I bought my ‘Jeri Jennings’ rose in July as a 1 gallon size. The roses I purchased at that time have been sitting on the shady side of the house, waiting for the temps to cool down. They all look fine except for Jeri Jennings.

Here’s what the plant looked like on August 13th.

I figured that since this was the only Jeri Jennings rose that Burlington had left when I was there, maybe it had “used up” the nutrients in the pot. By now, I’ve probably washed out what remaining nutrients were there, as well as them being used up. Since Jeri Jennings is a hybrid musk rose, and many like an acidic soil, I added some acidic planting mix and some moisture control Miracle Grow potting mix. The potting mix has compost mixed in. It was too warm for planting out, although I might get away with it now. It’s been in the 80’s.

Today, Jeri Jennings looks like this.

The one very pale part is still very pale.

General plant picture.

I DO see improvement, but she’s not normal looking yet.

My question is, what should I do? Should I give her some fish fertilizer because she looks to need some nitrogen too? Should I add some balanced fertilizer for potted plants? Or should I just plant her out now, as is? I’m rather limited in energy right now, so I’d rather keep her in this pot until planting out, although I think I could manage to plant her today, if that’s what’s best. Thanks for your help. Lisa

Plant her out.

Jackie

For what it's worth, Lisa, on some of my roses, Mme. Leon Pain in particular, the new growth has also been pale. This has happened in past years also on different roses and I never did anything about it, and the problem resolved itself. Apparently my roses know they're on their own and do their best to heal themselves. Of course mine are all in the ground.

Get it in the ground.

If I remember correctly, after moving my JJ several times, I finally got her planted in her present location with considerable sunlight. She was a bit wimpish her first couple years--some lighter colored leaves like you show, but she is now in her 4th year in her present location and is looking quite sturdy--and darker green!

My advice: get her planted and don't fuss over her (as long as she is getting sufficient water).

She also has fewer BS problems now--BS was my major complaint against her earlier.

Kate

I agree. If you can do so, plant her out. I just don't think she's a rose that will do well in a small pot. From what I've seen, she needs to really spread her toes.

Thank you. I had a feeling you all were going to advise me to plant her out. She’s still small, so it shouldn’t be to big a job. I’ll wait for the evening hours when it’s easier for me outdoors. Think she would be happy with about the same amount of sun and shade as Cornelia? Cornelia gets sun until about 2 pm, and is very happy with it. Does anyone know if she’d like the same conditions? Felicia gets much more shade, and still blooms a lot. I think my shade is pretty bright. Should just planting Jeri Jennings out, with my usual prep fix her up, or does she need something “extra” because she’s obviously deficient? Thanks, Lisa

I would definitely be applying iron to this rose. It looks chlorotic like what the alkaline water we use does to our roses every year.

I’ve never had this particular rose and our environment isn’t as rose friendly as yours but I would pot up a size, add iron and protect from strong sun until it greens up. It’s easier to control the environment of a potted rose than one in the ground for me.

maria

Lisa - I would just plant her in the ground with your normal prep. The conditions you describe for Cornelia sound perfect. In zone 10a no direct sun after 2PM sounds good. I have a Jeri Jennings bush, and mine is planted (because I am out of room in perfect locations) near other roses, in the ground, in partial shade. She is getting leggy, and has put out canes towards where there is more sun, so I think she will appreciate your spot which is similar sun to where Cornelia is. I have found that trying to diagnose and treat the "problems" of a baby rose in a pot is premature - get her into the ground, plenty of water, and WAIT a few months to see what she does. Then, if she is still having symptoms on the new growth, come back here for more advice. I'll bet you won't have to!

Jackie

Lisa, I believe you should put something thinking about it twice. Remembered you post my deficiency for me. My roses were also going through light colours and weird colours due to lack of deficiency. Mine was also very young but I did put all sorts of stuff to bring roses back to life due to rain.

I would add some rose tone or even what Shiela suggested.

I even talk to you over the phone about how bad it became and nothing works until someone said to do weekly or this and that. That help me a lot .

It took months but it slowly change over .

Jin

Thank you all very much for the advice. I had SO hoped to be able to post here last night, saying that my Jeri Jennings was in the ground. I ran out of energy and daylight before I could finish. This evening I should be able to complete the job.

I’ve dug my hole,(with my wonderful pink “lady shovel”). I honestly couldn’t do without my pink shovel anymore. It’s just perfect for me. Anyway, I prepared the hole as usual by adding gypsum to the very bottom and then mixing compost, a bit of acid mix, and my native clay. I just need to do the actual planting part this evening. It should be easy, as the hard part is done.

I DID think about adding Ironite, Mohavemaria. In fact, I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t remember with certainty that I haven’t already added a bit to her when I added the potting mix a few weeks ago. I know I thought about adding a bit, but my memory is sometimes so bad, that I don’t remember if I actually did something or just thought about it. You’re definitely right about alkaline conditions causing some of that. My soil and water are both alkaline, so I’ve had to add iron before to other plants. I’ve just never had a rose get leaves like the ones on ‘Jeri Jennings’! They were practically white in a few places. I think the advice to plant her out is probably best, because I never see such things on my roses planted in the ground. My soil must have plenty of nutrients for roses. I did wonder if ‘Jeri Jennings’ liked a more acidic soil than some roses, since she’s a hybrid musk. I do add some acid to ‘Felicia’ , ‘The Lovely Fairy’, and ‘Bubble Bath’, because they’re all hybrid musks (at least I think ‘The Lovely Fairy’ is, too). That bed is also right against the house foundation and has lots of cement nearby. That adds to the alkalinity on top of my soil and water. They’ve never shown any signs of being deficient in anything, though. It did make me wonder if ‘Jeri Jennings’ might be particularly sensitive to alkaline conditions, when I saw those whitish leaves. No one has mentioned that she needs very acidic soil, so I think she had just depleted that small amount of soil in her container.

Hopefully, I’ll be posting tonight that she’s all tucked into the ground. Thanks everyone. Lisa

How did the inground planting work out.

I agree about the pink shovel. I love my shovel

I use it for everything.