Broken David Austin Falstaff

Hi Everyone,

I'm still very new at this rose growing thing .. And .. I forgot to put a stake in the ground for my David Austin when the new 'stem' (stem?) came out. And it broke off.

Can I try and grow this? Please be gentle with me, I'm still learning all this.

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Tish wrote:Hi Everyone,

I'm still very new at this rose growing thing .. And .. I forgot to put a stake in the ground for my David Austin when the new 'stem' (stem?) came out. And it broke off.
Can I try and grow this? Please be gentle with me, I'm still learning all this.

It's not a bad thing that happened. Many English roses become better in later years if you keep them shorter in the first few years. Because they are such heavy feeders and many love to shoot their big canes, cut them off to force the plant to put its energies in developing of its roots first.
Although it's hard to resist, try not to encourage them to flower too much in the beginning; prune excessive buds and leave just two or three per stem, for same those reasons.
Water them smart, feed them with manure and Dynamic Lifter (avoid mineral fertilisers because they'll spoil the soil), spray the foliage with seaweed liquid tonic once every two weeks, and just be patient

Can I try and grow the cane that fell off? Or is it the hard wooden bits that you can grow from?

It was a slow starter, and some rose growers who I have asked were surprised. It has gone crazy after I pruned it back after the bees taking parts of the leaves). And you are so right, it very much liked that! So I'll keep on going.

Thank you for all the info, it's so very much appreciated

One more thing, mineral fertilizers, as in don't use anything not organic? Osmose etc?

I've seen a lot of water shoots break off this year. I had 2 beautiful new canes come up on my Papa Meilland that snapped off and down at Samaria Farm I thought a roo or cow had been in - there were snapped shoots everywhere.
I presume it's related to the amazing growing weather we've had and they just aren't strong enough when a big wind comes. And nearly everything affected had been pruned back reasonably strongly in winter....

I think the wind is what happened to mine, I could barely take photos it was so windy today. I was so disappointed But it turns out that it's good for it so I'm not too bad now. It must be really frustrating, it's my first broken one.

[quote="AutumnDamask"]I've seen a lot of water shoots break off this year. I had 2 beautiful new canes come up on my Papa Meilland that snapped off and down at Samaria Farm I thought a roo or cow had been in - there were snapped shoots everywhere.
I am new to growing roses....what are "water shoots"

Note: Water shoots invariably do not strike well. They are too soft. It's best to throw this broken branch away and if you want to try your hand at propagating them by cutting wait till winter and try to strike some of the prunings. Water shoots are those thick strong new branches that seem to shoot up from down near the graft. They don't always flower this season but should be left alone because they form the structure for the coming season's growth.

Thanks Simon You're a world of knowledge! Much appreciated

Thanks, Simon always good to know which ones are the best to leave, haven't got to the "difficult" job of pruning yet.....

Me either... I've been doing this 30 years and still haven't worried about pruning... it's over-rated

Tish wrote:One more thing, mineral fertilizers, as in don't use anything not organic? Osmose etc?

Mineral fertilisers tend to pollute the soil if you're not careful, or, they more readily introduce chemical imbalance. People trow more mineral fertilisers to keep the roses going, say once every six months, and then forget about them. If you want to kill your plants in the long run, that's the royal way to go.

An analogy would be to suff yourself with big Xmas-like lunches for a few days, and they thrive on that for a month. It doesn't work, it will make you sick immediately. Same with roses.

So I'm not saying you should stay away from mineral fertilisers, but, just a suggestion to be careful because you possibly don't know what the soil composition is right now, or what it was during the planting, what's really needed (N? P? K? some metals? minerals?) and what's not.

Therefore it's safer to feed the rose with easier, organic fertilisers, away from the stem too, and after a while after planting. In reality, what most us learn in time is that roses can grow well — they are lovely, sturdy plants — but we don't quite understand the soil beneath their feet, so we overfeed them, or create imbalances of all sorts and form their growth and behaviour to follow a certain bad attitude. We make them gnarled, wooden, sickly plants instead of beautiful, vigorous, flexible beauties. Same analogy is with us humans.

It's not easy to understand what's really needed when feeding roses, because plants show that through their poor growth, different symptoms in foliage, etc. But because they also exhaust themselves, we often come too late to the rescue.

My strongest advice would be to focus your efforts on foliar feeding. Roses LOVE it. In that same go you water them too, and minerals from liquid organic fertilisers go back into ground to be absorbed by the root system. There's nothing better than that to keep the roses beautiful and fit, but it takes your dedication and care. And many are not prepared for it.

Thank you That is certainly some great information!
I have bought some organic cow manure that a lady at the rose farm sold to me, so I hope that does the trick, and I don't have to use anything else. The only issue I am having now is that some of the roses are burning in the sun. But with QLD is there much I can do?

Tish wrote:Thank you That is certainly some great information!
I have bought some organic cow manure that a lady at the rose farm sold to me, so I hope that does the trick, and I don't have to use anything else. The only issue I am having now is that some of the roses are burning in the sun. But with QLD is there much I can do?

Yes. Please see my info above on foliar feeding — it will keep the leaves healthier, juicier and more resistant to heat.

Also, plant white and pale coloured roses towards the sunlight (front) and keep the darker coloured roses in the shade (back). Darker petals absorb more heat (same as you black shirt compared to your white shirt) and strong sun will turn them into pulp in no time.

Ok great thanks So can I use the seaweed feed on the leaves? And then water?

Tish wrote:Ok great thanks So can I use the seaweed feed on the leaves? And then water?

Dilute the seaweed with water as suggested on the package. Foliar feeding is best done early in the morning of a sunny day. Or after sunset. I don't suggest foliar feeding during humid, rainy days.

It should be a cloudy day tomorrow, so I'll do it in the morning. The only one I have is seasol, unless you can recommend anything else?

Again, thank you for all of your help. My roses will be looking great in no time!

Tish, very sound advise we are getting here regarding foliar feeding. I use Seasol but have now discovered another seaweed extract called Eco-Cweed, a high quality, concentrated soluble powder. Its also quite economical, 'Google' the product for more info.

I have only been using this product for the past two weeks, so time will tell if it does the same job as the other, but I suspect that any good quality sea weed or fish emulsion will do the trick. The only issue with fish emulsion is that it tends to leave an oily type residue on the leaves which could burn them on a hot day, so only spray in the cool of the evening with fish based stuff.

Falstaff is a robust rose, he will recover and grow in no time at all for you. I have two (one was meant to be Ann Boleyn).

Thanks RitaG I'll have a look and see if I can find it
Definitely better here in QLD to do it in the afternoon or cloudy day.

You can buy it on line at various outlets, but most good nurseries should stock it.

Just to clarify, its only the fish based solutions that are likely to contain oil in them and not sea weed solutions.

Side track here for minute, fish contain "Omega 3" so it should be good for the rose as they say 'humans' should have a supply of it.

roseman wrote:Side track here for minute, fish contain "Omega 3" so it should be good for the rose as they say 'humans' should have a supply of it.

That's why Tish should include blooms of her 'Falstaff' with caramel topping as a desert for Sunday lunches, ahaha

Hahahaha!