Hello all - those of you in the DFW area - can you believe this weather!!!? I don't ever remember such a wet winter.
I am nervous about pruning roses soon - as I have never done it before. I planted about 40 rose bushes last spring and summer, and need to work on them soon. I'd be more than happy to pay someone to come by and show me how to do it, if there is someone who lives nearby!
Mary in Grand Prairie
NERVOUS about first rose pruning!
Mary, don't be nervous about it, there are a lot of good books that will tell you everything you need to know. I am not a rose grower, but I do admire those beautiful flowers.
I have seen some wonderful books at Half Price Books on that subject.
Well, come to think of it, I do have two native ones, a Prairie rose and a Swamp rose, and a naturalized one Cherokee rose.
Josephine.
Mary, The best way is to go to American Rose Society web site, get address info for Dallas/Ft.Worth Rose Society, get meeting info and attend meeting. No charge. You will get all the help you want. They usually will have local help book. Also, you won't prune until maybe April, so you have plenty of time. Larry
I don't do roses either but here is a link for Texas rose care:
http://www.ktrh.com/pages/gardenline-roses.html
Debbie
better yet, come visit the Rose Forum and you'll learn lots (and if you're not a rose addict, you will become one). Don't be nervous about rose pruning, these plants are tougher and more forgiving than people realize.
I grew my first roses to and prune them a couple times a year with no problems. Their is a weekend radio gardening show and they said a good time to prune is Valentine's Day...and to cut all the stems back to 1/3rd the plant size. You can also dab a bit of elmers glue on the cut ends if you worry about a particular bug in your area making home inside the rose stems, I would post info on that bug but I'm at a loss to remember what it was again. I have done pruning with and without the glue and no problems except with leafcutter bees eating the green leaves but they aren't to big an issue.
Good luck!