. Let it drain, then plant your rose with the graft bud at or a little above the soil level. Cover your entire planting area pine bark. If you have access to pine needles, put a layer of pine needles down then cover the planting area with pine bark. Remember this. Nematodes HATE pine bark acid. They won't come anywhere near it. I've grown many roses on Dr Huey root stock this way. They lasted for years. I just kept a steady fresh supply of pine needles and bark every year about Jan/Feb. If you can, when buying roses, look to see if you can get the rose you want on fortuniana root stock. If not, then go with Dr Huey.

Hello Christopher,

Wow, thank you so much for taking your time to share your knowledge with me! I will read the information again and hopefully, have roses that thrive. That is a lot of wonderful information!

Many thanks!

Lisa

Hello Ken,

I live in PSL, gardening here is different than up north and I very much appreciate your expertise on Florida and roses. I won't be able to dig anymore, I had to have my landscaper do that but, would it be possible to add pine mulch to the soil about 18 inches down instead? I have pine needles from trees in my yard that I curse every year, haha, but, I put them at the base of the trees and have raised beds around them with what you could call, pine needle compost.

I put garden soil and organic manure compost/soil mix in the trenches, this is a photo of the soil I had in there before I covered just the first inch or so with the sand that was dug out.

And may I ask, have you ever used Epsom salt and/or bone meal when planting bare root at first in the soil? I have read the sandy soil could use some magnesium, I put it around my palm trees and they like it. I'm working on getting my yard landscaped and as nice as I can on my budget and roses always make a yard more beautiful!

The planter on the left has the roses in the soil/compost.

Thank you again!

Lisa