Your guide to growing glorious roses

Sunset, Feb, 1998 by Jim McCausland

* SPIDER MITES

Problem: Barely visible, spiderlike insects hang out on leaf undersides, often weaving delicate webs. They suck plant juices, turning the leaves stippled yellow.

Solution: Spray leaves with water in early morning. For heavy infestations, spray with insecticidal soap or summer oil.

How to prune a rose

1 REMOVE ALL DEAD WOOD and all weak, twiggy branches (darkened in drawing). Make cuts flush with the bud union (the swelling at the base of the plant).

2 CUT ALL BRANCHES THAT CROSS through the center. This opens up the plant and gives it a vase shape. In hot climates, some rosarians just shorten center-crossing branches, so leaves will shade the bud union from the scorching summer sun.

3 IN MILD CLIMATES, shorten the remaining healthy growth by about one-third.

IN COLD-WINTER CLIMATES, where freeze damage occurs, remove all dead and injured stems. This may result in a shorter bush.

Rose care calendar

The best roses get the best care at the right time. Use this calendar as your guide for what to do when.

JANUARY

Sunset climate zones 4-9, 12-24

* Plant bare-root roses (see page 86). Ask the nursery to wrap the roots to keep them from drying out, then plant immediately when you get home. (Or temporarily place them on their sides in a shallow trench and cover them with moist sawdust or soil to keep roots from drying out until you can plant them.) Set them in well-drained soil in a spot that gets six to eight hours of sunlight. If soil is sandy or heavy clay, amend it with organic matter such as fir bark or compost.

* Prune plants when temperatures are well above freezing. Prune hybrid teas to a vase shape made from the strongest three to five canes (see page 87).

* Spray established plants when they're dormant to kill overwintering insects such as aphids and scale and to control diseases such as mildew. Use horticultural oil either alone or mixed with lime sulfur or fixed copper.

FEBRUARY

Zones 4-9, 12-24

* Finish planting bare-root roses.

* Complete pruning.

* If you haven't already done so, apply dormant sprays to control aphids, black spot, and mildew. Use horticultural oil with lime sulfur or fixed copper.

* In the low desert (zone 13) after midmonth, feed established roses with a complete fertilizer or commercial rose food, following package directions, when buds begin to swell. Water first, let drain, spread the fertilizer around each plant, then water again.

Zones 10-11 (high deserts)

* Plant bare-root roses.

MARCH

Zones 4-24

* As soon as buds begin to swell, feed roses with a high-nitrogen fertilizer such as 20-10-10, or a commercial rose food. Continue feeding every four to six weeks until October.

APRIL

Zones 1-3 (cold climates)

* Plant bare-root roses (as instructed on page 86).

* Prune dormant plants.

Zones 4-24

* Apply mulch to save water, smother weeds, and keep soil cooler. Spread 1 to 3 inches (depending on size of plant) of bark chips, compost, wood shavings, or other organic material. Leave a circle of bare soil around the plant's base.

* Blast aphids off plants with a jet of water from a hose. If infestations are heavy, spray with insecticidal soap.