Bud, Bloom, and Beyond

Bud, Bloom, and Beyond: "April is a wonderful month for roses. It brings the spring bloom which is always the best of the year. By now your garden is showing a little color and the bushes are full of buds. By the middle of the month your bushes will be in full bloom. It is a time to enjoy the fruits of your efforts. But, as always with roses, there are things to do.


Be Gentle with a Maiden Bush
A rose bush that you planted bare root in January is a maiden bush. True it was a two year field grown bush when planted but any bush that is less than three years old should be treated as a maiden. And a maiden bush should be treated gently.


Growth begets growth and a rose builds on itself in geometric proportions; particularly in its early development. The removal of new growth from a maiden bush carries a heavy cost in its future development. The guiding principle in dealing with the blooms and foliage of a maiden bush should therefore be one of caution and the resolution of doubts in favor of preserving the bush. In particular you should not plan to cut long stems nor even to remove stems that may be growing in undesirable directions. Also your objective should be to preserve as many of the leaves as possible as these leaves are the solar panels which are essential to the energy of the bush. This is not to say that you should do nothing as I explain below. But keep in mind the primary rule: 'Be gentle with a maiden bush.'"