Did you know that you are continually sending messages to your roses? Make sure you communicate that you want lots of blooms. And be very careful not to inadvertently signal that you really don’t care about blooms at all! Use this guide and learn which actions send the right messages!

I Know You Love Me and Want Lots of Blooms When You:

Prune Me:  I feel so appreciated when you prune me and cut out dead and damaged canes. Your actions revitalize and rejuvenate me and prepare me to start the growing year with strong growth and beautiful blooms.

Cut Out Damage: When you remove pests that are chewing or sucking on my leaves, buds and blooms, I can tell that you care about my ability to bloom abundantly and beautifully. When you remove any fungal-infected leaves I can tell that you care about my health.

Pick Up Dropped Leaves and Petals: When you pick up dropped leaves and petals and remove them from the garden, I know you are safeguarding me from future pests and fungal diseases.

Visit the Garden Often: I know you really love me when you keep a watchful eye out for me and catch pest and fungal problems early so that I don’t get stressed.

Amend the Soil: The soil is my home. When you amend the soil, you improve my growing environment and provide me with the healthy nutrients I need to grow and bloom.

Feed Me: When you give me regular feedings, it just keeps energizing me to reward you with blooms!

Water Me: Water keeps me healthy and is essential to help me to photosynthesize and bloom abundantly. I prefer to be irrigated deeply so I develop a healthy deep root system.

Wash my leaves off: I do like getting my leaves washed off when it has been hot and dusty. I hate pests like spider mites and aphids sucking at me. Thank you for blasting them off! But timing is important. Please do this early in the day.

Read my Cues: When you read my signals, I know you are paying attention to my needs and care about me. When my leaves are yellowing, I may be getting too much or too little water. Please check the soil and the irrigation system. If I have yellow leaves with green veins, give me iron. When my leaves are green, I can photosynthesize optimally and work on producing beautiful blooms. Brown tips on my leaves could be fertilizer burn. Water me deeply before and after each feeding.

Watch out for my Basal Breaks: When I put out new basal growth it is because of the good care you are giving me. These breaks are the beginnings of new productive canes and they will produce lots of future blooms. Do watch out for them as my new growth is very tender!

I Know You Don’t Care About Blooms When You:

Don’t Deadhead Me: If you don’t deadhead my spent blooms, I positively know that you are not interested in future blooms! My leaf clusters come on three- and five-leaflet leaves. Make your cuts one-quarter inch above an outward facing bud eye at a five-leaflet leaf. The angle of the cut doesn’t matter. When I am newly planted and trying to get established, don’t cut very long stems.

Plant me in the Shade:  I am a sun loving plant and need 6 hours of sun. Since I just got planted in the shade, I am guessing that you prefer small, very infrequent blooms. Please don’t blame me when I get covered in powdery mildew and catch other fungal diseases.

Plant me under a Tree: You are not really expecting me to do my best when a tree is sucking up my water, stealing my food, blocking my sun and dropping leaves on me, are you?

Plant me in a tight space: I can’t perform well when I’m cramped, overcrowded and have no air circulation.

Don’t Feed me: I’m starving for nutrients and haven’t been fed! You probably don’t want blooms.

Don’t Water me: I need water to photosynthesize. Without water, I am in survival mode and can’t even think about putting out blooms.

Let my Leaves Get Chewed Up: I need my leaves to photosynthesize and bloom. If my leaves are looking lacy, look for rose slugs on the underside of my leaves and squish them. No leaves mean no blooms!

Don’t Cut Out Blind Shoots: Sometimes I produce a blind shoot which is a stem that fails to produce a flower and instead has just leafy growth. If you cut it out I can try again to set a bud but if you don’t cut it out, I’ll know you are growing me for my leaves, not my blooms. 

Rose bushes have a special way of telling us what good rosarians we are. They message us in blooms. And the more blooms we cut to bring inside and give to others, the happier they are to keep on blooming for us!