Pruning Video Tutorial - How to Prune Roses the Witherspoon Way

Witherspoon Rose Culture Presents:

How to Prune Roses the Witherspoon Way!

Pruning roses can be a daunting task.  Often rose growers are hesitant to prune for fear that they will cut out too much.

Fear not rose growers!  We have put together this video tutorial

"How to Prune Roses the Witherspoon Way"

Check out our previous post to download a free copy of the Witherspoon Pruning Checklist!

What's Beneath Your Feet?

Soil Samples 

What’s Beneath Your Feet?

In the long run there are only two things that are always touching your rose bushes, soil and air.  If that air happens to be relatively dry and 75 degrees your bushes will thrive.  On the other hand, if that air is 95 degrees with 95% humidity your bushes will struggle.  The same is true for soil.  Healthy soil is the foundation for your bushes and it can mean the difference between thriving and barely surviving.  Soil is the only thing that delivers nutrients to your rose bushes which makes it the most important factor in growing beautiful roses.

Soil chemistry is extremely complicated and there are a lot of factors that go into healthy soil.  As with most things simple is better so we will concentrate on the big factors.

pH – it is important to know the pH of your soil.  For roses you want the pH to be between 6.0 and 6.5.  pH will affect how nutrients are made available to your rose bush.  Proper pH will let your bushes get the most out of the nutrients in the soil and the fertilizer that you put down.  Use the Digital Soil pH Meter to check your soil throughout the growing season.

Nutrients – we ask a lot from our roses.  They are always growing new roses for us to cut and enjoy.  All of that growth takes a lot food and roses are definitely heavy feeders.  A good base of lots of cow manure when you plant your rose bush is extremely important.  Composted cow manure delivers a large variety of nutrients to your rose bushes over several years.  It is well worth it to spend a little more at the beginning to give your plants the nutrients they need for years to come.

Fertilizer – fertilizer is the main course for your roses.  The N-P-K delivered by fertilizers allows your bushes to continue to thrive and bloom.  Whether you use Witherspoon Premium Rose Fertilizer or an organic option it is important to remember that the fertilizer is delivering nutrients to the soil and the soil is delivering them to the plant.  Sandy soils don’t hold on to nutrients like clay based soils do so you may have to increase your fertilizing regimen for those types of soils.  If you are not receiving a lot of rain, make sure that your irrigation system is set up in a way that will help the fertilizer deliver the nutrients to the soil.

Texture – roses like to stretch.  They want to spread their feeder roots as far as possible to find every bit of nutrition they can.  If not preparing a full bed for your roses, it is important to dig a wide hole and diligently prepare the soil.  In this case sandier soils have an advantage because the roots easily move through the soil.  On the other hand, compacted clay soil does not grow happy roses.  When planting roses, we recommend planting with our Witherspoon Premium Planting Mix.  Whether you have sandy or clay soil, Witherspoon Premium Planting Mix is great product to use.  It is a mixture of cow manure, soil conditioner, and PermaTill (a product that helps keep clay soils from compacting).

Our roses offer us so much joy.  If they are not happy in their soil, they are unable to get up and go find a better spot.  They depend on us to prepare and maintain their growing environment for them.  Spend a little extra time and money to properly prepare the soil when you plant your rose bush, check it each month, and it will thank you for years to come with bountiful bouquets of beautiful blooms.

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

Witherspoon's Virtual Tour of Gardens: Welcome to the Bolton's Garden

Witherspoon's Virtual Tour of Gardens

Welcome to the Bolton's Garden

Peaceful sounds of trickling water drifted across the garden as I sat down with Steve and Karen Bolton to talk about their roses.  We sat on the top level of their two tiered deck that overlooks their secluded garden and had a conversation about how they began their journey into growing roses.  

A beautiful water feature adds peaceful ambiance to their garden.

Their journey began ten years ago in Oxford, North Carolina.  Steve pastored a church where they met a lovely woman, named Nellie Grey McFarland, who was an avid rose gardener and became a very dear friend.  As Ms. McFarland grew older, she approached Karen and said “I want to give you something to remember me by.” She wanted to give Karen a rose garden.  Thus, Karen’s rose journey began with Ms. McFarland’s small gift of three roses.  

As the centerpiece of their garden, they had a beautiful Abraham Darby rose climbing up a small trellis.

Ten years later, Karen still takes the first blooms from her rose garden to Nellie Grey who is now 104 years young.  I wonder if she knew ten years ago that her small gift would inspire such joy in the Bolton’s life.  When Steve and Karen decided to move from Oxford to Durham, North Carolina, the three roses that Nellie Grey gave them made the journey to their new home where they are still flourishing.

Look at that stunning Abraham Darby!  You can tell I fell in love with this rose!

  This gift of roses has inspired Karen to enjoy her garden by sharing her blooms with others.  One of her favorite things about growing roses is the opportunity to share the cut flowers with others.  She will cut her roses to take to her neighbors, as hostess gifts, and to her friends and family that are under the weather.  I’m sure Veteran’s Honor, being her favorite rose, makes it into most bouquets!

View of the garden from the deck.

I have learned in my lifetime that advice from others is one of life’s most valuable treasures.  As we concluded our conversation, I asked what advice they would give to people who are just beginning their rose gardens.  Right off, Karen said research!  Start small and learn all you can about roses and how to care for them.  Before she began growing roses, Karen never really thought of herself as a gardener.  Now, in tending to her roses and learning all she can about them, she experiences great satisfaction. 

Karen and Steve Bolton

As I stood up from their patio table to leave, I looked out over the garden one last time.  Steve said earlier in our conversation that he felt that the roses completed the garden, and I could see clearly what he meant.  Their secret garden has the perfect punctuation mark, roses.

Karen and Steve Bolton

Peaceful serenity is the theme of this garden.

Karen's favorite rose, Veteran's Honor.

The Heritage rose was gorgeous!

Roses, the perfect punctuation mark to this beautiful garden.

Check out the video below for a 360 view of the Bolton's garden!

Join us next time for our second 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 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's Service Areas

Summer Roses and Some are Roses

Summer Roses and Some are Roses

Roses in summer, such a glorious flowering occasion!  What other ornamental shrub can boast a bloom production like the rose?  There aren’t many, I can tell you.  Modern hybridized roses are such a delight in the rose garden, holding our attention and captivating us with its many attributes.  We enjoy the fragrances, we enjoy the colors, and we enjoy cutting them for a vase in the home. 

We know these modern roses as hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, miniatures, climbers, and landscape or shrub roses.  The first hybrid tea rose was introduced in the late 1800s and was bred by crossing hybrid perpetual roses with tea roses.  These new roses shared the traits of both parents in ways that made them a popular new class of roses and therefore created the dawn of the 20^th century love affair with the hybrid tea rose. 

Popular names such as ‘Mister Lincoln’, ‘Peace’ and ‘Garden Party’ awaken memories of our grandmothers’ rose gardens from the 50s and 60s.  These types of roses were among the elite in the home garden and remain a standard in the floral industry today for their strong stems, tall buds and long lasting vase life.

Summer roses are fun to use in so many creative ways in the home.  In mixed bouquets with your favorite summer perennial and annual flowers, roses are a perfect foundation for your centerpiece.  And, your roses will probably outlast any of them in the vase, with few exceptions. 

The summer rose never tires of its efforts to continuously produce bud after bud.  They may be smaller, in some cases, due to heat and dry periods, but they press on nonetheless.  With a little help by way of fertilizer you can rely on their 30-35 day bloom cycle.

But not all roses are equal.  There are many other types of roses in the world that charm us in different ways.  Take for example the old garden roses, the roses that existed before the introduction of our modern day treasures.  Their ephemeral blooms captivate us in a different way, enchanting us for just a short period of time until they bloom again the following year.

You may have heard of some of these roses, no doubt.  They are known as Gallica, Damask, Noisette, Moss, and Bourbon roses, to name a few.  And to be fair not all will bloom only once per year; some indeed produce multiple flushes of flowers and quite vigorously to boot. 

To me these are the most romantic of all roses.  Some have strong, heady fragrances and the most enchanting blossom styles.  Styles which include the globular shapes of the Cabbage rose, or the cupped or quartered blooms of the Bourbon rose.   They are the roses of Monet and Renoir in all their romantic artistic beauty.  

Lovers of old roses have a different point of view about roses.   When the craze of perennial gardening hit in the 1990s home gardeners desired the English gardening style and often old roses were a part of that design likeness.  Innovators using old roses in English gardens, such as Graham Stuart Thomas, were among the most influential in English garden design.  Gardens had this overgrown exuberance full of lush foliage with a diverse plant palette.   There was a longing here in the US for a particular look and style that was fashionable making old roses still popular in modern times. 

Not only are these roses handsome and unique but they are also useful.  Rose hips in particular a source of vitamin C.  Syrups, oils, jams, perfumes and other products are produced from using the flowers and buds.  Check out this article on enjoying Roses in the Kitchen if you would like more information!  

While there are profound differences in the types of roses around the world, one thing remains constant: roses charm us in one way or another.  

DESIGNING FOR COLOR IN THE GARDEN

First things first, look at your landscape and decide where you would like to plant roses.  Some Consider what impact the roses will have on the existing landscape and how the colors you choose will blend or contrast with the rest of the garden. 

Are you looking for more excitement in your garden or would you like it to be a restful and serene retreat from the world?

COLOR PROPERTIES

 Cool Colors 

Tend to look and feel more calm, serene, restful.  Look for lavenders, whites, soft pinks, or pastels of apricot and yellow.  Cooler colors recede and are useful in smaller spaces.

Warm Colors
These colors bring more excitement and vibrancy to the garden.  Use bright oranges, reds, yellows and hot pinks.  Warm colors tend to pop out and capture the viewers attention.  If you need a focal point bright colors are a good choice.

Color Scheme 

Try using paint chips to create different color schemes.  Experiment with the brights and cool colors to see which ones you are drawn to.  Don’t forget to include the color(s) of your house when making decisions about color and don’t be afraid to try to wild and crazy combinations – you may stumble onto something fantastic and unique!

Harmony / Contrast 

Colors with the same value tend to be harmonious and soothing. 

Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are strongly contrasting and can create a lot of visual excitement.

DESIGN POINTERS

Choose a color scheme using some of the ideas outlined above.

Decide where you want to plant your roses and consider the texture of the foliage when  planting in a mixed bed or using shrubbery and other plants as companions.  Roses have a somewhat course texture and will really stand out near shrubs with finer textured foliage. 

Consider the height of your roses in the planting bed and in the landscape.  Straight lines can be boring so try to vary the heights of your plants throughout your garden.

Repeat some of the colors in your rose garden in your landscape to tie everything together.  Sometimes less is more so try to stick with your chosen color scheme.

COMPANION PLANTS

These plants look good planted in front of your roses and used as a filler to cover the sometimes slightly bare look at the base of your roses:

Verbena

                   

Creeping Zinnia

Sage

               

Liriope

Candy Tuft

Yarrow

Other Companion Plants:

Lamb's Ear

Oregano

Pentunias

Dianthus

Cranesbill

Creeping Phlox

Enjoy your garden!!

The Story Behind the "Rose of the Century."

 Rose Spotlight on Peace

WWI left a trail of destruction that stretched across European soil.  Great losses in manpower and resources sent all countries involved into a devastating landslide.  With millions dead and others in a state of depression, hope and beauty were precious commodities.  It was during these tumultuous times that Francis Meilland was born.  Following in his father’s footsteps, Francis found hope and beauty in his rose garden.  During the years leading up to the start of WWII, Francis and his father Antoine chose fifty promising seedlings to watch as potential candidates for cultivation.  One of these seedlings, 3-35-40, would survive being smuggled out of occupied France and eventually be given the title “The Rose of the Century.”  This is the story of Peace.

Lemony petals kissed with sweet pink edges caught the eye of Meilland as he scanned the bed of seedlings he was watching.  There, that one, that’s the rose I want to cultivate.  There’s my Madame Antione Meilland.  The year was 1939 and WWII was on the brink of escalation.  After Hitler’s invasion of Poland, it became very apparent that France was soon to follow.  Francis was close to launching this precious rose as Madame Antione Meilland, but he became concerned about the future of his rose nursery after the invasion of France and began to make plans to smuggle out his precious Madame.  He was able to smuggle three pieces of budwood out to three different cultivators in Germany, Italy, and finally Robert Pyle in the U.S.  As WWII tore through Europe and left communication lines severed, Meilland was unaware of how the smuggled roses were doing in their new environments.  These rose refugees were not only surviving, they were flourishing!  It was eventually launched in all four countries under different names.  In France Meilland launched the rose under the original name, Germany called it Gloria Dei (Latin for ‘Glory of God’), in Italy it was named Giola meaning joy, and in the U.S it was called Peace.  After the liberation of France, Meilland wrote to Field Marshal Alan Brooke, who was integral in the strategy behind liberating France, and asked if he would give his name to the rose.  Brooke declined since he felt that the more fitting name for the rose was Peace.  Peace was announced as the official name on April 29^th, 1945, the day Berlin fell.  In the midst of war and destruction, Peace started as a seedling and grew in strength and beauty until it could no longer be hidden from the world.  

In 1945, at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations, the Peace rose was given to each of the delegations.  Attached was a note that read, “We hope the ‘peace’ rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace.”  Across the decades this rose has remained a symbol of hope and peace in a world that is often in a state of disarray.  How was Francis to know that this seedling, a tiny sprig of life, would inspire such grand emotions?  He even wrote in his diary, “How strange to think that all these millions of rose bushes sprang from one tiny seed no bigger that the head of a pin, a seed which we might so easily have overlooked or neglected in a moment of inattention.”  

With a story so rich in history and emotion, it is no wonder that Peace will always have a place in rose gardens across the world.  Standing out above the thorns, the yellow and pink bloom inspires peace and serenity.    

Roses In the Kitchen: All About Edible Roses!

Roses in the Kitchen

 

Roses are wonderful flowers that are often enjoyed in vases on kitchen tables as a centerpiece, but they can also be used to create unique and beautiful dishes.  Roses have been enjoyed for centuries in many different cuisines and cultures.  Eastern countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey use roses as often as they do other herbs.  Asian countries such as Japan and China also use roses in their cooking.   In more recent years, roses have become increasingly more popular in upscale restaurants around the United States.  Using roses as an ingredient in your kitchen is an easy way to enjoy new flavors and dishes.

 

 

 

Roses have a sweet flavor with subtle undertones like fruit, mint, and spice.  Flavor profiles depend on the type of rose, its color, and the soil conditions in which they have been grown.  Flavors tend to be more pronounced in darker colored varieties.  Choose a rose that has a pleasant fragrance.  If the rose smells good, then it is more likely to taste good.  No fragrance, no flavor! 

 

 

 Sprinkle petals on desserts or salads to add vibrant color.  Use petals in ice cubes to dress up drinks.  Create syrups, jellies, perfumed butters, sweet spreads, rose honey, rice pudding, custards, baklava, tea cakes, scones, cookies, frosting, and ice cream.  Dried rose petals can be combined with other spices and added to herb blends (In 2012 the International Herb Association designated the rose the official herb of the year).  Rose petals can also be used to make rose water or to flavor alcoholic beverages such as rose flavored vodka. 

 

 

Follow these simple guidelines when choosing which roses you will be eating!

1)        Never use pesticides or other chemicals on any part of the plant that produces blossoms you can eat.

2)       Do not eat roses that you purchase from a florist, nursery, or garden center.

3)       Never harvest roses that are growing by the roadside.

4)       Identify the flower exactly and eat only edible flowers and edible parts of these flowers.

5)       Use roses sparingly in your recipes due to the digestive complications that can occur with a large consumption rate.

6)       Wash all roses thoroughly before you eat them.

7) Or purchase rose petals or hips from an organic herb supply store like Rose Mountain Herbs.

 Good choices for “kitchen” roses are old garden roses and Rugosas, these roses are hardy, disease resistant and do not require spraying with any chemicals.  They also have great fragrance and produce wonderful rose hips in the fall that are full of vitamin C and great to use in tea. 

 

 

 

 

The best time to harvest roses is mid-morning after the dew has dried, but before the heat of the day.  Petals will keep for up to a week if you store them in a refrigerator.  Be sure to remove the bitter white portion of the petal. 

Below are some delicious and easy recipes to try at home.  Enjoy your new adventure with edible roses!

Rose Petal Jam

 

1/2 pound pink or red edible rose petals
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
4 1/2 cups water
Juice of 2 freshly-squeezed lemons (approximately 1/2 cup)

Clip and discard bitter white bases from the rose petals; rinse petals thoroughly and drain.  Place rose petals in a bowl and sprinkle enough sugar to coat each petal. Let set overnight.  In a saucepan over low heat, place remaining sugar, water, and lemon juice; stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in rose petals and let simmer 20 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil; continue boiling for approximately 5 minutes until mixture thickens and the temperature on a candy thermometor reaches 221 degrees F. or until a spoonful dropped onto a cold plate jells and holds its shape. Remove from heat.  After boiling, transfer the jam into hot sterilized jars. Fill them to within 1/4-inch of the top. Wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid, and tighten the ring around them. Cover, label, and store in a cool place.  Makes 1 pound of jam.

 

Rose Petal or Rose Hip Tea        

2 cups fresh fragrant rose petals (about 15 large roses) or ¼ cup of dried rose hips 

3 cups water
Honey or granulated sugar to taste

Clip and discard bitter white bases from the rose petals; rinse petals thoroughly and pat dry.  In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, place the prepared rose petals. Cover with water and bring just to a simmer; let simmer for approximately 5 minutes, or until the petals become discolored (darkened).  Remove from heat and strain the hot rose petal liquid into teacups. Add honey or sugar to taste.  Makes 4 servings. 

Instant Rose Honey

 Whip this up to put on muffins or serve with fresh buttermilk biscuits at breakfast. 

3 c. fresh rose petals
¾ c. honey

Put the rose petals in a food processor and pulse until well chopped. Empty into a dish, add the honey and mix well. Serve immediately. Refrigerate any leftovers for up to 5 days.

 

Rose Tea Sandwich

Cut prepared angel food cake into half-inch thick slices. Spread softened cream cheese on each slice of cake. Next, layer half the slices with lots of rose petals—mixing colors if you have them. Press the halves together to make sandwiches. Cut the sandwiches into smaller shapes and serve with rose tea.

Rose Salad Vinegar

Gather enough fragrant rose petals to fill a quart jar—pushing down a bit to fit plenty of petals in the jar. Completely fill the jar with white wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar—making sure all of the petals are covered. Cover the container with plastic wrap and set on the kitchen counter. Give the container a little shake or stir once each day for 4 days. On the 5th day, strain out the petals and discard them. To the liquid, add 1 level tablespoon of brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Store the vinegar in the refrigerator for up to a month. Use rose vinegar on any summer salad. It’s also good on grilled seafood.

 

Hosting a garden party?? 

Freeze some miniature roses in your ice cubes!

Three Cheers for Edible Roses!!