MAY IS ROSE MONTH IN THE LOWCOUNTRY

Roses, roses everywhere in the lowcountry!

 

Since roses are at their peak bloom in May in the Lowcountry, the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society is celebrating May as their Rose Month instead of June.

 

Come to the local libraries (Photos below) at the Charleston area and see the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society's display of members' roses together with brochures about growing roses, The American Rose magazines and some membership application forms for both the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society and the American Rose Society. Not pictured are the displays at Mt. Pleasant, North Charleston and Goose Creek.

 

At Johns Island Public Library

 

At St. Andrews Regional Library

 

At West Ashley Library

 

At James Island Library

 

We will also have a booth at the Charleston Farmer’s Market on May 16 at Marion Square in downtown Charleston.  Here is the photo from last year's display.

 

 

To join the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society, pick up an application form from the display at the libraries, or visit our website - www.charlestonrose.com. This year, we will have a special treat to our members - a picnic at a private plantation in Yemassee in June.

 Let’s have One Rose for Every Home!

"Wine and Roses" Little Rose Show

 

 

COME AND JOIN US FOR OUR

LITTLE ROSE SHOW

Theme: “Wine and Roses”

 

Sunday, May 3, 2015

2:30 – 4:00 pm

Berkeley Electric Office

3351 Maybank Highway

 

The Rose Show is open to the public but only members of the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society can enter the rose show. The membership dues are $15 per single membership and $20 per family membership and include 10 issues of our award-winning newsletter. For more info, check our website – www.charlestonrose.com

 

For our May meeting, we will not have a program but a Little Rose Show instead. The theme is “Wine and Roses”. Bring your roses if you can in an empty wine bottle with your name, the name of the rose and its rose classification. We limit ten entries per person. A couple can have 20 entries. All classes of roses can be entered including Knock Out roses. The roses are not going to be judged but all entries will have a prize just for bringing them in. Also, at the end of the show, we encourage our members to share their cuttings with fellow members and guests to take home to enjoy or root them or bring them to their local libraries for our “May is the Rose Month in the Lowcountry” project.

 

ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

At the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society's Rose Show on April 25 at Cypress Gardens in Monck Corner, there is a section for ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST. The Rose Show is open to the public from 1:00 - 4:30 PM. To enter the rose photography section, you have to be a member of the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society. For info, go to our website: www.charlestonrose.com.


Below are the Classes and the Rules:  

Class 1: One bloom, at its most perfect stage, HT, Gr, F of any variety including singles, no sidebuds.

Class 2: One spray, FT, Gr, F, Polyantha, two or more blooms.

Class 3: One bloom of a miniature or miniflora, no sidebuds

Class 4: A spray of a miniature or miniflora

Class 5: One Bloom of Shrub or Old Garden Rose

Class 6: A spray of a Shrub or Old Garden Rose

Class 7: Open bloom rose(s) of any class, stamens must show.

Class 8: A photo of any rose garden or any rose society activitiy

Class 9: Abstract or Impressonism: A photo having non-objective design, form or content, of a rose plant(s) or any portion thereof. Does not include abstract arrangements.

 

Contest Rules:

1. Contest is open only to members of the Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society and must have taken all photographs entered. Any contestants who have not paid their current year’s dues will be ineligible.

2. Contestants are permitted to enter a maximum of three photographs per class in all classes. However, contestants may enter only one photo of a particular variety in ANY class. Photos can be in 4” x 6” or 5” x 7” size but no frame or matting is allowed.

3. Duplicate photos may NOT be entered in different classes.

4. The rose photos must be entered with the ARS approved exhibition name. Grooming the rose(s) is encouraged and artificial backgrounds may be used.

5. Photographs need to be submitted in the following format: class number with the letters a-c for multiple pictures in the same class, last name of the contestant and the approved exhibition name of the rose. An example would be 1a-Morgan – Gemini; 1b-Morgan – Queen Elizabeth; 1c-Morgan – Betty Boop. Tag should be taped in back of the photo. Any text in front of the entry will be cause for disqualification.

6. Any photographs may be enhanced by the use of any graphic program, such as Photoshop, Elements or Photo Impact.

7. Any individual who enters this contest give express permission to CLRS to use their photos for educational display at the libraries and at the Charleston Farmer’s Market in May. Photos will be returned to contestants in June.

8. Class 1-7 will be judged 50 percent on exhibition quality and 50 percent on photographic excellence. Class 8-9 will be judged on photographic excellence only.

9. The judges reserve the right to disqualify any entry that does not conform to the stated rules prior to the entries being judged.

10. There will be awards in each class: Blue ribbons for first place; Red ribbons for second place and Yellow ribbons for third place. The Blue ribbons winners in each class will be eligible for Best of Contest Award.

 

FRAGRANT CLOUD

Photo from classicroses.co.uk

 

Registered Name – TANellis

Syns. Duftwolke, Nuage Parfume

Tantau, Germany, 1967

Seedling x ‘Prima Ballerina’

Fragrant Cloud rose has extremely fragrant blooms and constantly winning at rose shows across the country for its fragrance.  The flowers are an unuual coral-red maturing to geranium red with 30 petals and exhibition-style blooms.  The high-centered well-formed blooms are borne mostly singly, averaging 5”-6” in diameter on a vigorous upright plant of 3-5 ft in height and 2 ft in width.  The large foliage is a rich, glossy dark green on a vigorous bush that is very prolific.  I had Fragrant Cloud rose in my first garden in the early ‘70s and then again it was one of the first roses that were planted when we bought our next home in the ‘80s.  After 30 years, it was still there when we left. 

 

Fragrant Cloud rose is an excellent rose for bedding and for borders and cut flower.  It is very susceptible to mildew in autumn and black spot during damp weather.  Inspite of those problems, it still remains as one of the most popular roses in the market because of its intense fragrance.  You can bring them inside and fill the room with heady perfume for days. There is a climbing Fragrant Cloud propagated by Collin & Sons in England in 1973.  It also has that unique coral-red bloom on the long canes, covered with dark, reddish green foliage.  The climbing version can reach a height of 12 ft.  Fragrant Cloud climbing rose can produce very fragrant blooms during the summer only. 

Fragrant Cloud rose has won the National Rose Society President’s International Trophy in 1964, Portland Gold Medal in 1966, American Rose Society James Alexander Gamble for Fragrance Award in 1970 and World Favorite Rose in 1981 and still winning awards today for fragrance.

PRUNING YOUR ROSES

If you look at the calendar, Spring begins on March 20 but lovers of roses, spring comes when that yellow-flowered shrub called Forsythia starts to bloom.  Then our season begins.  But before we enjoy the fragrance and color of the rose garden, there's much work ahead with cleanup and pruning. Some rosarians start early which is not such a bad idea especially if you have plenty of roses to prune.   You can always cut more later but you have a head start.  Pruning our roses is a rite of spring for us.  

We prune our roses for several reasons – to keep our roses healthy, to control its excessive growth and to shape your bush for a better display.  

Before we rush out there in the garden, make sure you have all the right equipments.  A good pair of bypass pruner preferably Felco. No 2 is recommended. Keep your pruner very sharp.  A sharp pruner is less taxing to your hand and creates less bruising on your roses.  For cutting larger canes, a lopper is a better choice.  Their longer handles make it easier to cut through thicker canes.  You should also have a pruning saw for those extra thick canes.  

Also, of utmost importance is to wear gloves.  A good leather glove is a must to protect yourself from too many scratches.  Long sleeved shirts or jackets will protect your arms and wrists.  Hat is also important to protect your face from the sun and to protect your head if you are balding.  My favorite is a pith helmet.  Make sure your tetanus booster shot is up to date.

Your first agenda is to cut the dead, diseased and damaged canes. Cut until you see the white or cream colored pith.  If necessary, you can go down to almost near the bud union.  Roses will bloom on a dark colored pith but once the weather warms, the canes die back or become unproductive. Don’t go crazy looking for white pith on “Peace” rose.  It does not have white pith.  After getting rid of the dead and diseased canes, begin cutting the longer canes first and get them out of your way.  Pay close attention to what you are doing.  Work from the outside in.  Remember that you are surrounded with thorns so be very careful.  

Cut above the leaf with five leaflets to about ¼ inch from the bud.  If longer, the cane can die back and if shorter, new growth might break off in the wind.  Cut to an outward facing bud so a new growth will face outward too.  With few exception, like roses that tend to grow sideways, cut in the direction you want the branch to grow.  Roses like The McCartney Rose, First Prize and Just Joey tend to sprawl so prune them to an inside facing bud.    Always remember to aim at an open space in the bush.  Make the cut on a slant so water drain off.  Seal with Elmer’s glue to prevent the cane borer from burrowing into the newly cut canes.    

You also want to open the center of the bush for good air circulation to ward off diseases.  Cut long and straggly canes and canes that are crossing or touching each other leaving the stronger canes.  I usually cut to about a foot high except for the shrub types which can go from 18 inches to 24 inches tall.  Leave three or four good healthy canes.  If only one cane is available, cut it lower to encourage new growth from the bud union.

On Hybrid Teas, Grandiflora, and some Floribundas, remove stems smaller than a pencil because they will not produce good blooms for cutting.  For exhibitors, cutting back to 6 to 12 inches length will produce stronger canes and good quality blooms.  Miniature roses are pruned the same way as Hybrid Teas.  If you find this too tedious, you can go drastic and use a hedge pruner and prune to 5” high.  Mother Nature is very forgiving and usually corrects our mistakes so don’t worry too much.  Climbers and ramblers bloom from the 2-year old canes so cut the dead wood only and trim to desired shape.  Old Garden Roses also bloom from the second year wood so cut only the dead wood in spring and prune drastically after flowering to promote growth and improve its shape.  

Remove all blind shoots.  These are branches that taper down to almost nothing.  Remove spurs.  These are short growths only a few inches long that have hardened off and taper down to a point.  They will not flower.  

Prune to desired height you want for your rose.  Some rosarians want their roses tall.  I want my roses short and compact looking.  I can also look down at them instead of stretching my neck to appreciate their beauty.  After you are done pruning, remove every leaf.  These old leaves are the reservoir for black spot and mildew.  You might also want to start your spraying program with dormant oil to take care of the overwintering insects.  Also, spread a cupful of Epsom salt around each bush for better growth.  Then you can relax a little bit while waiting for the new growth to arrive.

Designing a Garden

Winter has finally arrived and since it is our downtime, it is a great time to plan and design your garden. If you have an existing bed, maybe it is time to redesign it. What can you do to improve the garden next spring?  It is too cold to work outside so you can do some planning work inside. 

 

I usually pull out my gardening books especially those that deal with garden design. I have four books that always come up this time of the year. “Beautiful American Rose Gardens” by Mary Tonetti Dorra is great for planning a rose garden. There are some formal plans in the book where you can get an idea of planning a formal garden. “Landscape with Roses” by Jeff Cox has more informal beds incorporating other plants.  Penelope Hobhouse’s “Garden Designs” always come to mind if one wants to get an idea on how to do an English garden. “Color Echoes” by Pamela J. Harper is a treatise on how to harmonize color in the garden. Armed with these four books and the garden catalogs that are coming in non-stop, I have plenty of ideas to work on. I love doing this in the middle of winter.

 

Before you plan and design a garden or for that matter a rose garden, there are few things you have to consider.  You have to know why you want a garden.  We garden for various reasons.  Hundreds of years ago, people wanted a garden for food and medicine.  Gardening for pleasure did not come until later when man had satisfied his basic needs.  Nowadays, people garden because they want beauty to surround them.  Flowers make us feel good.  There is also a green movement now and lots of people are growing vegetables because they want to make sure they are getting vegetables devoid of artificially synthesized chemical fertilizers.

 

We have to ask a few questions before we start digging.  How much work do you want to put into the garden?  How big do you want your garden to be?  How much sun do you get in a day?  How shady is your yard?  What kind of plants are you thinking of growing?  Do you need these items in your garden besides flowers: vegetables, containers, pergola, arbor, a sitting area, lawn space, play area for your kids?  Do you need a compost pile and where do you want to hide it?  Will you use part of the garden for grilling and/or for dining?  Do you like to use the garden as a place to sit alone, read, relax or meditate?  These are the things you have to consider in planning and designing your garden.

 

For rosarians like us, we need at least four hours of sunlight to grow better roses.  Knock Out, a shrub rose will grow in dappled shade but will perform much better with plenty of sunlight.  Do you want to incorporate perennials with your roses?  For a cottage look, plan on planting perennials with roses.  There are plenty of plant companions that you can try.  I love white alyssum as edging for my roses in my front yard. It defines the line between the rose bed and the lawn and it has a sweet fragrance and repels bugs. I’m probably in the minority on this but now there is a growing trend to plant roses with other plants.  Somehow, roses fare better when planted with other plants than being isolated in a special rose bed.  They are less susceptible to diseases. 

 

With a stack of blank paper, scotch tape to attach them together, a box of Crayola crayons, a pair of scissors and all the catalogs I can gather, I start studying the catalogs to see what I really want in the garden. I cut the pictures of the plants, place them next to a complimentary color, check the blooming time and the condition where they want to live and bingo. I have my design. If I don’t have the picture of the plant I want, I use my crayons. Then I start ordering my plants. I do this every year. It’s a rite of passage for me.

 

In my New York garden, the center of the garden is quite formal with two sets of parterres with only roses and tulips planted in between the roses for dramatic spring color before the roses take over.  Around the perimeter of the yard are beds with annuals, perennials and shrubs incorporated with roses for a cottage look.  Here in Charleston where I live in a townhouse, I have a small garden. My roses share the spot with other plants.  I chose my plants for their fragrance and good company for my roses.   Annuals make a big splash in the garden and bloom their hearts out in one season.  If you want an instant and carefree garden, plant plenty of annuals.  It can get expensive unless you start from seed indoors way before the last frost date.

 

Container gardening is another venue to venture on.  Use your imagination.  There are plenty of choices of containers now in the market and you can really go to town with it.  Treat it like you are doing a floral arrangement.  Roses will thrive in containers as long as there is plenty of room for roots to grow.  Plan on having a big pot or container.  Consider a tree rose with some annuals for dramatic display.

 

For the waterwise gardener, there is the Xeriscape Gardening.  There are plenty of choice native plants and you can save plenty of water bills in the process.  High Country Gardens specialize in native plants and their catalog and website provide plenty of great plants. They even sell roses.  For three years before we moved permanently in Charleston, my roses thrived on benign neglect.  We only came for a couple of weeks every three months.  Twice we did not visit for four months.  When we came back, my garden was like a jungle.  Everything was overgrown and my roses survived the summer with just the rain if it came at all.  The secret is I planted all my roses with Scott Moisture Control potting mix.  During those visits, I also sprayed the roses with Messenger once (yes, I still have them) and they did not get any blackspot either.

 

There is one area which some people consider too hard to garden, the shady spot in your yard.  Don’t despair, there are more plants now that are suited for the shady nook of your yard.  Some have colorful leaves that can enliven your shady spots.  Besides azaleas and rhododendrons, there are plenty of coleus, caladiums, hostas and begonias to choose from.  They all come in various shades of leaves and flower forms.  Some begonias have a rose form and some non-gardeners will even mistake them for roses.  A few roses will thrive in partly shaded sections of the garden.  Gruss an Aachen, a floribunda and Bow Bells, a David Austin Rose will do quite well in dappled shade.  Bow Bells continuously bloom in the shade.  When some of my roses take a break in the summer, my two Bow Bells are still blooming their hearts out.

 

Once you have figured out the plant requirements and what you want your garden for, then it is time to prepare the soil.  The soil is the most important aspect of designing a garden.  For roses, you need a sandy loam.  Take a soil sample and have a pH test done.  After you find the right spot in your yard to start a garden, dig the sod out and add plenty of compost to the bed before you start planting.  I know some gardeners in England don’t use fertilizer in their garden but plenty of compost and they have the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.

 

A majority of us rosarians started our garden years ago with possibly five roses.  I know I did and over the years you just keep on adding more roses.  As we get older, we tell ourselves to slow down or even stop but somehow we can’t.  Gardening is good exercise and the beauty it creates is good for our wellbeing.  It gives beauty and pleasure to everyone.  So don’t stop now.  When you stop gardening and smelling the roses, life will stop too.