We can’t do many things in the garden in winter; however, we can spend our indoor time in the winter months to plan for next years rose activities. If you haven’t renewed your membership with the Indianapolis Rose Society or the American Rose Society, January and February is an excellent time to do so.
Get on the internet and visit a rose nursery website. You will probably find a few roses you would like to buy. Use your ARS buyers guide to select highly regarded roses. Also, don’t forget the Indianapolis Rose Society will have mini and mini flora roses from Whit Wells this year and big roses from Chamblee’s Rose Nursery. The roses, mostly minifloras, from Whit Wells are all excellent exhibition types and are varieties that have never been offered for sale by the Indianapolis Rose Society. The roses from Chamblee’s are mostly “Earth Kind” varieties and they require very little maintenance. We will be getting the rose called Knock Out in our shipment from Chamblee. Contact Mark Nolen at 317 859-4142 for a list of the roses that will be available this year.
Check your garden tools to insure they are sharpened, oiled, and in good working condition. Make sure you have a good pair of goat skins gloves; they are not expensive and give excellent protection against rose thorns.
Take an inventory of your garden chemicals, fertilizers, and soil amendments. Replenish where necessary. If your chemicals are old or have been frozen, dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner and purchase some new chemicals. There is no greater waste of time than to use pesticides that are no longer efficacious. An excellent source for chemicals used in growing roses is a company called Rosemania. Their web site is www.rosemania.com.
If you have experienced an insect or fungal problem in you garden last year, do some research during the winter so that you will be prepared to deal with it during the 2008 growing season. You can get on the internet and find information about almost every rose pest by simply typing in the name of the disease or insect on your favorite search engine. If you wish call Mark Nolen at 317 859-4142 to get the name of ARS consulting rosarian who will be most happy to answer your questions.
Start thinking about doing some garden clean up and rough pruning. If you have a nice day and want to get a jump start on the season; go into your garden and remove leaves from the stems, pick up all debris from the ground, including, peduncles, spent blooms, leaf stalks, and rose leaves. Fungus and insects over winter on this debris and their removal is you first line of defense against those evil doers in 2006.
If stems are obviously dead, you can begin rough pruning your roses. Make your pruning cuts about six inches above good living plant tissue. You can also remove small spindly growth and stems that clog the center of the plant.
If you have the time and the medium that you used for winter protection (mulch, leaves, etc.) is not frozen, pull the settled material up around the stems to give the plant extra protection going into early spring. Most roses are lost in the spring due to the rapid fluctuation of temperatures and cold drying winds. Don’t get too anxious to remove the mulch as this serves to keep the soil at a constant temperature.
For the most part, relax and enjoy the time away from your rose garden this winter, but the time spent reading and researching will pay extra dividends this coming summer in your garden.