Roses need another dose of fertilizer before winter

Rose growers are preparing their bushes for the onset of winter by giving them a final application of fertilizer this month.

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Paul Blankenship, who has about 500 rose bushes in his North Augusta yard, said now is the time to apply granular fertilizer.

"Plants need to slow down their growth and start hardening for winter," said Blankenship, a member of the Augusta Rose Society who has been growing roses for more than 30 years. "During the last half of October, it's a wise move to leave the blooms on the plant and not cut them. Roses are a member of the apple family and they try to make hips, so it's good to leave the late October growth on there until spring."

Rose hips are the apple-like fruit of the rose plant and typically are red or orange. In some rose species, the hips can range from dark purple to black. Rose hips are not poisonous.

Blankenship suggests that after the first killing freeze, tall plants be topped. Doing so makes them more stable during winter.

"Other than making sure the plants don't dry out, you kind of just leave them alone during the winter," said Blankenship. "Of course, if you have plants in containers, you'll want to protect them if the temperature is expected to go below 15 degrees."

Many people who are new to rose gardening or interested in growing roses might find them intimidating. But there is now a whole class of roses that have been designated earth-kind, meaning they have nearly zero maintenance, Blankenship said.

"Now, it really is easy to grow modern cutting roses if you take advantage of the new products available," he said.

Rose growers will find that there is a wealth of information from fellow enthusiasts. The Augusta Rose Society offers monthly programs on a variety of topics. This month's program will feature Dr. Fletcher Derrick, a Charleston, S.C., neurologist.

Derrick will present a program titled "A Night of Roses from Around the World" during Tuesday's meeting. It will be at 7:30 p.m. in the adult building at First Baptist Church on Walton Way.

Program coordinator Jay Al-Hashimi said Derrick is a rose grower and a rose artist. He will display his work and discuss how roses have been a muse for artists for thousands of years. He will also talk about his recent trip to Ecuador, in which he explored the vast cut rose production facilities that account for about 60 percent of cut roses on the world market.

"Did you know that each night two 747 planes loaded with roses leave Ecuador bound for Miami and Amsterdam?" Al-Hashimi asked. "Dr. Derrick will tell us how these cut roses are grown and harvested for the world market."

For more information about this month's program or tips on growing roses, visit the Augusta Rose Society's Web site at theaugustarosesociety.org.