My roses were blooming absolutely gorgeous they were! Then I went on holiday for two weeks came back and they were all dead? Will deadheading bring them back? and also pulling all blythed leaves and burning them or whatever help them back? Do I need to do anything to the soil?
Re: hi Was that the whole plants that were dead, or just the flowers finished? (and what are "blythed" leaves??? Leaves that have been to Blyth near me? ;-)
Re: hi Haha it could have been? Well I have just had a look and there are ants running up and down it a bit, do they harm roses? The petals and flowers were all dead but the green bulbous bits underneath are all nice and healthy because clever me sprayed off those nasty froghoppers before they came out to bloom. Some of the leaves have little blackspots on (thats my blythe) and I just dont know what to do? I cant understand it, 2 weeks ago my roses looked gorgeous! Also a neighbor has given me some cuttings, I planted them and nothing really happened whats the right way to get these underway?
Re: hi The green bulbous bits are the hips (fruit), when they're rime in a couple of months you can try growing the seeds in them (slow work!). They'd do that anyway, spray or no spray (it's always best to avoid sprays as much as possible!). The black spots are a disease called (surprise surprise!) Rose Black Spot; some roses get it, others are more resistant - if any have it so badly that most of the leaves are half-dead, you're better off getting rid of them and getting something different instead. Ants don't do any damage themselves, but they do 'farm' aphids, which suck the sap from the roses (the ants then drink the aphid poo, but let's not go there . . .) Rose cuttings - some take root easily, most don't. A little rooting hormone powder will help; follow the instructions on the tin.
Re: hi Ok thanks thats great, when I said sprayed it was just water so the little froghoppers would go away. Its nice to know some take root and others dont, I thought maybe I was a rubbish gardener or something. So is this normal for roses to do this? As next doors crimson red roses are still in bloom, whereas my reddy purple roses have gone.
Depends on the cultivar - some have a very short flowering period, others flower either continuously, or on-and-off, for the whole summer.
Back to the original question: If your rose is a repeat blooming variety, then deadheading the spent flowers (which means also taking off the bulbous green parts which are the developing fruit) is usually necessary to spur another round of blooming. If you don't deadhead the rose, it will set fruit (hips) and then divert its energy into fruit production rather than more flowers. Taking off the baby fruit during the summer forces the rose to produce more flowers. When deadheading, most roses it is best to cut the stem back a ways, back to a 5 leaflet cluster, or a strong bud, rather than simply nipping off the flower. This helps maintain sturdy stems and a shapelier plant. In the autumn, leave the hips on, and the rose will 'settle down' for the winter. Do remove any diseased or blighted foliage as soon and as often as you see it, and clean up any diseased leaves from the ground. Garbage or burn these, do not compost.
Many roses continue flowering while also forming fruits, familiar example Rosa rugosa. Deadheading more likely to be needed to induce replacement bloom from those that aren't as consistently remontant.
