Roses

I have recently moved to a new home where there were several rose bushes already established. One of these bushes was covered with red roses, but suddenly, on this same bush a yellow rose appeared. Can anyone please tell me how this happened?

If you're positive the flowers were on the same bush and it wasn't a branch of one of the other roses sneaking in and looking like it was coming from the red bush, then the most likely thing I can think of is that it's a grafted rose and you got some branches coming up from the rootstock. If this is the case, it would be a good idea to prune out any branches coming from the rootstock, in most cases the rootstock is a more vigorous plant than the one that was grafted on top, so if you're not careful it can take over. It's actually possible that this is already happening, maybe the yellow is the grafted top part of the rose and the red that's all over is the rootstock that's taking over and crowding out the yellow.

Thank you so much for your explanation. Being a beginner to gardening I found this kind of freaky, but now that I know what is probably happening I will take your advice and do something about it.

Thank you once again.

Hi Kmangal, most of the roses we grow in UK are grafted from a root stock and as Ecrane has already said, you can get shoots comming from the root stock, the root stock is normaly from a wilder type rose that is very tough, so you need to try identfy which is which, the true rose, that is the one that who ever planted the rose in the garden wanted, will be easy to identify, it will have five leaves on the branches, you want to keep that, but the rootstock shoots you dont want, it will have seven leaves, it will also have smaller leaves and lighter green in colour, not have a sheen on it like the good leaves, if you detect this rootstock branch, you need to trace it right down to the junction, (prob under the soil where it sprouted from) and tug it away, dont cut it as that is like pruneing and it will grow even stronger and really take over the rose bush, so when you find where it has grown from at the base, wear a glove and pull down on this branch so it comes clean away, give the rose a feed of rose fertiliser and gently dig or fork this into the soil around the plant roots being carefull not to damage the rose branches as that is another way you can get these suckers growing, by a wound on the grafted part of the shrub, if you are lucky enough not to be suffering from all the floods in England, give the roses a good watering after you add the rose feed, hope this makes some sense to you, you will soon learn what to look for and get used to all the plants in your new garden, so enjoy and good luck in your new home. WeeNel.

Hello WeeNel,

Thank you too for all your help. I will now know what to look for. The garden was a jungle when we first moved in, but we are gradually getting it sorted and getting used to everything, so it should look quite pretty when it is completed.
Thankfully, we are in an area that is not prone to flooding, but with all the rain that we have had, some of our new plants became waterlogged and are looking a little bedraggled. No matter, we'll start again next year. Maybe we will get summer soon.

Thanks again for your advice.

kmangal

Hi again Kmangal, so glad you dont have floods in your area, we dont have any SO FAR up in Scotland, I am on the West coast which is usually mild, but not this year, my garden is also a bit far off this year, some things have been just great because of the rain, like all my Rhododendrons put on a great show due to the wet winter and spring, but flowers and veg have been a right off, but as you say, next year might be better, we sure cant change the weather eh. If you have just taken over an established garden, it is always advisable to just keep tidying it up and maybe prune all the things that are overgrown, but dont dig things out, it is common for people to go hell for leather and dig away, then realise that they have dug out some really interesting or unusual plants that cost a fortune to replace, you will be beter to take pics of the garden as the season goes on and then next year, you will know all the summer, autumn and spring plants that are in the garden, then, if you dont like them you can either get rid, or dig up and move them, even trim them back a bit so you can enjoy them again. good luck. I am sure you will eventually enjoy your new garden hobby and once you get all the other jobs done indoors, you will see the true beauty of your new garden or start again, take care and best wishes for your new home. WeeNel.