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 May 5
Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:
* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.
* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.
* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* 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.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.
* 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.
* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.