Growing Roses Organically

Growing roses organically is not so very difficult if you follow a few of the simple rules below : 

Compost

Get used to using compost as it is the key to great roses. Compost tea is the ideal solution to a wide variety of rose feeding problems and once you get the hang of making it, this is the way to go with organic culture. Compost and compost tea encourage the proliferation of beneficial microorganisms that will combat most rose problems. 

Container Grown and organic roses are no more difficult. I use a weekly dose of fish emulsion to feed the rose and every two week application of compost tea in an attempt (likely futile) to keep the microorganisms alive in my containers. I note that chlorinated city water kills off all beneficial bacteria and fungi in container grown plants. 

Compost Tea

I do water my rose leaves with compost tea to try to keep the beneficial bacterial and fungal populations high on the leaves. The hope here is that I’ll manage to have enough good guys to fight off most of the bad guys. 

Plant Choice Importance

Plant choice is important. Given the choice of a rose that is susceptible to fungal infections such as blackspot or one that resists this disease, then the choice is obvious. Go with disease-resistant roses. 

Avoid Chemicals

Avoid chemicals at all costs. A single dose of fungicide will wipe out all microorganisms on leaf surfaces. This means that the fast-reproducing bad guys will appear again before the slower-reproducing beneficials. By wiping out everybody, you’re guaranteeing the bad guys will reappear first and the leaves will be without protection. Use the fungicides recommended in articles on blackspot and mildews for growing roses organically. 

Drips from the leaf surfaces that hit the soil will also kill off bacteria and fungi in the soil. These are the ones that are fighting disease off in the soil and helping to feed the plant. Fungicides are a quick way to set your plant on a slippery downhill slope. 

Chemical Fertilizers

Avoid chemical fertilizers. The reliance on artificial sources of nitrogen is like feeding sugar candy as a main course. There’s a lot of activity afterwards but it really isn’t nutrition. Numerous studies have shown that plants fed artificial nitrogen have leaves that contain more sugars in them than organically fed plants. 

This extra sugar attracts more pests (pests prefer sweet leaves to normal leaves). So growing roses organically means relying on compost and organic fertilizers to feed the soil first and let the soil organisms feed the roses. 

Organic Insect Control & Growing Roses Organically

Use organic methods of insect control. There is a growing library of articles up on the sites that deal with a wide variety of pests using organic methods. From strong water jets for knocking aphids off bushes (when they hit the ground they become food for beetles). To soap to kill off others. To rotenone and diatomaceous earth for other pests along with iron phosphate controls for slugs, there are no rose pests that resist organic controls (you just have to figure out what the pest is and which control to use). 

All of the articles on this site and my other sites are environmentally based and doing a search will find you a ton of information you can use for growing roses organically. 

Caring For Flower Bulbs

THEN YOU HAVE TO GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT

Bulbs want full sunshine.

While there are a few that will tolerate shade for the most part, you’re going to find that a minimum of six full hot sun hours a day is the minimum to grow a great bulb. That’s always assuming you want them to live for years; if you only want a single season’s show, you can plant them anywhere.
 

Bulbs demand superb drainage.

The fastest way to kill most bulbs is to overwater them. Many bulbs are native to areas where summer rains are almost non-existent (tulips for example) and when we keep them well-watered in our summer gardens, they tend to rot away. 

Bulbs require a period of growing their leaves after blooming.

So cutting off leaves before they go brown naturally is a surefire way to stop your bulbs from thriving. Similarly, tying up the leaves to get them out of the way is only marginally better. I’ll repeat this advice throughout the articles. You have to let those leaves produce enough energy so the bulb can develop a flower bud for the following season. Without that sunshine being stored up, there will be no flowers the next year. 


Alliums for cut flowers being harvested

Feeding Bulbs

Most bulbs do quite well with a yearly feeding of compost. They are not overly greedy feeders. 

COMMON BULB PROBLEMS AND QUESTIONS

Sometimes your bulbs just don't bloom. 

Growing organic flower bulbs here and this will expand as questions come in on this topic. For now, it has two basic tips. (that's all you really need I suspect) :-) 

Storing Flower Bulbs

Storing flower bulbs always gets questions and here's the basic guidelines. While the easiest way is to store them in the ground, sometimes winter gets in the way.

Plants That Flower

Roses

Roses are a flowering plant, which happens to also be a perennial. A perennial plant is one that lives at least three years, with new growth annually. Most people love roses and think of them as a romantic flower. There are three specific types of roses, with many categories and varieties under each. Wild roses are mainly considered wildflowers and can be spotted on rocky slopes, forests and clearings along the roadway. The Rosa carolina, a wild rose species, has large pink blooms. Old garden rose is a name given to any rose species that is a non-hybrid, cultivated before 1867. The Alba rose, for example, is most reminiscent of castle gardens in the Middle Ages. It is fragrant and found in white and light pink. The last type of rose is the modern garden rose. These are hybrids created after 1867. The hybrid tea rose is an example of a modern garden rose. It is a classic rose cut for vases and arrangements, as it has a long stem with a single flower per stem.

Crepe Myrtle

Most trees produce some sort of flower; this is how they reproduce. However, when you refer to flowering trees, you probably think of the showy blooms of ornamentals.One of the favorites is the crepe myrtle. It prefers a warmer climate of USDA hardiness zone 7 and higher (see Resources). Not only is it a fast growing tree, but surprises its owner with rich, thick blooms of white, red, pink or purple. The hybrid crepe myrtle varieties bloom longer than the heirloom trees. The Muskogee crepe myrtle blooms for 120 days. It grows to a height of up to 25 feet. Plant these in groupings for a spectacular array of lavender blooms. A smaller crepe myrtle variety is the Pink Velour crepe, growing to 10 feet. It has bright pink blossoms. It's one of the easy-to-grow crepe myrtles, and is drought-resistant. For a shock of bright red flowers, choose the Arapaho crepe myrtle. It will grow to a height of 25 feet, blooming spring through fall.

Azaleas

Azaleas are one of the most popular flowering bushes. They are referred to as the "royalty of the garden." There are thousands of varieties, allowing most southeastern locations the opportunity to grow this great beauty. They also grow well along the Pacific coast. Most of the azalea varieties are unable to withstand temperatures below -10 degrees F. There are plants within the azalea family that are evergreen (keeps leaves year-round) and deciduous (loses leaves in winter). Most popular are the evergreens. The funnel-shaped flowers are so full and color-spectacular during blooming, usually spring. Azalea varieties come in white, pink, lavender, red, yellow, apricot, salmon and orange. These flowering bushes can grow from 4 to 6 feet. The hardiest are Gable hybrid varieties. A rarity, the Robin Hill azaleas can withstand temperatures to -30 degrees F and up to 100 degrees