Welcome to the holiday season! I know I’m still recovering from Thanksgiving — and I’m still stuffed. Between now and year-end, you and I will have to attend several Christmas parties, and there is the Arizona Rose Societies’ year-end award program. Oh, and sometime this month, I will need to give my roses their Performance Review and prepare them for winter.
How Did Your Roses Perform?
Last month, I suggested that now is the time to consider the roses in our garden to determine whether they are performing as expected. It’s an “annual review,” just like we used to have when we were still members of the working community. A Performance Review of your roses can help you decide which ones to keep and what needs to be replaced.
I’ve been looking hard at my roses and considering which ones are more work than joy. It’s a tough task because I’ve owned some of my plants for four or five seasons and have nursed them along over the years. What sticks in my mind is that I like repeat blooming roses. The more flowers they produce, the more I seem to like them.
I have several roses that produce beautiful roses once a year. I enjoy them for about one month, and then I’m left to water them for the next eleven months. If I had a larger garden, that might be ok. However, I have limited space, and I want to see more roses that I can photograph. I still go outside each day and take more pictures in hopes of finding some prize-winners that I can share here, at a rose show, or post elsewhere on social media.
My visits to the garden during this time of year are more about contemplating the next season rather than actually doing some work. There are still some new blooms to enjoy each day, but they will soon become fewer. December is a quiet time in my garden, and I use it to mull my plans for next year. This is the right time to give your garden some thought. A Performance Review of your roses is the first step to prepare for next season’s garden.
The featured rose for this post is “Sedona” (JACmcall). This awesome red with orange rose has performed well over the years. Its huge blooms are easy to see from anywhere in the garden. I look forward to tending this bush for many more years.
Repot Root-Bound Plants
Consider repotting a plant that seems to be struggling to grow despite regular watering. It is a great time to repot roses that have become root-bound. Take a look at the bottom of the pot and see if some visible roots are poking through the drainage holes. You can also remove your plant from its pot and check for a dense mass of roots circling the sides and bottom of the pot. If you discover your roots are circling the pot, trim them to encourage new root growth. Also, check to see if you notice roots growing over the top of the soil, which is another sign of root-bound issues.
Prune Roses in Late December
Roses typically don’t go completely dormant in Central Arizona. However, it’s still a good idea to cut them back and force them to take a winter break — no matter how short our cold season may be.
Remove all the old leaves from the branches, and be sure to rake up all the dead leaves at the base of the plant. Take the time to consider each of your rose bushes and prune out any weak, spindly, or diseased canes at the base. Remove any canes that cross through the center, and then prune the remaining canes back by one-third.
Keep Your Roses Healthy
Pruning is crucial for healthy rose bushes. You can rid the plant of fungal-bearing foliage and eliminate diseased canes with just a little effort. Doing so will improve airflow in and around the bush, which is another way to reduce fungal disease. Be sure to remove all of last season’s foliage from the bush or around the base. Dead leaves can harbor fungal spores that will immediately infect new growth. When you prune the plant and remove the leaves during this period, you ensure the bush isn’t wasting energy shedding the damaged foliage. Instead, it can concentrate on providing you with beautiful blooms in the Spring.
Pruning also keeps the bushes from growing too big and overwhelming their space. If you don’t prune, your new growth will sprout from the top of your old stems, and your 5-6 foot bushes may become 8 feet tall in May. That may be fine for a privacy border. Still, I personally have a difficult time climbing a ladder and smelling the roses up there.
The regular pruning season for Central Arizona runs from mid-December through early February. If you start pruning in late December, you can maximize your plant’s rest time. It will be too late by late February because rose bushes will be pushing out a lot of new growth by that time.
Water Your Roses As Needed
Watering your roses is less work during the winter — and less expensive. You may only need to water your plants every 4-5 days, depending on how wet and cold your soil is outside. As for potted plants, you might have to water them daily if roses are in 5-gallon pots or smaller. Larger pots may only need to be watered every other day or every third day.
December is probably the slowest month we enjoy as Rosarians. The holiday season gives us a brief respite from our regular regimen in the garden. It’s a great time to imagine what your garden can be next year. It’s a non-stressful time to rejuvenate some of your potted roses. Later this month, we can spend some time in the garden helping prepare all of our roses for next season. So, sharpen your pruners and get to work.
