Early-to-Mid-Fall Rose Care  

                                     By Jim Wagner

By the time you have read this article (early September), peak summer blooms and late summer rose shows have passed but there are still fall shows and time to enjoy blooms in which the color may seem more vibrant with the lesser amounts of sunshine.  Whether you may want to take part in fall rose shows or just share your roses over the next few weeks, it will be best if you can maintain good cultural practices that will help the bushes to approach the late fall and winter in a reasonably good healthy condition.

Blackspot, Powdery Mildew, & Insects

Damage from Japanese Beetles should be minimal, if at all, the rest of this season.  But, along with blackspot and powdery mildew that has been rampart this year and that will likely continue to be a challenge this fall, aphids and other insects can seriously damage roses this time of year.  If you observe insect problems on your roses, it may be helpful to either add an insecticide to a general purpose fungicide or to use a combination fungicide-insecticide-miticide to provide protection against insects and mites in addition to blackspot and powdery mildew.

Two widely available combination multi-purpose products that would apply to most of the problems that you may experience from now through mid-fall are Ortho Orthenex Insect and Disease Control and Spectracide Immunox Plus (be sure that you ask for the “Plus” version).  You can alternate the use of these products every seven to 10 days.  One of the advantages of these two products is that they are available in both the concentrated form to mix with water as a spray and in the canister form for those that have just a few roses.”

           All pesticides, whether organic or chemical, can place humans at risk.  Protective gear should be considered when handling and applying pesticides.  You should thoroughly wash or shower after using any pesticides.

Nourishment and Water

To help the plants prepare for the upcoming winter, nourishment should have been discontinued by early August for granular fertilizers and by late August for water soluble fertilizers.

And always, water deeply (an inch or more at a time) several hours to a day before fertilizing or spraying and increase the frequency of watering as the temperature rises.