Keep caring for roses
OKeep removing spent flowers now and you’ll have blooms into autumn – but beware of rust!
ne lesson that has been reinforced for me this summer is to deadhead roses as soon as they flower. I’ve managed to deadhead better this summer than ever before and have been rewarded by fast rebloom and oceans of flowers. Keep deadheading and your reward will be roses blooming well into late autumn/early winter. Keep giving your plants foliar food until the middle of September. It’s a good idea to stop then to allow new growth to mature and harden up for the winter.
When I was at the rose trials in the Westbroekpark, in The Hague, Holland, and Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park in Belfast,
I saw a number of varieties had rust. I’ve only ever seen this disease once or twice in my own garden, usually on Rosa laxa rootstocks. I’ve found it on some of my seedlings that get minimal spraying as I want to test them for disease resistance. I dug out the offending varieties because rust spreads rapidly and can kill plants. If your roses have this disease, spray them immediately with a fungicide recommended for treating it. If spraying doesn’t work and the rust persists, then you should dig up the plants and burn them and all the affected leaves. ● The new Rose Society UK has had a great start and even at this early stage is going from strength to strength. Look out for its stand at the Harrogate and Malvern shows in September. You can also find the society on Facebook, Twitter and at www.therosesocietyuk.com.