Now’s the Time to Put Roses to Bed

Whether you’re growing hybrid teas, heirlooms, floribundas, shrub roses or climbers, all roses will benefit from some attention this time of year. Preparing your roses for winter includes some light pruning, a thorough clean-up, deep watering and adding mulch. Doing these tasks now will help ensure healthier, more productive roses next spring. Begin with a light pruning. For floribundas and hybrid teas, this involves removing any damaged or diseased canes and any canes that have experienced excess growth. These canes need to be cut back to between 24" and 30". Reducing the rose's profile will help prevent damage and desiccation by winter winds.  Prune to the outward bud, so that future growth is toward the outside, away from the center of the bush.  

Remove any spent flowers at this time. Rose hips can be left in place and removed in the spring along with any hard pruning that may be necessary. Next, clean up fallen leaves, petals and any debris that’s gathered around the base of each rose bush. This is done to prevent black spot fungus, powdery mildew and other diseases from wintering over. Once clean-up is finished, give your rose bushes a deep, thorough watering. Roses with well hydrated roots are better prepared for winter than those with dry roots. Plan to water your roses every four to five weeks through the winter season.

Now you’re ready to add mulch. All roses will benefit from mounding mulch up around the canes. Mulch serves to keep the ground stable and to prevent damage to the rose as the ground freezes and thaws during the course of the winter. Mulching roses will also help retain moisture through the season. Choose a wood-based mulch such as Shredded Cedar or Soil Pep. Plan to cover each rose bush base with eight to ten-inches of mulch. Rose Collars can be used to help keep the mulch in place through the winter. Mulch should be applied when the ground is cold, usually around Thanksgiving. Don’t prune climbing roses at this time. Secure the canes to the trellis and spray with Wilt-Pruf® to prevent the winter winds from drying out and damaging the canes. 

Now's the Time to Mulch

Applying mulch is one of the best things you can do for your garden and perennial beds, this time of year. The right mulch will help conserve moisture, reduce plant damage and protect and improve the soil, through the course of the winter.  Garden and landscape mulches are available in two types, organic and inorganic. Organic mulches include shredded wood, bark nuggets, straw, leaves, even grass clippings in season. Inorganic mulches include rock, gravel and artificial products such as shredded rubber.  

Technically, both types of mulch will work. Inorganic materials such as stone and river rock don’t break down, so they typically don’t need to be reapplied every year.  Inorganic mulches are generally applied with a fabric barrier to discourage weeds from growing, as well as keep the mulch in place. While this helps to reduce maintenance, it also hinders adding nutrients and making soil amendments. Long term, your plants don’t do as well. If you want the most effective mulch in terms of winter plant protection, moisture conservation and soil stabilization and enrichment, choose organic mulch. 

For perennial beds, shredded bark and bark nuggets work well and provide a natural look. The goal is to apply a three to four-inch layer of mulch to your perennial beds.  A two cubic foot bag of bark will cover eight square feet three inches deep. A two cubic foot bag of shredded cedar or Gorilla Hair mulch will cover six square feet three inches deep. You may have read that using bark mulches will lock up the nitrogen in the soil. While true, the advantages of using biodegradable material as mulch far outweighs the loss of a small amount of nitrogen. For your vegetable garden, use organic compost as mulch. If you have access to straw or leaves, spread them out evenly over the bed, then cover with three inches of organic compost. Through the course of the winter this mulch layer will protect the soil structure and micro biome. Come spring, work what’s left into the soil and you’re ready to plant. 

  

How to grow Amaryllis

Among the seasonal flowers that help us celebrate the holidays, amaryllis stand out for the living accent their long-lasting, colorful blooms lend to our holiday decorations. Amaryllis take six to eight weeks to bloom, so now’s the time to start them. Amaryllis are available in many beautiful varieties, including various shades of red, white, pink and salmon. 

Next to color, bulb quality and size are most important. Look for bulbs that are firm and still have some of their natural papery covering. Amaryllis bulbs are sized from small to X-large. Generally, the larger the bulb size, the more blooms it will produce. Once you've chosen the bulbs you want to start, it's time to pick out a container. Amaryllis can be planted in soil or forced in water. If you’re growing in soil, choose a heavy ceramic or clay pot, because lightweight pots may tip over under the weight of the blooms.  The container you select needs to have good drainage and be the right size for the bulb you’re planting.  

Amaryllis like to be snug in their pot, so select a container that's about an inch or so larger than the bulb and is deep enough for the roots to grow. Next, add damp potting soil to the bottom third of the pot. Place the bulb in the center of the pot and spread the roots out so they fan out from the center of the bulb. Do the best you can with the roots. You're mainly trying to keep them from bunching up under the bulb. Fill in around the bulb with more damp potting soil. Leave the top third of the bulb uncovered. Water thoroughly and place the bulb in a warm, well-lit location. Once the flower stalk begins to appear, you can start feeding your bulb with a 20-20-20 fertilizer. After that, fertilize every two weeks and water frequently enough to keep the soil moist. 

Amaryllis can also be grown in water. Select a container that doesn’t drain, add stones or gravel to the bottom of the pot and place your amaryllis bulb in the center of the container.  Add water to the container until it just touches the base of the bulb. Choose a warm, bright location for your bulb and maintain the water level throughout the growing and blooming cycle. It should be noted that amaryllis grown in water are very difficult to get to rebloom the following season. If you plan to keep your amaryllis bulbs season-after-season, grow them in soil. 

Waxed amaryllis bulbs are available. They don’t require soil or water. Simply place them in a bright, warm spot in your house or office and enjoy the holiday color. When the bloom cycle is over, discard the spent bulb. For colorful blooms throughout the holidays, plant an amaryllis bulb every two to three weeks, starting now.  

November Garden Chores

 Warm fall days are the perfect time to catch upon those garden chores that you’ve been putting off or may have been delayed because of our late October/early November storm.  Chores including: cleaning up the perennial and vegetable beds, raking the leaves off the lawn, adding mulch to roses and perennials, spreading soil amendments on the vegetable garden, wrapping young trees, planting some spring-flowering bulbs. First of all, finish cleaning up. Lingering vegetation in the vegetable and perennial beds leaves the garden with an unkempt appearance and affords the opportunity for insects and disease to winter over. 

If you want to provide shelter for solitary bees, buy or make a bee house. Next, gather up any leaves that last week’s storm may have left on the lawn.  Use them to improve the vegetable garden, by scattering them across the top of the beds, then adding two or three inches of compost. The leaves will break down over the course of the winter, improving soil structure and protecting soil microbial life. Even if you don’t have any leaves, top dressing your garden beds with organic material this time of year will improve soil health and structure, protect those all-important micro-organisms living in your garden soil and make your spring preparation much easier. 

Bagged compost such as Earth Essentials Sheep, Peat and Compost make it easy to add organic material to your beds. A one cubic foot bag of Sheep, Peat and Compost will cover ten square feet, two inches deep. Now's the time to add mulch to your perennials. Four or five inches of mulch will help preserve moisture and keep the ground stable through the winter. Use a prepared mulch such as Gorilla Hair Mulch, Western Cedar Mulch or Soil Pep.  As to those lingering chores. 

There’s still time to wrap young trees to protect them from winter damage. There’s still time to plant some bulbs for spring color. There’s still time to send a soil sample to Colorado State University for testing. And there should always be time to walk through the garden.  Even in November, time spent outside is good for you and your garden.