Last updated on December 2nd, 2011
Photo: R.H. Blackburn (click to enlarge)
I’ll confess to having a love-hate relationship with my rose garden. Sometimes, in fact, I feel like ripping it out and replanting it with something else. Onions come to mind. For roses — at least when they are grown in a hot, humid northeastern garden — are about as high-maintenance as Eva Longoria’s character on Desperate Housewives. Still, when June rolls around and every shrub is lit with fragrant bloom, I can not think of a more delightful sight.
In the picture above, I’m kneeling beneath a rose-standard called ‘Baby’s Blanket,’ from Jackson & Perkins. Background right is the red climber ‘Blaze.’ Background left is a group of red Knock Out roses, which, although supposedly winter hardy, were indeed knocked-out during December’s ice storm. In the foreground is the pink double ‘Mayflower,’ a David Austin creation, like most of the other roses in this 50′ x 100′ foot garden.
View from my attic: the Rose Garden, immediately after construction. Geometric beds are bordered with Buxus ‘Winter Gem’ and Taxus ‘Hicksii.’
All of my shrub roses, including the Knock-Outs, require winter protection here in Zone 5-b. Thus, when the ground has frozen, usually in December, I mound them with shredded leaves up to a height of 18 inches. The standard, or “tree” rose receives a top-to-bottom mounding of straw and a wrapping of burlap. Winter protection is removed in mid-April.
In May the hideous task of pruning awaits. I say “hideous,” because I have nearly 60 roses, and these, at pruning-time, are large, fountainous, and covered with razor-sharp thorns. I can’t recall pruning a single rose without drawing blood or ripping my shirt. Anyway, every dead cane is removed, while other stems are pruned down to green wood.
A word about food and water. I rely on composted cow or chicken manure to provide nutrients, along with a handful of high-phosphorous plant food, which I scratch into the soil at six-week intervals. A slow-running hose, left at each shrub for 15-30 minutes, provides a deep soaking twice each week during the growing season.
Two identical fountains provide “water music.”
The miracle (and hardly that, if you consider the work) comes in mid-June, when one takes a perfumed stroll through this colorful oasis, accompanied by the sound of water cascading from two fountains. Could anything mar such breath-taking beauty?
Unfortunately, yes.
Enter the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, a dreadful insect that appears like clockwork the second week in July. The sole mission of this hard-shelled brute is to damage every leaf and flower bud in the rose garden. The destruction is heartbreaking, but unavoidable, unless one sprays regularly and frequently with a noxious chemical. And this, I simply will not do. The report on Japanese beetle traps is that they actually draw more of these insects to a garden.
And that’s my dilemma with roses. I love them in June, and loathe them at other times. Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to rip them out…and grow onions instead?
I’m always curious to hear what other gardeners have to say. Do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to share? A clever method for irradicating the Japanese beetle? Please post your thoughts — whatever they are — in the “comments” section below. Or just “lurk,” and read what other’s have written.
See you soon!
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How To Deadhead Roses for Repeated Bloom
From Parking Lot to Rose Garden
Anonymous says
Hi Kevin,
I say keep the roses because they add so much to your home and all its beauty. Maybe you could also invite Eva Longoria over to help with the care of these roses. I would come to see that and would of course also come whenever you have one of your grand parties.
Love, Jed
willswift says
I think that Eva Longoria should at least come to kick off a big rose garden party. Great picture of you and the roses! This was very helpful as I sometimes get discouraged, but now I know what to do and that I have company. Wayne
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Jed & Wayne: Imagine…Eva Longoria…as a “special guest” for fund-raising event in the rose garden. What a coupe! However, it would have to be well before the Japanese beetles emerge. Methinks she would not be amused.
[email protected] says
That is one breathtaking picture! Well done! Please keep the roses. Your garden is beautiful!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
nuttycoconut (love your screen name!): Please come by often!
Anonymous says
Yes, or course there is a reason roses have thorn’s, to keep us from ripping them out. What other animal could those thorns have been meant for? While you struggle with rose issues we can delight in observing your hard work. Cheers, Rod
draymond says
Try Milky Spore to control the japanese beetles. It’s expensive and takes some time to become effective, but you will see a reduction in the Japanese beetles. I believe it works by infecting the grubs and interfering with their growth.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Rod – you are SO right. Thanks.
Draymond – Thanks for the tip. I’ll try your suggestion and post the results in July.
susan says
I LOVE the rose garden even if it is a thorny issue!
Ed Randall says
Great post!
Andi says
Dearest Kevin your are amazing.
Nourse Farm in Deerfield MA is a woinderful source for friut plants. They ship all over.
My favorite way to have strawberries is dipped in Chocolate. YUM
I have a wooded shady yard on a lake in Goshen MA and wonder what kind of strawberries I can plant.
My first Blog attempt.
Thanks
Dianne Swift says
Hi Kevin,
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these luscious photos of your garden and flowers would fill a library. I especially adore the view of the rose garden from your attic. It reminds me of ancient symbols of mother Earth throughout history. Keep putting up pictures. Dianne
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Andi – thanks! I know you meant to post this under “Strawberry Fields,” but we get the picture. I concur. Strawberries dipped in chocolate are “da-bomb.”
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Dianne – Thanks for stopping by. The rose garden does indeed look best from on high, for then one can see its geometric pattern.
Elina says
Dear Kevin, your garden is beautiful! It's not the roses that are difficult, is it? It's the upkeep of your beautifully designed garden. I grow about 50 roses, used to be 83, but since I don't mulch, have lost quite a few to thawing and freezing…I live on the Wet Coast of BC, zone 6b, I think, and since my roses also have to compete with my husband's grapes, (lots of shade) I do lose a few every year….my best ones are the Austins, they are truly easy, fragrant, with bountiful blooms.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Elina – nice to meet you. Actually, the garden requires very little upkeep. I trim the boxwood once a year, and that's that. Deadheading and pruning the roses (and dealing with Japanese beetles – hope you don't have these) are the big issues for me.
That said, I do love roses, especially the Austins.
Now, you might want to save your autumn leaves, as I do, and shred them. They will serve you well as winter mulch. Otherwise, letting a few roses succumb to the freeze/thaw in winter isn't necessarily a bad thing. It permits room for new varieties in spring!