I cannot recall that our extensive rose plantings on the farm have looked quite as spectacular in terms of colour than they did this January. The reason? Very light or no grooming during the season. With many of the bushes not even a dead flower was removed over the past four
months. Our hybrid teas are competing happily with the floribundas for sheer floriferousness.
This experience has prompted me to pull out the climbing and shrub roses, which were growing on a man-made mountain next to the highway as a signboard substitution. Instead we shall plant floribundas and hybrid teas and let them grow tall. It is too labour intensive to keep climbing roses looking neat and tidy and they simply will not repeat their stunning spring performance during the long summer and autumn months.
Having said this I must report how well the groundcover roses 'Rosy Cheeks' and 'My Granny' perform when trained up on a fence. Since pruning in winter the longer flowering stems were tied onto a wooden frame forcing them to stay upright. Smaller side stems were allowed to continue with their natural prostrate growth and hang downward with clusters of blooms. Any upper new growth was tied on the frame again. They have now reached a height of 2 metres with the wooden frame having virtually disappeared beneath the density of growth and leaves. With enough light falling on both sides of the rose "wall" new flowers sprout from top to bottom in a truly, never ending fashion. 'White Sunsation', 'Fiery Sunsation' and 'Peach Sunsation' would be just as suitable.
In the spirit of Valentine's day, my choice for this month falls on 'Wessie Rose'. Nedbank sponsored it in appreciation of one of their "40 year service" employees and since its release in 1993 has provided an amazing show wherever it is planted. The red colour is a brilliant scarlet red on the petal reverse with a glowing bright crimson velvet on the inside of each petal. The blooms are shapely and large carried singly on sturdy medium long stems. The bush quickly puts out new flowering shoots and the general neatness of growth makes this an ideal rose for medium height foreground planting, on standard stems and in planters. The foliage is of an extraordinary glossy green.
At this time of year I am always asked what red roses I can recommend:
'Cora Marie' (Hybrid Tea) - this is a garden rose that produces long
stemmed cut roses of florist quality. The clear red colour withstands the hottest sun and its glossy green foliage is disease resistant. The blooms last well on the bush as well as in the vase and the firm petals ensure that the half-open bloom lasts for well over a week.
'Ingrid Bergman' (Hybrid Tea) -this is one of the "great" red roses, as graceful as the woman after whom it is named. The large velvet-red blooms hold their brilliance in the sun and are well offset by the deep green foliage, which is resistant to Black Spot and Mildew.
'Oklahoma' (Hybrid Tea) - this rose has huge, full, highly perfumed blooms of a deep velvet-red. The bush is strong growing and healthy, flowers prolifically, and has a well-rounded shape.
'Mister Lincoln' (Hybrid Tea) - is a classic, highly perfumed garden cut rose that is easy to grow. Its large rich red blooms have velvet sheen and are borne on strong and sturdy stems.
'Ecstasy' (Hybrid Tea) - is one of the newer red roses that produces
velvety, strongly fragrant crimson red blooms that change to magenta with age. The bush grows to a medium height and is a good bedding rose.
'Red and Fragrant' (Hybrid Tea) - this vigourous rose with a powerful fragrance produces large shapely blooms on super long stems. The crimson red of the bud and half-open blooms tend to lose some of their glow when mature.
'Mother's Value' (Hybrid Tea) - produces classy, long stemmed florist type roses. The buds are urn shaped and sharply pointed, unfolding into large, full blooms in a spectacular clear carmine-red colour.
'Satchmo' (Floribunda rose) - has dazzling semi-double blooms in bright orange-red that deepen in colour during autumn. This rose is vigourous, healthy and bears blooms prolifically.
'City of Belfast' (Floribunda rose) - This is one of my personal favourites. The semi-double flowers in striking orange-red create an almost frilly effect. The rose bush has a spreading growth habit with an abundance of leaves and blooms.
January was a scorcher and it seems as if the hot dry conditions are set to continue with only sporadic showers in the highveld areas. There is no doubt that roses suffer in the extreme heat and their only effective
defence against the heat is an abundant leaf cover.
Keep your grooming to a minimum by just cutting off the dead blooms and don't worry about twiggy growth or blind shoots as long as the shoots have leaves.
During very hot conditions rose bushes need to receive between 15 to 20 litres of water a week. If your area has not received rain for a long period of time, the rose bushes must be watered more often to acclimatise them once again to the dry heat. Should the soil be compacted, loosen it, digging in a little compost if you feel it is necessary and renew the mulch.
Should one fertilise roses that had lost their leaves? The Answer is: Give very little fertiliser or none at all because fertiliser stimulates the roots to produce food, which they then pump up to the leaves. However when there are no leaves to receive the food the sap stays in the stems, heats up in the sun killing the plant tissue and ultimately resulting in stem canker which can kill the plant. If a bush has lost its leaves wait until it starts to sprout new leaves and then give a small dose of fertiliser - about a teaspoon per bush.
The Golden Rule of fertilising roses is that one should fertilise in proportion to the number of leaves on the bush. Ideally roses should be fertilised once a month.
Ludwig's Roses is South Africa's first and finest supplier of container grown roses.
