Most of the clean up is over from the hurricanes. Many of the roses lost all of their leaves and were uprooted from the soil even though all were double tied with rebar and tree tape. I have applied the following to all roses; new soil, organic supplements such as bone meal, alfalffa pellets and plenty of patience! Amazingly, some roses that looked like they would not make it, have been coming back with new growth. I lost many roses due to their canes wipping back and forth.
One of my losses was r. mulligani. I cut back all the dead wood in Mermaid leaving about 4 feet of growth. It has new growth, but I am not sure if it will come back. Most teas, chinas, noisettes and species that had been in the ground for at least 9 months with an established root system survived.
The chinas are so reliable. Old blush continues to amaze me. Two bushes of old blush were planted about 5 years ago. They experienced flooding when a canal overflowed. They had about a foot of water surrounding them for several days. They are now blooming and doing well.
All of the potted roses floated in a foot of water after the last hurricane. Many of the newly rooted roses died, but to my amazment, the older potted roses survied!
The new section of the garden will be replanted next month after the last few days of our cold weather. Central Florida isn't experiencing a cold winter this year!
