Summer Gardening
Summer Rose Care – From Tiger Tips
Water is essential. As the heat increases, more per bush each week. Up to 10 gallons a week! Check on those pots! Keep them moist.
* Mulch to retain moisture in the soil and keep the top of the soil from drying out.
* If your climate is really hot, deadhead lightly! Just snap off the dead flowers at the top of the stem and leave as many leaves on the bush as possible.
* Water deeply and then feed with E.B. Stone Rose Food or something along that line in mid-summer.
* If you live in the fog belt, spray once a month with Serenade Fungicide, remember mildew is NOT your friend!
Summer – the garden is bursting with color, the veggies are ripening, fruits are being harvested.
The roses have rushed to bring spring blooms, and now they are slowing down a bit and ‘recycling’ their energies. New blooms are on the way!
Keep the rose a mean, blooming machine by removing the spent blooms. In hotter climates you should just snap the blooms off at the neck, leaving as many leaves as possible to make shade for the bush. In cooler climates, count down from the spent bloom and cut the stem off at a healthy set of 5-leaflet leaves.
Cool, moist coastal summers are perfect climates for mildews. Powdery mildew will attack roses (and many other plants). You can minimize any chance of infection by making sure your roses have good ventilation all around each bush. Don’t plant a rose flat up against a wall or fence – there is no air circulation at the back when you do this and mildews get in and infect the blooms.
Mission Hills Nursery Gardening Tools
The Citrus Shear of Yesteryear
