This is my first rose bush ever! So far, I've been doing good with it. Now I just need to know how to maintain it properly. I want to cut off the faded blooms but not sure where to make my cut. I read that it should be you should make the cuts about 1/4 inch above an outward facing bud. My question?? What if it doesn't have an outward facing bud? All I can see is thorns going right up the stem. I noticed some whiteflies buzzing around it. How do I get rid of them? I have no yellow leaves, no blackspot or aphids. I don't water the leaves and I stuck a piece of garlic in the ground in early spring. The rose bush has about 4 or 5 huge pink blooms at the top of each stem, while some of the blooms have grown in smaller red clusters. Is that normal? Thank you for helping me.
i cut the blooms off directly below the bottom part (the round part). what you're describing: "make the cuts about 1/4 inch above an outward facing bud" is what you do when you are pruning the bush. the idea of cutting above an outward facing bud is so that new growth goes out instead of in...to maintain lots of good airflow around all the canes. sometimes it's hard to see the new buds as they can be pretty small. pruning doesn't need to be done at this point - it's usually done after the growing season (right before winter hits) or in very early spring while the bush is still in dormant phase.
joclyn, thanks very much for your quick reply. Okay, I'm not going to prune it. I just want to cut off the faded bloom. I'm not sure where you mean....i cut the blooms off directly below the bottom part (the round part). Do you mean just the bloom and just leave the long stem there? Sorry, I'm still a little confused. Thanks soooo much for helping me.
Also, the smaller red clusters are probably flowers from the root stock, which means they will look different from the "real" flowers. I'd cut the stems that are producing the red flowers off right at the ground - they are usually really straight canes. For deadheading it doesn't really matter where you cut them off - she was just meaning don't cut the whole branch, just the dead flower off. I usually prune a bunch off in the fall and then do the shaping (and outward-facing bud stuff) in the spring when it just barely starts to sprout.
