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| Pope John Paul II Rose is featured at the Vatican Gardens. I ordered it first and got it near the end of planting. |
I always wanted some white roses for contrast in arrangements, but I was underwhelmed by the ones I saw years ago, when I was growing our first roses. Our favorite rose at the time was Double Delight, because of color and fragrance. I had a special garden area in New Ulm with six Double Delights growing, daffodils coming up early around them in the wooden mulch.
Jackson and Perkins admonished me int the directions to soak first, so I dropped them in the rain barrel while I dug three places for them. Jackson and Perkins said "24 hours first," but I believe soaking them in their own beds is far kinder. In the wild, windy, and sunny West, the long soak may be worthwhile.
Besides that, I saw rain on radar and it came down for a good soak this morning. Nothing is better for gardening than rain and coffee.
My wake-up-out-of-dormancy rate for roses is 100%, so I am not motivated to do more than a preliminary soak. Small plants sent in the mail or drying out in supermarkets and hardware store displays should probably get a good long soak, more so than the dormant rose canes. I am using rainwater for ordinary plant soaks too.
Waking Up the Roses
- The long soak is not enough, because the real test is the formation of root hairs and new roots. That is only going to happen with the roses in the soil.
- The roots also have to establish friendships with the fungi and microbes in the soil. That is another reason for rapid planting.
- Pruning the roots is often necessary to fit them in the dug out area. Pruning the canes a bit, once planted, will help spur growth. Both types of pruning help wake the rose up.
- Watering the roses - and the canes - is essential in the first days, until the colored leaves (not the ghost leaves) appear. That means the rose is awake and growing. The canes want to be moist and clean, so spray them in the next few days.
- Mushroom compost can be included in the planting soil or added on top. I usually have divots of sod left over. I often pry the loose soil out while planting, then use the grass wigs left over, upside down, for preliminary high nitrogen mulch.
- Newspaper fitted around the rose plant will discourage weeds and encourage earthworms.
- If in doubt about soil microbes and earthworms, buy red wigglers and sprinkle them around gardening areas.
Some fungi increase the movement of phosphorus to roots, and mycorrhizal fungi deliver phosphorus, copper, zinc, molybdenum, and nitrogen to plant roots. Growth-promoting rhizobacteria form symbiotic relationships with plants that aid in the synthesis of nitrogen. Earthworm castings concentrate nutrients and create humus.
Lowenfels, Jeff; (2013-05-07). Teaming with Nutrients: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Optimizing Plant Nutrition (Kindle Locations 3681-3687). Timber Press. Kindle Edition.
You Can Never Have Too Much
- Mulch
- Newspaper
- Mushroom compost
- Compost
- Rainwater stored
- Extra organic material - leaves, sticks, grass cuttings, garden trash after the harvest.
- Hospitality for birds, bees, and insects.
Class - what do these things have in common? They are all living or they have lived. They are crawling with life, bursting with energy to create growth. Rainwater carries useful nitrogen into the soil and washes dust and pollen out of the air.
They are either free or very inexpensive.
They are non-toxic.
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| Everyone loves Double Delight, whose color varies with climate. |