Care of Roses
Seasonal Tips for Joys of Autumn
Time to Reap the
Rewards
September and October are your rose's finest hour. If you
have faithfully followed our suggestions up to this point, you
will be greatly rewarded by the full, colorful, magnificent
blooms.
Your work isn't quite through yet, however. While fall is
the best growing time, you also need to start thinking about
the coming winter months.
Your bushes are working hard to produce blooms which will
delight you and make you proud. They need a lot of water to
fuel the process. Continue watering deeply and do
it as often as is needed to maintain growth. If you are going
to be showing your rose blooms, then watering daily is fine as
long as you do not use too much.
Keep applying water-soluble fertilizers until the end of
September, and don't be afraid to use some of the commercially
available bloom-boosting fertilizers.
You can recognize these because they will have a large number
in the middle of their formulation.
Stop all fertilizing activity at the end of October so your
bushes will be able to begin the journey into hibernation.
Conditions are still good for blackspot and mildew to form,
so continue with your spraying program right through the end of
October.
You can cut roses for bouquets through the end of October
without harming the bush. If you want to let rose hips form,
then just remove the petals of your spent roses.
This is also a great time to start planning next year's
garden. Here are some resources to order catalogs so you can
read and plan throughout the winter. Order your new roses early
while the best selections are available. Rose growers will ship
your new bushes according to the best time to plant for your
climate zone.
NEXT: Late Autumn
Care Tips
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