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| Photo Credit: Bosh Bruening |
| These roses had substantial new growth when freaky weather frosted them. After a good pruning, they’ll come along fast, and in six more weeks, they’ll be back in full, glorious bloom. |
There’s nothing like a late frost in spring to challenge intrepid rosarians! The storm that barreled through half of the country this April zapped roses in cold climates, where it’s to be expected, as well as in warm climates, where this season’s bikinis were already showing signs of wear. And roses in parts of the South, many of which that were blooming – or were almost ready to – now look like…well, I can’t bear to think about it – but the term “scorched earth” comes to mind.
Unless you were planning to exhibit your blooms at a rose show in the next couple of weeks or you have a big garden tour coming to your yard, all is not lost! Roses are hardy perennials, and they’ll recover nicely – although your first blooms will appear a little later than usual. So stop standing there, wringing your hands, and get to work! In Zone 5 and lower, you probably hadn’t started your spring pruning, so when your forsythia blooms, prune normally. The budeyes – those little lumps all along the canes where new foliage and stems start to grow – are still very small and were likely unaffected by the extra round of cold weather. For those of you living further south and west, where roses had less than an inch of new growth on the old canes when the freeze hit, gently remove the now-crisp foliage. The budeyes from which that foliage had started growing have a couple of backup budeyes that kick into life if the first eye is damaged. More new growth will sprout. Mother Nature is no dummy. On new basal canes – those that have sprouted from the bud union, or the crown of the plant – prune off the damaged top of the cane. Don’t worry, it’ll continue to grow, and new secondary stems will sprout from it. To speed new growth along, try Rose Wizard UltraBoost™. This growth stimulant breathes new life into winter-damaged roses, as well as other plants.
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