Please help my Rose!

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by Sabine, May 26, 2010.

  1. Sabine

    Sabine Active Member

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    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Hello,

    I bought a David Austin English Rose last spring, Lady Emma Hamilton, and it is not doing so well. It did great all last year, and started out really well this year. I pruned it down in early spring and it just SHOT back up, like tripled its size in about a month. There were a bunch of aphids on the new shoots at first, and I would either hand pick or spray them off with water, but I'm sure I didn't get them all.
    About a month ago it started looking funny. The top had really strong growth, that was kind of insane, really long canes coming out the top, but the bottom outside part started flopping over, like the stems were really weak. I've seen my Dahlias do this when they get top heavy, they'll flop over and then continue to grow along the ground and send new growth straight up. Same thing here. I also noticed some dark spots and yellowing on the leaves in the interior. It's basically created a big "hole" in the middle of my rosebush, and now 1/3 of my rose has really weak stems that are flopping down, with the roses and buds pointing straight at, or touching, the ground. Not so pretty. I thought the David Austin types were supposed to be some of the more disease resistant types? Does anyone know what is wrong with it and how I correct it? Organic methods first, if you don't mind.

    Here are some pics to clarify.
     

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  2. 1950Greg

    1950Greg Active Member

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    Location:
    Langley, B.C. Stones throw from old HBC farm.
    David Austin roses do tend to have nodding flowers. But on the whole the ones I have growing are very vigorous and mostly disease free. The yellowing leaves in the center is natural for roses and die off of leaves will occur lower down on the plant. The plant most likely hasn't established itself yet.
    This is just a personal choice but I like to leave a lot more room away from fences when I plant. Something like two feet just for practical purposes and it does allow more air movement.
     
  3. Sabine

    Sabine Active Member

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    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Thank you. So the yellowing of the foliage is normal? What about the spots on the foliage, is that something from aphids, a disease, or normal?

    And about the fence, is it easy or recommended to move a rose? I have not moved a large shrub before, just little perennials, so I don't know if it is ok or not, nor when to move it. I have room to move it a foot or so forward.
     
  4. 1950Greg

    1950Greg Active Member

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    Location:
    Langley, B.C. Stones throw from old HBC farm.
    Just leave the rose where it is moving it would do more harm than good. You should remove all the dead leaves from under the rose as these will further spread the black spot and mulch with steer manure or similar product. Next year prune out any dead, diseased, dieing or distracting canes and further remove all debris from under the rose. A lot more information can be found on these two sites.
    http://www.vancouverrosesociety.org/
    http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/
    Good luck and enjoy your rose.
     

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