|
Planting roses in the fall in zone 6 can be somewhat challenging, but not without its rewards. The other seasons also present their own sets of problems and advantages. Last year I planted roses throughout all three seasons: in mid-spring, summer, and early fall. Roses planted in the fall get a head start by working to put down more roots during the cold months preceding next year's growth. Autumn rains are usually sufficient to keep new plants watered. Just be sure to give them a good initial soaking after planting, and water as needed thereafter. For me, another advantage of fall planting is that I can keep new roses in pots and evaluate them for a full growing season before deciding whether or not to give them a permanent spot in the garden. Although I try to give roses at least two years in the ground before I judge their disease-resistance, the hopelessly blackspot-prone and weak growers usually show themselves within the first year. It would be wise to remove any rose that starts "growing backwards," as one California rosarian put it, or you will needlessly invest more time and money in pesticides and other attempts to salvage sickly plants. It would be cheaper simply to buy a better rose instead. I've also observed that roses that I buy in late summer or early fall often have reduced incidence of blackspot during the first year, which helps them to establish quicker. Mail-order roses, coming straight from the growers, have been pampered and doused with fungicides, which is usually sufficient to keep the roses disease-free for the remainder of the growing season. Roses planted in autumn can potentially gain an entire season to establish roots and several months more before they become stressed by blackspot. For fall planting, potted roses can be planted anytime up through October. Fall bareroots should be planted from late October through November, as long as the ground isn't frozen. You want it to be sufficiently late in the season that the weather permits the barerooted roses to stay dormant. My summary of last year's fall planting results would be that it was an overall success, but you can look at the data for yourself and draw your own conclusions. I did lose a few roses, but mostly these were marginally hardy varieties: Souvenir de la Malmaison, which is part tea; Sarah van Fleet, which is not considered a very hardy rugosa; Buff Beauty rotted underneath an overzealous layering of straw mulch. Erfurt died to the ground. It was still alive, but I only noticed this after I pulled out the entire plant. You can also look at my list of fall-planted roses for 2004. This page was last updated on 05.01.05 2003 Fall Planting Report | 2004 Fall Planting Report |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
