Celebrate the Rose

Celebrate the Rose

As we mature, our lives take on different meaning. We become more attune to our surroundings and our appreciation for life changes. Some of us might continue to challenge the status quo, while others become steeped in tradition. I think gardening helps us discover which path our heart desires.

Specifically, I think growing roses hold us in a more traditional mindset.

Bee in a sunflower

Think back to the plants your grandmother grew.  Geraniums, Zinnias, Sunflowers, and Roses... gorgeous roses! These coveted memories of our grandmothers' garden roses become the impetus to carry on a desire to have beautiful roses just like she had.

The classic favorites are timeless and they have become the gold standard in our rose gardens. We speak of them as we would an old friend for they've become a permanent part of our collection. When these roses have finally become tired and less productive, we hold onto them for as long as possible until we can no longer fight the good fight. Eventually we give in to their aged status and decide to finally replace them. We ceremoniously dig them up and give them a proper burial. We ruefully scour the catalogs for suitable replacements thinking maybe this is the year we will "try something different."

But wait! What delightful new surprises grace the catalogs filling my mailbox!  

Suddenly, the desire to act with predictable decision making is uncontrollably thrown out the window.

Climbing Westerland

I regularly pay close attention to what comes out of the breeding program at Weeks Roses. The roses rarely fail to impress me. The new Climbing Above All™ is one that I'm excited to see because it's being promoted as a modern version of the Climbing Westerland. Having blooms as salmon-orange as it's predecessor but with a higher petal count and greater flower production.

Another rose that has piqued my interest is called Anna's Promise™.  

Named for Anna, a character in the British television show Downton Abby, it apparently symbolized the heart and integrity of her personality. There are golden petals blushed in pink with a bronze reverse which look absolutely stunning. It boasts a spicy, fruit fragrance to boot. Sounds delish... is this a rose or a new dessert?

The Wake Forest University Rose

In its parentage is About Face™, which I have always admired. Its glossy green leaves have never looked worn or faded and the growth always seems to be strong and vigorous. Good as Gold™ (a 2014 Introduction) come from About Face™ and has been an impressive hybrid tea so far this year.

Another new introduction from About Face™ that we are quite proud of here at Witherspoon is The Wake Forest University Rose. 

This grandiflora has good disease resistance and a light apple fragrance on golden blossoms that deepen with cooler temperatures. We are honored to have a hand in producing and promoting this exclusive rose to the market with $10 from every sale going to the general scholarship fund and Wake Forest University.

Peace

I feel like this article would not be complete unless I mentioned some of the old favorites. These roses are tried and true, so we go to them time and time again. Peace is for sure one of those on my list. And, let's be honest, so are the others in the Peace family. I believe the Peace rose is one hybrid that will remain in the hearts of rose lovers across the country. To add to this list, I would include Queen Elizabeth. This tall, pink beauty blooms in clusters and is a sight to behold! Did I mention she's nearly thornless? Certainly my list is not complete without mentioning Tiffany. How can you not love the tall pointed buds?

These roses were introduced around the 1950's when America was full of high spirit and optimism after World War II. The garden was a victory, family togetherness was time well spent and roses were in the hearts and yards of smiling gardeners.

Queen Elizabeth

Sincerely,

Sandie  

Help!! There Are Holes in My Roses!

Budworms:  This Bud is NOT For You

What is a budworm? You will know the damage when you see it.  If your buds and blooms are full of holes, you have been visited by budworms. These critters can damage a whole lot of blooms in a short time so it is important to learn a little more about them and how we can rid our roses of them.   The budworms that attack our roses are actually called tobacco budworms or Heliothis virescens.  They overwinter in the south, but they can spread as far north as New England during the summer.  Adult budworms are moths that are tan or brown in color with three darker stripes across their wings and they are about 1 inch in length. The eggs are deposited on, in, or under the buds and blooms and they take 2-3 days to hatch. Once they emerge they eat their way through as many blooms as they can.  When they have had their fill they make their way down into the soil where they go through their pupal stage to emerge as moths about 22 days later.  Warm temperatures speed up some of these processes.  Now that we know what they are, let's take a look at some contol measures.

1.	Cut Your Blooms - Since the adult moths use buds and terminal growth to lay their eggs, everytime you cut your roses you are removing a possible incubation site.  It is also important to remove "blind shoots" as they can also be a good incubation spot.
2.	Keep Spraying - Although it is difficult to get spray to the budworms inside the bud, it is important to keep spraying. If they emerge from the bud and eat the tissue that has been sprayed you will have one less adult moth in your garden. Bacillus Thuringiensis or Bt as found in products such as "Thuricide" from Hi Yield is a great biological control that works on caterpillars including budworms.
3.	Help the Good Guys - There are many insects and spiders that feed on budworms.  Avoiding broad spectrum insecticides such as Sevin will help keep the beneficial insects in your garden.  It is also a great idea to encourage birds to visit your garden because they will eat the moths and caterpillars that are causing damage to your roses.

Budworms can be difficult to control but by following good gardening practices and encouraging nature to give you a hand, you can keep them from turning every rose in your garden into swiss cheese.  Your buds are for you to enjoy, not for the budworms.

Virtual Tour of Gardens: Strowd Garden

Witherspoon Rose Culture Presents:

Virtual Tour of the Gene Strowd Community Garden

We live in a society that champions speed and efficiency.  Smartphones make it easy to communicate without verbal communication and almost eliminate the need for face to face contact.  These advances in technology, frequency of relocation, and busier schedules have all contributed to an overall sense of isolation in our society.  We truly have to work to be a part of a community, but it is a refreshing experience to be a part of something larger than ourselves.  Gene Strowd was a man who championed community, and over four hundred and fifty roses stand as a testament to that fact in the Gene Strowd Community Garden in Chapel Hill, NC. 

Gene Strowd Community Garden

Gene Strowd was a rosarian on the national level, but his heart was obviously dedicated to his home community of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.  Mr. Strowd used roses as a way of engaging with people and bringing beauty into the lives of those he came in contact with daily.  In 1987, he proposed the idea of a community rose garden where everyone was welcome to come and experience the beauty that only roses can provide.  Gene Strowd, along with the Chapel Hill Rose Society and the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department, designed the layout of the garden and construction began in 1988.

Climbing Iceberg

As you walk into the garden, you get a sense of what Gene Strowd hoped to accomplish by planting a rose garden in the middle of Chapel Hill.  There are benches around the garden where you can sit and have a face to face conversation with friends.  You will hear joyful giggles from the playground that is located directly adjacent to the garden, and if you take time to sit in the gazebo at the back of garden you will see how many people from the community take time to stop and smell the roses.  The copper fountain in the center of the garden provides a soundtrack to the rose garden with soothing sounds of trickling water, and the brick pathways lead you through the fragrant beds of roses that encourage you to take time out of your busy day to enjoy pure beauty.

Raised Brick Bed

Both Gene and his beautiful bride, Irene, have passed on from this world, but through Strowd Roses, Inc their commitment to the community of Chapel Hill and Carrboro continues on to this day.  Not only does Strowd Roses, Inc fund the maintenance of the Gene Strowd Garden, they also provide funding for community organizations that improve the quality of life for the community of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

Living in a society where speed and efficiency are often championed over personal connection, it is refreshing to step into a world of beauty where we can slow down and enjoy the people around us.  Gene Strowd and his wife Irene dedicated their lives and their money to promote a community where helping one another and enjoying togetherness was advocated for above all else.

Carefree Spirit  

Climbing America

Copper Fountain

Seating area in the gazebo

Secret

Double Delight

Signature

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW FOR A 360 VIEW OF THE Gene STrowd Community Rose GARDEN!

Join us next time for our third stop on the Witherspoon Virtual Tour of Gardens!

Would you like for your garden to be featured in our virtual tour of gardens?  

Email Kelley Triplett at ktriplett@witherspoonrose.com

Witherspoon ships premier roses to all 48 contiguous states February- April.  

Visit www.witherspoonrose.com for product details

Witherspoon also provides professional rose care services.  We offer preventative and corrective spraying for pests and diseases, fertilizing, pruning, mulching, and planting.

Give us a call at 1-800-643-0315 to request a FREE onsite estimate.

Witherspoon Rose Culture's Service Map

Success in the Rose Garden: A Yearly Evaluation

Success in the Rose Garden: A Yearly Evaluation

It’s a pleasant sunny fall morning.  You take your breakfast on the patio to admire your rose garden.  The morning light shines down on your roses like a beacon.  As you sip your coffee and chew your food you ponder over the successes and failures of your roses. 

So, what is the measure of your success?  Is it that you've had an abundance of flowers to cut and enjoy?  Is that you've managed to prevent blackspot?  Or is it a deeper understanding of how your garden performs from season to season? 

As our Rose Care Technicians prepare to evaluate our customers’ gardens we think about what it takes to grow great roses.  When I hear the words “fat bushes” from the mouths of our techs I know it means that the rose bushes are huge and often towering overhead, loaded with leaves and flowers from multiple canes which stem from large crowns at the base.  It makes caring for roses seem like child’s play when there are few challenges to overcome. 

Our annual evaluation process has many facets.  We determine the need for fertility and a need to rework the bed area using our specially blended Witherspoon Premium Planting Mix for better overall growing performance.  We look at whether or not trees are inhibiting the growth in some way either by way of too much shade or by way of the tree’s roots invading the bed area.  We also consider perpetual damage by deer, rabbits or voles to identify the need for repellents or fencing. 

These things are mostly environmental, and improvements can be made to liven up the roses.  Certainly no one can argue that enriching the soil area in which the roses grow will be a worthless effort.  And no one can argue that your roses will perform much better with more sun exposure.  Even installing irrigation so the roses have a regular water supply is time and money well spent for the result of thriving roses.  And finding ways to keep the critters from eating that deliciously sweet flower bud means that the rose remains yours and yours alone. 

But what about the cultural tasks in the rose garden?  What improvements will be made by yearly pruning and removing the spent blooms regularly?  Let’s begin with pruning.  Pruning is a great way to rejuvenate the rose’s growth allowing the canes to produce an abundance of flowers on the new wood.  This yearly task is vital to the growth of your hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas. 

Now let’s look at deadheading.  During the active growing season the roses put on their full display of color.  Their bloom cycle is on about a 30-35 day schedule.  By removing the spent blooms you can aid the regeneration process allowing your roses to perform at their peak.  Hybrid teas, grandifloras and floribundas respond very well to this treatment. 

What are some other factors to contemplate when thinking about evaluating your success?  Let’s consider that some roses simply might not be suitable to your growing conditions.   A particular rose may look great in someone else’s yard, but it struggles in yours.  There could be a host of reasons from soil to fertility to overall general care.  You may have to acknowledge that it’s just time to get it out of the garden and try a different rose.  Fortunately, we have a wide variety of roses to choose from in all manner of colors.

I think the most important aspect in determining your success is the work you put into growing your roses.  Take a honest look at your maintenance schedule.  For example, roses are heavy feeders.  Are you really using the right kind of fertilizer at the right time of year?  When there’s no adequate rain, are you supplementing with the proper amount of water?  Are you actively deadheading the roses to help them produce more?  If the canes are spindly and weak should you just throw in the towel on that particular rose or keep on fighting to get it to do something?  Is it finally time to part ways with the unthrifty producers in the garden to trade them out for better bushes? 

It’s not easy to make the decision to remove roses, especially if they have sentimental value.  Keep in mind this investment in your landscape is something you want to show off, something to be proud of.   The reward is beautifully performing roses that you can enjoy and share with others.  So, putting in the effort is well worth it.  

Sincerely,
Sandie

Fall Blooms are Starting to Open!

It's not quite Fall yet in North Carolina, but the weather is cooling down!  Not only do we love the cooler temps, but so do our roses.  Check out some of the blooms that are opening now!

Mellow Yellow

Mellow Yellow

Rio Samba

Rio Samba

R.K. Witherspoon

R.K. Witherspoon

Sexy Rexy 

Summer Love

If your bushes are not producing enough blooms or if they just need a little extra umph, take advantage of our online sale on Super Bloom! Now through August 31, 2013.

www.witherspoonrose.com

Rose Garden Travelogue

Rose Garden Travelogue

When we think of traditional rose gardens we think of these elaborate layouts and designs of the most famous rose gardens around the world.  Rose gardens are often built that way to showcase the exquisite flowers and to offer visitors a true sensory experience by way of sight and smell.  Grassy paths take you around curving rows of roses bordered by clipped boxwood hedges; climbing roses cover expansive arched walkways; tree roses stand like soldiers at a sentry post neat and orderly. 

Summer, of course, is the best time to visit the acres dedicated to our nation’s most beloved flower; and if you have the means, international rose gardens offer an even greater splendor of travel.  If you can only venture a short distance from your home base, you’ll likely find that there is a rose garden within reach of your destination. 

Gene Strowd Community Rose Garden

I have met many rose enthusiasts over the years while working for Witherspoon.  Some have traveled far and wide to visit rose gardens.  It’s a passion I don’t think I’ll quite grasp as roses are not necessarily my favorite, but I have come to have an enthusiastic respect for this treasured flower.  From a horticultural standpoint it’s really quite an amazing shrub which continuously blooms its heart out from the beginning of the growing season to the end.  Most other ornamental shrubs will offer a period of bloom either early, mid or late in the growing season.  How the rose manages to keep up with itself is a great mystery.  There are a handful of roses that have their specific special time to put on their show, but overall most modern roses will reliably give the display over and over again. 

Close to home in the Piedmont of North Carolina you’ll discover an impressive variety of public rose gardens.  We’ll start with our very own rose garden on the grounds at Witherspoon in Durham where you’ll find a restful sitting area in the gazebo overlooking the entire rose garden.  The rose garden has approximately 2000 bushes of varying type from the miniature to the tree rose to the climbing rose.  Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the smells and sights of a rainbow of color in our rose garden. 

Gene Strowd Community Garden

Down the road, in either direction north or south, and you’ll find the Strowd Rose Garden in Chapel Hill or the Sarah P. Duke Gardens on Duke University’s campus in Durham.  Strowd’s garden is all roses; Gene Strowd was an impassioned rose gardener and a beloved community resident.  Within the Sarah P.Duke Gardens you’ll find not only roses, but a grand botanical garden filled with many ornamental plants delighting every season of the year.

The Raleigh area is not without its own places to visit to see roses.  The first that comes to mind is the quietly hidden rose garden at the Raleigh Little Theatre.  Nestled in a small valley surrounded by towering trees, this is one of Raleigh’s best kept secrets.  Also, in Raleigh, is the JC RaulstonArboretum where you can see another superb botanical garden of ornamental plants, including roses, of course. 

Gene Strowd Community Garden

As you travel further outside the Triangle area you can visit the Rose Garden in Wilson, Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, and the McGillRose Garden in Charlotte.  For rose enthusiasts in North Carolina this is quite a list of places to visit. 

I’ve heard, though not experienced, that the International Rose Test Garden in Portland is an exceptional sight.  This garden serves not only public enjoyment, but also serves as (hence its name) an international test site for new roses for commerce.  The Portland area as a whole is abundant with places to visit to see all kinds of ornamental plants. 

J.C. Raulston Arboretum

The home of the American Rose Society in Louisiana is where you’ll see The Gardens of the American Rose Center.  The 118 acre garden area highlights over 65 distinct rose gardens and 20,000 rose bushes. 

Thinking about these elaborate places might prompt you for a mini vacation with only the rose in mind.  For the most ardent rose enthusiasts this is no big deal because they’re so enchanted by the rose.  For those not so passionate, but still admirers, you may have yourself a journey of a lifetime discovering new places to enjoy roses and rose gardens.  

J.C. Raulston Arboretum

Sincerely,
 Sandie