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People have grown roses for many centuries and for many reasons. Today we grow roses mainly for the beauty they bring to our yards and homes. But in centuries past, the rose was revered for its value as food and medicine, as well as its beauty.
It is questionable whether the quaint prescriptions found in early manuscripts and printed herbals for concoctions such as “melroset” and “syrop of roses” would actually “strengthen the heart and taketh away the shaking and trembling thereof.” But it has been proven that rose hips are a superb source of vitamin C, having a much higher content than citrus fruit.
During World War II when imports of citrus products were limited, rose hips became especially popular in Great Britain. Volunteers spent many hours gathering hips from hedge rows for making rose hip syrup for the Ministry of Health to distribute.
Besides being healthful, rose hips offer the adventurous cook a strange and different ingredient.
However, U must never use the hips of any rose bush treated with pesticide that is not clearly ;abeled as safe for food crops.
This somewhat spherical fruit of the rose, usually red in color, is seldom allowed to develop on our modern roses. However, the old-fashioned shrub types, such as the rugosas, bear them abundantly.
Rose hips have a tangy, yet sweet, flavor and can be used fresh, dried, or preserved. The simplest use is to steep them for tea. Rose hip syrup, puree, jam, jelly, and sauce can be used as is or as a flavoring in other recipes. The hips are usually left on the bush until after the first frost, which makes them turn bright red and slightly soft.
To prepare, trim off the blossom and stem ends with scissors, cut in half lengthwise, remove the tiny hairs and seeds in the center, and rinse. Never use aluminum utensils or pans as they tend to destroy the vitamin C.
To dry hips, simply spread the prepared halves in a single layer on screening or trays and place in a dehydrator, an oven set on the lowest setting, or in a dark, dry, well-ventilated place. Store in glass jars in a dark, cool place.
The rose, one of the most elegant of all flowers, is often called the “queen of the flowers.” It is a title richly deserved, both for its long reign as a cultivated plant and for its beauty, versatility in the landscape, and ability to survive…with just a little pampering.
Roses also owe their continued popularity in part to royalty. The French Empress Josephine made roses fashionable for everyone in the 19th century by planting a beautiful palace rose garden of all the varieties available at the time.
Roses do best in full sun and well-drained, slightly acidic (6 to 6.5 pH) soil. The key is to keep them well watered and in well-drained soil as they don’t like waterlogged soils. This is essential for healthy growth. However, once planted, they will survive, and continue to thrive, in the same bed, providing you add fertilizer on a regular basis. The latter is especially critical to the health of the plants.
Adding organic matter to the soil is always beneficial, but in the case of roses it may not be enough. Unless the soil is very fertile, you will need to add rose fertilizer (check your local garden center for this product) per directions on the label. You also may combine organic products such as seaweed or fish emulsion with a controlled release fertilizer (usually non-organic). Hybrid tea roses usually require higher soil fertility than shrub types.
Although early spring is generally the best time to plant roses in cold climates, roses may be successfully planted in late summer or early autumn as long as they are protected over winter. Do not plant roses after the first few weeks of fall as there won’t be enough time for most to get rooted.
Spring, not fall, is the time to plant bare-root roses, just as or before buds are beginning to break. Spring is, in fact, the only time you usually can get them either through mail order from specialty rose catalogs or on-line ordering on the Internet.
For best results, choose hardy varieties. “Modern” hybrids (those developed after 1867) generally aren’t hardy except in warm microclimates , but ask your local garden center experts what they would recommend for your location.
In research trials at the University of Vermont Research Center in S. Burlington (U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 4b), conducted over a three-year period (1998-2000), Leonard Perry took a look at several types of shrub roses. This class of roses is generally more hardy than most hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, miniature, and climbing roses, and thus, more practical for Vermont.
The period of his study included both wet weather and a drought (summer 1999).
To plant roses, dig as large a hole as possible, but at least two times as wide and across as the roots. Amend the backfill with up to half compost, peat moss, or similar organic matter. Add a tablespoon or two of phosphorus depending on the size of the hole at planting. Set the plant in the hole and spread out the roots evenly. Make sure the bud graft (the lower, swollen area on most roses) is covered with at least two inches of soil.
If planting bare root, mound the soil over most of the canes to help prevent buds and canes from drying out and suckers from forming below the bud graft. Staking is generally not needed, but climbing types will need to be trained to travel up a wall or trellis.
To encourage vigor, roses need to be pruned, but wait until spring as pruning in fall may cause dieback or allow diseases to enter wounds with slow, or no, healing of the wounds. Diseased or dead wood should be removed, however. Adding fresh horse manure at this time is a good way to add nutrients to the soil, but the main purpose in fall is to mound over canes to protect overwinter. Mice won’t live in this!
Fall-planted roses will need winter protection their first year, as do less hardy varieties every year. Use rose cones, mounding one foot or more of mulch, such as straw, around the base if rodents aren’t a problem. Otherwise, use soil. Apply late in the season, usually around hanksgiving. Climbing roses, if not hardy, will need to be removed from the supports and laid on the ground and covered as recommended above. Mulches should be removed in the spring as soon as the snow has melted.
While it may be true that April showers bring May flowers, April also brings warmer weather, longer days, and our first chance to do some outdoor gardening.
Peas, onions, parsnips, spinach, and other cool weather crops can all be planted in the garden towards the end of the month, provided that the soil isn’t too wet.
Proper garden preparation is perhaps the most important activity you can do each spring to insure a plentiful harvest. An important first step is to determine when to turn the soil.
If the soil is still sticky and clumps together, then tilling may cause soil compaction, drainage, and aeration problems later on in the season. If the soil crumbles when you work it around in your hands, then it’s okay to till.
Till the soil once, turning under any cover crop or residues left from the fall. Then add manure, lime, and other organic matter and work in well to avoid harming the tender roots of plants as they grow.
Chemical fertilizers, that your soil test also may recommend, are best applied right before planting. Chemical fertilizers work quickly, but if they are applied too early in the season they may leach out of the soil and lose their effectiveness.
When planning your garden, consider using raised beds, which can dry out wet soils and in general make the soil looser for easier root penetration. Rotating crops helps vegetables take advantage of the different nutrients available in the soil to plants.
For example, since beans and peas fix nitrogen in the soil, they should be followed by a crop such as corn that is a heavy nitrogen user. Vegetables like tomatoes and potatoes should not be planted in succession due to their susceptibility to similar diseases.
Don’t wait too long to remove mulches from strawberries. Once the leaves have emerged from under the straw and yellowing is evident, pull the mulch away from the tops of the plants and tramp it down between the rows. Keeping the base of the plants mulched helps keep the berries clean, control weeds, and conserve moisture.
With other garden plants, including roses and perennials, completely removing the mulch will allow the soil to warm up faster, encouraging better early season growth.
Save the old mulch for the compost pile or to use on garden vegetables later in the season. However, if heavy frost is predicted, be prepared to recover the plants temporarily to protect from damage.
Remove any dead foliage or stems from perennials if you didn’t do it last fall. Wait to prune roses until new buds have begun to grow. Stems that now appear to be dead may really be alive and will start to grow next month.
Warmer weather means a new generation of gypsy moth and eastern tent caterpillars will hatch and begin feeding on leaves of many tree species. If infestation is heavy, entire trees can be defoliated, and even killed, by these insect pests. Stressed trees are more vulnerable to damage from defoliation.
Impatiens is just one of 500 species in the plant family Balsaminaecae, which includes the old-fashioned garden balsam and the newer hybrid New Guinea impatiens, introduced in 1989.
Also known as Busy Lizzy and Touch-me-not, the impatiens is “impatient”, as the slightest touch will cause ripe seedpods to open and scatter seeds to the wind.
Originally thought to be indigenous to Zanzibar (an African island now part of Tanzania), impatiens also was found to grow in the eastern regions of equatorial Africa.
It was introduced to the western world in 1896 by Dr. John Kirk, a renowned British physician and naturalist who accompanied Dr. Livingstone on many of his African expeditions.
Today, the impatiens is by far the top selling bedding plant in this country (petunias are second). It is available in 15 different solid colors, five colors with white star patterns, and three bicolor designs (light color on the bloom interior, darker color on the petals).
Plants can grow from six inches to two feet, depending on the spacing, moisture, available nutrients, and amount of sunlight. Flower form can be single, semidouble, or fully double blooms.
Impatiens is an easy annual to grow, provided it’s planted in a location that receives filtered or partial shade. Although today’s impatiens varieties are more sun-tolerant than older varieties, too much sun will cause impatiens to have small leaves, few blooms, and little height.
Perennials can provide a long sequence of bloom if plants are carefully selected. Very early bloom can be obtained by planting spring flowering bulbs with perennials. The peak perennial bloom comes in June and July with a scattering of bloom ending with the chrysanthemums in the fall.
The beauty of perennials is that once planted, they come up every year for a number of years. The life span of a particular planting of perennials will depend on the soil type and the care the bed receives.
Perennials planted in poorly prepared soil may last only one year. A good perennial site has excellent drainage and protection from drying winds.
Perennial bed preparation should begin the year before the bed is to be planted. Check the drainage and make soil improvements if needed by adding organic matter. Deep soil preparation is important for perennials because the plants will be in place for many years.
Select compact and dark green plants. Plants held in warm shopping areas often have long, pale green growth and are not as suitable as seedlings or completely dormant plants. Named varieties are best because their ornamental characteristics are known.
Plants grown from saved seed may be different than the plant from which the seed was collected. Many perennials do not produce true from seed. Seed saved from garden phlox, for example, may produce plants with muddy pink flowers.
Plants purchased from catalogs may arrive as small divisions or root cuttings. These have a better chance for survival if started in pots to be transplanted later.
Perennials vary in size so when setting plants in the garden, be sure to space properly to allow ample room for growth. Overcrowded plants are more subject to disease problems.
Do not leave plants sitting around after buying them. Plant them as soon as possible. Remove plants grown in containers with individual compartments for each plant by gently flexing the sides.
Tear off the tops of peat pots, or bury completely at planting time. Any portion of a peat pot sticking out of the soil will act like a wick and dry out the rest of the pot. Set plants at the same level they grew at in the flat or container. Water well.
Perennials need summer watering, preferably infrequent, deep waterings. Apply an inch of water each week, or as needed, depending on soil type and amount of natural rainfall.
Start watering in early morning, ending early enough so plants dry off before nightfall. Evening watering means wet leaves, which combined with cool night temperatures, make disease development easier. Avoid daily light sprinklings with a hand held hose.
