By Wendums
West Sussex,
United Kingdom 
hi there,
I have a huge rambling rose in my back garden, covering a brick wall, Its growing away merrily at the moment, and we are having to 'tame' it. Its rosa 'lutea' and is covered with small yellow double blooms every spring, its stunning. However, i noticed this last year but didnt give it much thought. This year i'm a bit worried.
The main stem (from the ground) has lost most of its outer layer of bark and is a bright orange colour. it doesnt appear to be rotting and doesnt smell horrid either.
there are also small areas on some of the other older stems, but nothing on the newer growth. The rose seems
unaffected. Is it age, or something that needs treating?
Thanks
wendy smith
1 Oct, 2011
Answers
I have been looking Bamboo, still am. At the moment it is not looking good as the roses capillaries are in that layer........But, some climbers seem tolerant, and a few even bred to do just this. Not this plant though so far.
1 Oct, 2011
Wendums ...If you scrape near the bottom is there any white at all?
1 Oct, 2011
Hi Guys, thanks for your replies, i scraped a tiny bit off
and it was pale orange, but didnt do very much, so i will try again tomorrow and let you know, it will be a shame to lose it, as it took 3 years to bloom, the blooms only appearing when the plant is mature. I was afraid it might be canker, but as you say, i cant cut it out as its the main stem. Its growing like crazy at the moment, so
i'll keep an eye on it you never know, it might be a tough old thing!!
1 Oct, 2011
Hi Pimpernel
I have just carefully scraped near the bottom of the main stem. being careful not to do too much, and it is
still creamy white and looks OK. Likewise slightly further up on one of the older stems coming from the main stem, its the same, definitely still white underneath, so hopefully that is a good sign? The other thought i had is possibly ?frost/snow damage? as that main stem was practically buried in the heavy snow last year? I have taken the cane off now as well.
I have another question as well. We have 4 Johnson Blue/ Brookside geranuims in the bed outside our kitchen window. They have flowered every year, but sparsely, which we thought was probably lack of sun due to a huge honeysuckle creating too much shade.
We have dug that out now, and there is a lot more light
However, the plants are bigger than they have ever been
(great, we thought, loads of flowers then!) but not one of them has bloomed? nothing! Any ideas??
2 Oct, 2011
Well that is a good sign...But as Bamboo told you leave it be for another season an see how it goes. If it gets worse it has to go!
Ask your question about the geranuims again as a separate question. So you get the best advice from one of the keen growers...I expect it was the shade but I don't grow them...You chop some geraniums down and they reflower ..but check that!
Welcome to GOY :0)
2 Oct, 2011
Most Geraniums do well in damp shade - have you been feeding them, and if so, what with and how often?
2 Oct, 2011
We have actually never fed them. just watered, so maybe that is the problem. We'll try that next time, and see what happens. Thanks
2 Oct, 2011
Well no, I was just wondering if you'd over fed - but if you've never fed them, certainly give them some next April.
2 Oct, 2011
Thanks, i will do that. By the way, my pofile pic is the rose in full bloom.
fingers crossed!
2 Oct, 2011
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It looks like some form of canker - there is no treatment for it other than cutting out infected parts, but if that's the mainstem, then you can't do that easily. In the circumstances, probably best to leave it and see how it goes - if the plant starts to keel over next year, you will need to remove it.
1 Oct, 2011