Have you thought about growing a few roses or just been wondering which types of roses might be successful in your garden?
This Sunday, June 29, the Kitsap County Rose Society will host a Rose Show in Silverdale at the Community Center, next to Walgreens, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. You will see all types of roses that others are growing locally. Consulting rosarians will also be present for you to ask questions and get information for successful rose growing.
If Sunday does not fit your schedule, the next club meeting will be Monday, July 14, 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Fire Station 41 in Bremerton, at the corner of Old Military and Fairgrounds Rd. NE.
We have a horticulture question-and-answer session at 6:30 p.m. and the speaker topic meeting at 7. In July, I will be talking about Austin roses and showing many beautiful Austin rose pictures I have collected this summer.
Now that we are entering the dry weather season, any roses you have planted in your garden need observation for lack of water. Roses will give the most blooms if you water two or three times a week.
The bloom cycle naturally slows down in July and if you keep the plants from drying out, you will be rewarded with blooms this fall. Dry roses are stressed roses and often spider mites and powdery mildew attack stressed roses in July and August.
So keep your roses hydrated and spray off any spider mites you see with a blast of water. Powdery mildew attacks fresh rose growth near the buds and can be cut off without harm and put in the trash, not yard waste.
Some people mulch roses. I only use compost and try to keep any mulch away from the base of the rose during summer. I will explain winter mulching at another time, but for moisture retention, do not mulch all the way up to the shank of the rose; it could set up a fungal infection such as rot or provide a habitat for slugs.
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