Here in my neck of the woods, I have spent the past six weeks preparing my gardens for the growing season.  Because of our one hard freeze during the winter, I found myself having to severely prune this spring.  I wasn’t too worried about it as my roses are planted so deeply, but it certainly was sobering taking my rose canes right down to the ground.

Scrutinize Carefully

Spring pruning is all about setting your garden up for a fine growing season to come.  For me, that means strapping on the knee pads and pulling on the gauntlet gloves. Well, and then crawling around each rose on my hands and knees looking for damage to the canes.  Winter canker will wrap around the canes and cut off the sap supply up the stems. It’s really important to cut lower than the canker is found.  If you don’t, the rose may start some new growth, but that new growth will shrivel and die as that canker progresses.

Watch the Miracle Begin

Within days of pruning, your roses will begin to awaken.  After all these years of growing roses, the spring miracle of growth always amazes me!  The underlying buds buried beneath the soil ripen quickly and send up gorgeous new canes full of energy and bloom potential.  Taking away the old canes sends a clear message to the rosebush to begin growing and because of the protected canes, bud unions, and the established root system under them, the energy just explodes!  If you check out the picture above, just four weeks ago, no rose canes were visible.  Now, the new canes are covered with rosebuds!

Visit Every Day

I love this beautiful time of year.  All the colors are so intense!  Every color in the spectrum is present during sunny late spring days.  I love the blue sky and the new green leaves, and the rose canes emerge a deep mahogany red before they change to green.  Six weeks ago, my gardens looked pretty desolate, but visiting and watching my roses grow every day has made the time speed by!

The soil has warmed up and I have fed my roses for the year.  Some folks like to fertilize with 10-10-10, some with Rosetone.  I feel both of those fertilizers have something missing, and so I feed with the six-month variety of Osmocote.  It is a time-release fertilizer that has the big three (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) but it also includes all the trace nutrients that our growing garden plants need.  Every time it rains, or every time I water, nutrients are released to the roots of the plants and they respond beautifully.  My roses and perennials grow big and healthy and they all bloom beautifully all summer with an Osmocote application in May.

First Flush Begins!

You will find that every time you step out into the garden, you will see something new and beautiful.  Right now, some of my rosebuds are cracking color.  Some of the early bloomers are just beginning to fold back their fragrant petals.  This is the miracle of which I speak.  From cutting back to nothing comes a beautiful rose garden!  I love the whole growing season in my rose gardens, but there is something very special about the first flush.  With the moderate temperatures, the blooms last for a good long time and in my garden, first flush lasts for about six weeks.  I am thrilled to welcome friends old and new to my gardens to share the beauty of my roses.  Welcome to the season of miraculous roses!