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| The squirrels and birds let me eat a few of these beauties every so often. Triple Crown Blackberries. |
I had a Veterans Honor rose that we kept stepping on, because it was small and in the wrong place in the rose garden.
I moved it to the Blackberry patch, which was largely neglected. However, Blackberries are aggressive spreaders through the root system, stoloniferous. They wanted to crowd out the rose completely - and any rose wants lots of elbow room.
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| Veterans Honor is the best pure red rose, lasting a long time when cut and generous with fragrance. |
Our neighbor, at the end of the street, loves roses, and her daughter always wanted to grow them, so I offered my orphan rose.
Today was a good day to transplant. I prepared the rose by soaking it with rainwater yesterday and this morning.
One spot was eliminated because the bulbs were spreading so fast. I cautioned, "Roses want room on each side, no competition." In fact, I have seen roses hurt by grass encroaching their space, so I plan on extra mulched areas around each plant, at least two feet on each side.
The Veterans Honor rose came up from the Blackberry patch with one scoop from my shovel. Being soaked twice in 24 hours helped, and it was not as deeply rooted as one with a long history in the same spot.
I wheel-barrowed it over - two houses away - with a shovel, rose shears, and cow manure. We looked for a new spot and found one away from trees, getting morning sun, but not likely to be roasted in the afternoon.
The soil was dried clay, which got tougher and harder quickly. I did some of the digging and soon the area was ready. The rose, roots, and soil went in together. I pointed out the green branch coming from the main part and snipped some dead wood off the rose. We filled in with potting soil, though the composted cow manure would have worked too.
I suggested a deep, slow drip afterwards and daily watered for a time, including the upper part. Newspaper or cardboard plus pine needles from their pine trees will make a good mulch. Roses favor acid a bit, so fireplace ashes (base, just the opposite) are not a good choice on roses.
Basic Planting Instructions
- When possible soak all bare root and potted plants in rainwater or stored water - at least a few hours. This gives the plant a good supply of moisture for growing root hairs and getting rooted.
- Roses want to be pruned, so a little snipping of roots and canes will encourage fast rooting and leafing out, New leaves are the sign of success.
- Daily watering of new roses is also a good idea, with attention paid to the canes, which are sponge-like, easily giving up moisture but also responding well to watering.
- Mulching with paper or cardboard - plus leaves or needles or wood mulch - will hold in moisture and build the soil.
- Do not add chemical fertilizer, but red wiggler earthworms should be dropped on top of the area.
- Autumn leaves are a great way to protect roses for the winter and build up the soil. In New Ulm I bought chicken wire and created a bin holding the leaves around all the roses. They were well protected from drying and freezing wind, and the soil was improved all winter and into the spring.
- The best way to revive roses and help them bloom is to use rainwater. Roses respond in a day or two. If it rains afterwards as well - so much the better.
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| John 1:3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. |
