O (de) to Roses...

Hi Llew ~
I read it all. Do I get a gold star ???
Good luck with your roses... :o)

Oh llew! You have been busy!

Btw, I would get in touch with the supplier of the roses. Take some pics of them and send them to prove they are not good and ask for a refund as you've had to go out and buy some more. I like the adage "there's no harm in trying!"

Well done on good ol' Gertrude!

Listing your plants ? You are good, I started but have given up, lol!!!

With your gd coming, she only wants to see you, I'm sure, as well as your visitors. I have a fab fridge magnet that says " your friends notice the flowers not the weeds!" or broken fence.... something like that, my memory is not brill this time of night, lol!!

Glad you had a good day in your bit of heaven. I've been pottering around the garden with a bit of baking in between! I agree that you should complain about the unsatisfactory roses. Go for it :)

Me too,I like a good read,sounds as though you,ve had a busy day and more planned,well done....

Thanks, peeps. (I wish I knew whether I was talking to a man or lady, lol!!!). Gold stars all round. Yay!!!!

I contacted the nursery when I first received the roses as they had also sent me some mouldy Oriental lilies (although I forgot to tell them that one) and one short on order of Asiatic lilies. The asked that I leave them in the ground for 2 weeks to see what happened. I shall be emailing them again tomorrow with photo's taken today for proof and yes, I will expect a refund.

Sometimes, I put things down to 'tough luck' but not 4 out of 5 roses. Oh no..especially not my beloved roses, lol.

Right, I've decided to list my plants after all, so I'm off to get started. See's ya next week y'all. *wink*

Oh Llew I wonder if we sent off for the same 5 roses. Like you I thought mine were never going to grow (they arrived encased in green wax). Anyway I just kept watering them and only yesterday I saw new shoots on 3 of them so hope the other two will catch up.
Fingers crossed for yours.

It sounds like it might have been the same company, Ginellie. Mine were covered in wax too and they came from...better not say. I got a set of 4 and one other and it's the 4 that have had it. I really can't wait any longer for them, as I want to get all my planting done and dusted. However, as I really can't bear to part with a rose, what I have done, is drop them in a bucket of water (bare rooted) and tomorrow I might stick them at the back of something just to give them one more chance. They definitely weren't staying in my border any longer though.
There was an Ena Harkness, a yellow climber, a pink patio one and a Lilac Perfume. Gutted about the Ena Harkness I am and as I've never been able to grow a Blue Moon successfully, I was hoping that the Lilac Perfume would do well.

I've just listed all my plants and boy, does my shoulder ache from typing, lol. Not a huge amount by many standards but a fair old few for my postage sized bit of concrete. :-)

Wow Llew....you were busy. I'm sorry to hear about your rose purchase. That is so disappointing.

When you transplanted Gertrude, did you add some bone meal? Bone meal encourages the formation of roots and will help your rose to establish itself more quickly. There is also a liquid food which is specifically formulated for transplanting. It provides food for root formation immediately where the bone meal takes a little while to start to break down.

I find that my Gertrude J. is one of the last roses in my garden to form new buds in the spring. I'm always wondering if it has made it through the winter or not.

With the roses that you put in water. Did you cut the stems back to see if the tissue was alive underneath? If it looks to be and you still have them in the water....try immersing the entire bush (stems and all) for 24 hours before planting them again. If you have some form of cover than may keep them a bit warmer that might help too.

Gilli, thanks. I didn't cut any stems back as I thought it was now too late to cut any more off, so I just stuck them in the bucket. They're still in there too. I think there may be a bit of green on them. Should I cut them back a bit then? I've nothing to lose I suppose.

If the canes look like they have life in them (hydrated and green as apposed to dried looking and dull) then I wouldn't cut any more back. I would just plant them with the bud union, or graft, an inch or two below the level of the soil. Add a little bone meal to the hole.
I would then give them a little protection from wind and sun. Shade them for a few days if it is really sunny and if it is windy maybe put a cardboard box around the canes with the top cut out.
Sit back and keep your fingers crossed. You never know....they may still come in.....Like you say, you have nothing to lose.

Ooops! too late. I cut them. Most was brown and dead though.

Oh well, if they were brown and dead then the bushes are probably dead too. Sad!!

There was still some green at the bottom of them, Gilli and I still think I can see a bud trying to burst on one.

Still, without your advice, I'd have binned them, so whether they live or die, I'm grateful. Thanks. :o)

Let me know how they go on please, Llew. I'd be interested to know. :o)

Oh, most definitely, Gilli.
As of today, the bits that were green are still green, lol.

Still no reply from my email to the company that sold them though.

There are two things that might help Llew.

If you can find some Transplant liquid fertilizer at the garden centre, I would mix up some of that and give them a water with it. The transplant fert has hormones in which are similar to rooting hormone that you use when taking cuttings. They stimulate healthy root growth.

The other thing you could try is mixing up some alfalfa tea. If you can get your hands on some alfalfa pellets (I use rabbit pellets), mix a couple of handfuls into a large bucket of water and give it a stir. Let it sit in the bucket for about 4 days. Stir it everyday. After it has steeped, scoop up just the water from the bucket, leaving the alfalfa in the bottom. Use the tea around the roots of the roses. Don't get it on any foliage. Water it in well. Refill the bucket with water and let it sit for another 4 days stirring every day. This time when you scoop up the water, make sure the alfalfa sludge is stirred into suspension in the water. Divide it amongst your roses again and water it in.
The alfalfa contains a chemical called triacontanol which is a growth stimulant. It will stimulate new top growth on the roses and also stimulate basal breaks.

I would use the transplant fert. first and the tea about 2 or 3 weeks later if the roses look like they are still alive.
If you have growth after this then I would sprinkle about a tablespoonful of epsom salts around each rose and water that in too.

Wow! Thanks for all that, Gilli.
I shall be off to the garden centre in the next couple of days, so if roses still have green I'll see if I can get some of that fert'.
Gawd knows where I'll find alfalfa round here though, lol.

Rabbit food...that's the cheapest here.....I would think that rabbit food would be made of the same stuff over there but I could be wrong.

I don't know if any of you will still read this, but just a little update.
The Ena Harkness is stone dead. Brown as you like, it is.
The yellow climber is about dead too. The most awful die back and only about an inch of gopping coloured green left.

But....

The Lilac Perfume and the pink patio rose have BOTH got buds on them. Yay!!!!!

How does the song go? I WILL SURVIVE...lol.

Oh Llew!! I'm so glad some of them have come back. Don't give up on the yellow climber if it still has a bit of green. You never know what may happen. :o)

Well, sad news today. <sob, sob>

Although the pink rose has plenty of leaves on it the one shoot that appeared on the Lilac Perfume has died. It looked a bit soft yesterday but this morning it's proper wilted, so I don't know if it'll pop another or not. I can't see any signs.

I'm going to lock myself in my room and sulk all day now. :o(

Awwww, sooooo sad! Why don't you try pulling the bud off so the energy can go into making another one? Have you given it any sort of feed? That could help, tomatorite is a good all round general purpose if you have any hanging around? If not, there is a Rose feeder you can buy from lgc.

Commiserations! sniffle!

Awwww.....wht a shame. Maybe it will put out another as CN says. There must be some life there if it had the one shoot.
Now I'm going to sulk with you. >:-(

I pulled the shoot off but there really is no sign and yes, Linz, it had been fed.

I'll not bin it yet though, 'cause I reckon it does want to live really. It's just foolin' me. :o)