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Spring rose care: How to get the best blooms

Take some time to give your bushes some TLC now for more flowers later

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 24, 2021

The showy Neil Diamond rose will look its best with some

care now. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

This is mahogany season in the rose garden. The first flush of dark red foliage is coming out strong. It’s a sure sign of spring.

But what if you never finished pruning your roses? They’re already covered with new growth. Some may even have blooms!

What’s a rose lover to do? If you haven’t finished pruning, prune anyway. Not all the way down to 36 inches (or lower) in height, as you may have pruned in mid-winter, but do give your roses some careful attention. At least cut out the deadwood and damaged canes, plus take some of last year’s growth off the top. Otherwise, your bushes will tower over your head by summer. It’s hard to smell the roses when you can’t reach the blooms.

If buds have already formed, you can put off this late “haircut” a little longer. But make a point of cutting those first roses for a long-stemmed bouquet (and then finish that pruning).

The idea is to set your bush up for success -- a season filled with beautiful blooms, not just those first flowers of spring.

With warmer temperatures, rose bushes grow rapidly. This first full week of spring is expected to see a push into the 70s by Friday. This early warmth likely will bring early fungal disease outbreaks, too.

Powdery mildew and blackspot love afternoons in the low 70s. Inspect new foliage on your roses for signs of trouble.

Both fungal diseases can overwinter in mulch under the bush or on old foliage. (That’s why you strip off all those old leaves when you prune.) You’ll most likely notice yellow and black splotches (the warning signs of blackspot) on leaves the bush held onto over the winter. Remove those infected leaves now and dispose of them. Otherwise, blackspot will infect all the new leaves, too.

Powdery mildew looks like powdered sugar was dusted on the foliage and buds. It can appear almost overnight. If possible, move infected plants away from others. Infected foliage will die and fall off; make sure to discard those dead leaves. After this spring outbreak, the bushes will grow fresh, healthy foliage.

Powdery mildew is very temperature sensitive. Although it likes it warm, it can’t stand higher heat. When Sacramento hits 90 degrees, this fungal disease disappears.

Right now, you can stop an outbreak before it happens. Powdery mildew starts with a spore factory, usually on the bottom of a leaf. Before it ever shows that dusting of white, the leaf will look puckered and deformed. Sometimes, it appears as if it was stung, with a puckering on one side. Clip that leaf off the bush and dispose of it. Eliminating that one leaf will prevent a powdery mildew explosion.

Watch out for aphid invasions, too. They’re attracted to rapid, tender growth – especially new buds. Blast them off with a strong spray of water.

Speaking of water, now also is a good time to get ready for dry and hot months to come. After a very dry winter, our landscapes may need some early deep irrigation and TLC.

Make a habit of checking the moisture in your rose beds. It’s easy; just plunge a long-handled screwdriver into the ground. If it penetrates down 6 inches easily, your soil moisture should be fine. (The exception is new planting mix; it stays pretty loose even when dry. Raised beds also tend to stay looser when dry.) If the soil is rocklike and impenetrable, water deeply; your roses will be thirsty.

If setting up an irrigation system, figure that each full-sized bush will need about 3 to 5 gallons of water a week, depending on soil and location. Roses in sandy soil or containers need more. So do roses that get full sun all afternoon.

How do you retain just the right amount of moisture around your roses? Remember: Mulch is your roses’ friend. Use wood chips, ground bark or similar mulch. Don’t surround roses with rock or gravel; it retains too much heat and cooks their roots.

Start feeding your bushes this month, too – but not too much. High doses of chemical fertilizer will speed up growth even more – and attract more aphids. Slow-release organic fertilizers are preferred. Always make sure your roses are irrigated BEFORE you feed them.

One more thing: Watch out for weeds. They compete with your rose for water and nutrients. Keep the area around your bushes weed free and mulched; you’ll have less work and your roses will stay happy.

For more on roses, check out these tips from the UC Cooperative Extension master gardeners: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7465.html

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Keywords:

fertilizing Sacramento roses spring flowers irrigation aphids blackspot gardening powdery mildew pruning fungus mulch blooms weeds

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of April 19

After this midweek storm, start getting serious about spring gardening. Flowers are blooming about three weeks ahead of schedule. That includes weeds!

* Get ready to swing into action in the vegetable garden – if you haven’t already. As nights warm up over 50 degrees, set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash; wait on pumpkins until May. Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Give citrus trees a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants. If leaves look yellow, your tree may need an iron boost -- apply some chelated iron fertilizer.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden needs nutrition. Give shrubs and trees a slow-release fertilizer. Mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost, which helps the soil, but keep it a few inches away from trunks and stems.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

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