View full sizeRoses and rain -- a typical June. Gretchen Humphrey uses an array of umbrellas to protect some of the roses at her Tigard home.
It's
season, that heady time of parades, flowers and festivities, which has us thinking about growing roses. Here are some tips shared with us several years ago by Gretchen Humphrey, winner of the Spring 2010 Show with 'Neptune.' If you're just getting started, be sure to check out the
June 9-10 during the festival for some inspiration.
HOW TO GROW A WINNER
1. Choose a winning variety.
Don't waste time, money and effort on varieties that don't show well in our climate. Check trophy stands at local rose shows or visit
and
for lists of winners.
2. Prepare your soil.
Start with 1/3 coarse sand, 1/3 soil and 1/3 compost, and add organic matter every year. Roses need a soil pH of about 6.5. Feed soil with two doses of 15-10-10 fertilizer, in April and late June. Work organic fertilizer into the soil early in the spring, and spray plants with a plant food before the show.
3. Prune your roses to knee-high around Presidents Day.
Not pruning will result in weak canes and many small blooms. The larger the cane diameter, the better. Remove weak, thin growth smaller than a pencil width.
4. Grow it in sun.
Winners don't grow in the shade.
5. Disbud.
Snap off all the side buds that grow around the main bud and down the cane at the leaf junction when they're still small.
6. Protect from disease.
Once the plant is infected with black spot and powdery mildew, it's too late. Develop a regular spray program using different fungicides to prevent building resistance.
7. Insects such as aphids and spittlebugs are usually benign and can be washed off with a spray of the hose.
A small spritz of Orthene will get rid of thrips on light-colored flowers.
8. Water is essential for nice, plump blooms.
If it doesn't rain, you must supply water.
9. Cover your roses to protect winning blooms from rain.
Botrytis fungus causes rotting of petals in damp and rainy weather. Use umbrellas attached to stakes or a plastic baggie stapled over a potential winning bloom if rain threatens before a show.
10. If you see a winner and it's not going to last until show day,
cut a long stem with the foliage and put it in water in your refrigerator at 35-40 degrees.
-- Homes & Gardens staff
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