My Westerland

16 Apr '06 11:59 am

Hiyah,

I really didn't seem to get that right about the different colours of the Westerland...rather it seemed darker and richer in the early summer and more faded and ledd "full" in the waining months of the season. Embarassed

I only have three roses in my garden and am by no menas an expert, I would like to ask what sort of "feeding" regimes you folks use in view of this coldness that we are experiencing this spring.
I am tempted to give them some manure "tea"now, followed by some other type of fertilizer later on when they begin to bud. What do you think?
Thanks...

16 Apr '06 5:42 pm

There are many times when roses will enjoy a good feed - specially when the soil has warmed up after winter and they're deciding to do some serious growing! I like the liquid manure 'tea'. I also chop up banana skins and lay them around the base of my house roses.

Then there's the cute rule about when's the right time to put fertiliser on your garden. Put it on when you've got the time, and anytime will do if it's free (like collected horse manure)! Watering and squishing any nasty sucking insects are just as important!

Lots of roses here are darker in their later, autumn blooms. This affects the pink and peachy tones. It still just could be an illusion! In New Zealand we get very harsh strong summer light - no haze really at all.
Happy rose feeding!

22 Apr '06 12:31 am

Heh heh ... That's a nice little rule about fertilizing.
Fertilizing is not really something I do alot of. I DO do it, of course, but mainly I leave the old leaves and stems lying where they die. I leave them there to protect the roots of the perennials and just rake them and chop them still in the soil where they were, and mix them through in the Spring. They will rot eventually. The stems give the soil "structure" until THEY rot I like to think.
I have noticed that I tend to "over-care" for my roses, while they are probably the plants that need it the least. Ha ha ha. It's just that fertilizer....I want to get that right.
Do you feel that the potassium in the banana skins really adds? That's an interesting thought. I know of folks that use skins on their house plants, but I always thought that the potassium content was so miniscule that it wouldn't help much. I'll have to look into this.
About the rose darkness issue: could it be a hemisphere thing, I wonder. Hmmmm...
Any way, thanks for your response.
---

23 Apr '06 5:16 am

....does it cross your mind, that these Rose cut branches you let around your plant to rot will probably get sick by fungus diseases , very dangerous for your healthy plant? That's why we should never add Rose prunings in our homemade compost. But if you have tested what you practice and everything proves to be right, then there should be some exceptions to the general rule...

Now. Living in a climate slightly softer than yours and similarly humid, this is how I feed my Roses, which - yes! - have darker blooms during Autumn: Every Autumn I cover all the plants of my garden with home made compost, in order that all the beneficial ingredients are absorbed during the humid winter, preparing the plants for a powerful, healthy good season blooming. After pruning all the Roses -- according to each variety (:Floribundas, Hybrid Teas, English Roses,Polyanthas - cover plants,Climbers) -- by the end of February or beginning of March, I add some granular fertilizer around their base, mixing it well with the soil. I repeat this by the end of May and then beginning of July. I have to water well after fertilizing if the weather is dry.

I admire the new ideas about bananas - Nature for Nature! But I think I am less imaginative and inventive than Moosey concerning my Roses. I only know, that Potassium protects them during the hot spells against the lack of this very element, when the soil is sandy, and the mature leaves of a generally healthy plant have all around them brown, brittle margins .

Thank you both for the useful , important information I've had by your posts!!

23 Apr '06 11:57 am

Hiyah Liza,

Please excuse me for not being more clear about what I did with the old, dead stems and some cuttings that I leave on the ground to some extent in my garden. I sort of drifted into generality and was speaking of my whoe garden in general...the prunings, deadheading and leaf removals of the roses I do indeed remove from the garden permisis.
You folks know alot about rose care. I'm going to keep my eyes and ears open for little gems of rose care that you include in your postings.
Thank you for all the help.
I sure wish that I could make enough compost to cover my entire plot with every year, but I suspose that the plot is too small.
This year my lottie association arranged to have some council compost brought by our complex. Members could place orders for how many wheel barrow loads we wanted and then we paid a fee to cover the transportation costs. It was a great sucess and we will be doing that again next year.
...

My Westerland

My Westerland

Feeding Roses

Feeding Roses : Follow-up

Dear Sjoerd,

Oops!