Up the Garden Path

Already 10:30 in the morning…the sun is shinning and a slight breeze in the air, knowing that Spring is just around the corner sends my senses whirling. The endless possibilities of where to start with the garden, the promise of the full splendor of delight that the unfolding of the roses and their heady scent of aroma and beauty soon delighting the garden, puts my thought to them first. Ahhh the wonderment and amazement that only Nature can create.

The best time to prune roses in our Southern California Mountain Zone 6-8 is early March. So far wonderful….hopefully the harsh winter is soon behind and just little sprinkles of rain, soft drifts of fog, and maybe a snow flake or two, but that is okay.

I am always intrigued as I look at the roses before me, how they look like old tumbleweeds, much in neglect this time of the year. As I look closer and observe the new growth buds beginning to swell the time has come to bring out the pruners.

Looking for the rose that is most in need of a pruning job is a game of mine. Why not get the worst one over first. After careful study, it is decided which is the most glaring and bullying of a branch trying to smother another one out..and clip clip he is gone.

The satisfaction of seeing my rose being tidied up, the shaping of the “rose hand” as I call it - five fingers opening up to the blue sky above, and the new growth buds positioned in an outward position knowing they will stretch and grow into strong branches producing beautiful flowers.

The first rose pruned and looking every so proper, gives me such enthusiasm to go onto the next. I can almost feel the roses calling out for primping and pruning, they really are such Queens of the Garden and rightfully so.

The roses know that done properly each year, pruning will contribute to their health and longevity and the good vibrations they send back is gratitude (occasionally you get the prick of the thorn - a constant reminder to do a good job). Sensible pruning is based on several facts about the growth of roses. Firstly, blooms are produced on new growth. Unless pruning promotes strong new growth, flowers will come on spindly outer twigs and will be of very poor quality. Secondly, the more healthy wood you retain, the bigger the plant will be, and the bigger the plant, the more flowers you will receive. Thirdly, the best pruning time for most roses (certain climbers and shrubs types excepted) is at the end of the dormant season when growth buds begin to swell.

March is the best time in our Zone 6-8, just go out and see those growth buds staring back at you for the answer!

Like all of you, I am always searching for secrets of roses, if you have any and want to share, I promise not to tell - only if you say it’s okay. I know there is so much more to write about, but I have a lot of pruning to finish at the moment….and there is so much to do in the garden ….. and so many beautiful books to read tonight, which feed me with inspiration and sometimes exasperation - if you know what I mean!!

When the Sun comes up - tomorrow, Roxanna

It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you in a reverie of suspended thought. ~James Douglas