I arose about a week and a half ago to find the rose bush in my back yard with two small blooms and a few in the bud stage. Is it common for roses to decide to bloom in October? Usually it's just for a few weeks in May/early June and then that's it. The two small blooms are still there now, even though it's been colder than usual here in Tennessee during October. We've had a few nights when it's gotten down to 33-35 but so far no hard frosts. This is the first time I've noticed this, even though I've only been at this location for three years.
My Don Juan roses are still in bloom (10-21-09) in e.TN. I'm in a valley protected by the Cumberlands to the north and Appalachians to the southeast. Not enough frost to kill the annuals yet.
This might be unusual where you live, but not in my garden. 'Pink Perfume' and 'Color Magic' just finished blooming. 'Honor', climbing '4th of July', 'Salmon Ovation' (a miniature), and 'Arizona' are blooming right now. 'Mr. Lincoln', 'Iceberg', 'Sunsprite', and climbing 'Dublin Bay' have buds that will open within a week. I expect climbing 'Peace' will bloom before Thanksgiving.
That accounts for 11 of my 14 roses. The three remaining are struggling because they are too close to my oak tree.
It's not unusual for some of my roses to be in bloom on New Years Day, when I'm pruning them. Then I present my wife with a rose bouquet to brighten her day.
After pruning early in January, my roses start blooming again in April. Some remain in bloom almost continuously until pruned again at the end of the year. Others bloom on and off, but they repeat every few weeks throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
If your roses don't normally bloom at this time of year, that is a result of your climate. But if your roses only bloom once a year ("for a few weeks in May/early June and then that's it"), you picked the wrong varieties, prune them wrong, or fail to feed and water them properly.
I didn't pick them, I inherited them from the previous homeowner. I imagine they're just your run of the mill red variety, nothing exotic.
Don't do a lot of pruning unless a stem gets completely out of hand and begins to touch the ground, then I might prune some of the other stems while I'm at it.
I was told to prune the stem in a diagonal direction about an inch or two after a perpendicular stem, and that's the way I do it.
I never "feed or water" them, I'm not really a big flower/plant person. I'm happy to just appreciate them for the few weeks in May, this year they were particularly big and beautiful.
Another thing I thought of, they could've decided to bloom in the fall because it's been pretty rainy the past couple of months.
Got a few blooming here in zone 7, and I have one rose that has it's first bloom of the year, and it's a beaut. If you have an everbearing rose, my observation is that they kick in after a wet spell, which we've had.
Roses do best if they are severely but carefully pruned in the early spring (or -- in my climate -- early winter). Go to a good public library and look for a book on general pruning; most will have a section just on roses.
Roses require ample water. The soil should remain quite moist during the growing season, but it should not be soggy.
Roses also require ample nutrients, especially nitrogen. If your soil tends to be acidic, any general high-nitrogen garden fertilizer -- organic or not -- should be okay. If your soil tends to be alkaline, dig a little soil sulfur into the top inch of the soil. If leaves are yellow with green veins, spread a little iron sulfate around the plants.
Most roses sold today are hybrids. They are not natural plants and thus require more care than Mother Nature provides. If you plan to continue neglecting your roses, you might as well remove them and plant something else.
I don't have any roses blooming on the one rose bush that came with our new home, but the neighbor's old fashioned bridal wreath spirea has five flowers on it and it's an old shrub. we went to Nashville last week on errands and in Centennial Park where they had a rose garden I couldn't believe all the roses that were either blooming or were in beautiful perfect bud. and the roses they had planted were wonderfully fragrant as well. we've had yet more rain here in the western portion of the state, and I'm seeing signs of spring more than signs of fall around here, particularly the azalea that sits out front of our house is covered in buds. I just hope it doesn't decide to break bud and flower before next spring. but what can you do? I'm not wishing for frost yet. I have to decide where to put houseplants that have had a good summer so far and the shock of being inside will be coupled with finding adequate places for sunlight for my cactus and other pots of tender plants. Eva
My lawn is probably a basket case as lawns go -- I live near a heavily wooded area and the backyard especially is bumpy as all getout due to years and years of mole infestation.
I'll try to remember to throw a bucket of water on them regularly next season, maybe even buy some plant food for them. The big problem is my water tap/lawn hose is in the front of the house, and the rose bush is in the backyard. Kind of big hassle to drag it all the way around just to water one plant.
They could probably use some kind of tressel too -- they're just in the middle of a big space letting it all hang out and this causes them to droop severely when the blooms come.
Walmart sells a watering pail for $3 that would be perfect to water one bush......
James
------------------------------------------- I'll try to remember to throw a bucket of water on them regularly next season, maybe even buy some plant food for them. The big problem is my water tap/lawn hose is in the front of the house, and the rose bush is in the backyard. Kind of big hassle to drag it all the way around just to water one plant.
Bridal wreath spiraea is not a rose, although it belongs to that family. It has white clusters in May-June. You have the name mixed up. I am in Zone 5, Central NY. The weather is unusual. We have not has killing frost yet. I was able to cut a couple of roses and two stems of Iris 'Immortality' today for the dinner table. Unheard of! Iris
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