Participate in national Roses in Review survey
Celestial Night, a popular new floribunda rose, is a prolific bloomer. It's on the Roses in Review list this year. Courtesy Spring Hill Nurseries
The American Rose Society invites gardeners coast to coast to take part in Roses in Review, a national survey to rate newly introduced rose varieties.
This is the 97th time that rose growers have participated in Roses in Review, one of the oldest active volunteer gardener efforts of its kind. The results are compiled into the ratings used in the ARS handbook and for rose recommendations. That means your observations will help rose growers choose what to plant in their own gardens for generations to come.
Anyone who grows roses can participate. Not all roses are rated every year – there are too many! (Thousands of roses have ratings.) Instead, the roses on the review list are mostly new varieties or ones that had not yet been rated but are becoming known to a wider audience. Most first hit nurseries in 2018 or later.
Among the roses on this year’s review list: Celestial Night, a purple floribunda with very full blooms (and lots of them).
Deadline is 5 p.m. Sept. 26. The survey is conducted online at www.rose.org. That’s also where you’ll find the list of candidates.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 10
Make the most of gaps between raindrops this week and get stuff done:
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* After they bloom, chrysanthemums should be trimmed to 6 to 8 inches above the ground. If in pots, keep the mums in their containers until next spring. Then, they can be planted in the ground, if desired, or repotted.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* Pull faded annuals and vegetables.
* Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.