Hi everyone!

There's a rose out in front of my home that I'm not sure how to take care of. I moved into my house in the late summer of 2016. That winter, I cut the rose down to the ground and it rebounded last year fine growth-wise. I know it needs to be pruned but I'm afraid I waited too late - do I need to let it go another year and prune it this coming fall/winter? Right now, it's starting to leaf out and the canes are really long.

Besides relaizing that it needs pruned, I know pretty much nothing about how to take care of it, the best place for it, or even what kind of rose it is (never seen it bloom). I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions for y'all as the year goes on!

Thanks!
Amanda

Welcome to NGA, Amanda.

Pruning isn't absolutely necessary. Let it grow. If we're able to identify it when it blooms, we can give you advice on the best way and time to prune it. It might never need pruning.

Ah, OK! I'll just leave it to grow, then, and if it blooms this year I'll see if y'all can help me identify it.

to the Roses Forum Amanda!

Welcome Amanda,
We`re all looking forward to your mystery rose`s unfurling this season.
Send progress pic`s so we can follow along.


Tisha

Amanda ...

You can prune out dead or diseased wood out any time of year. So, letting your rose grow won't hurt anything. If you see some bad wood during the rose season, go ahead and cut it out. The rose won't mind a bit ...

Welp, apparently my boyfriend heard me wondering aloud if I should prune it or not. He decided he would be helpful and do it for me.
It's storming right now, so I can't really get pictures, but it looks like there are maybe 4-5 canes a foot long or so. Hopefully the rose won't mind too much!

Amanda ...

Roses are tough. In nature, the critters that eat them, don't know when to prune or how to prune. They can't read either, so they break the rules all of the time. The roses come back from being chomped at the wrong time of the season and over-pruned. To me, it seems like roses have a mandate to grow.

Your rose is probably well-established with a good root system. It will come back.

You would cry if you saw the damage woodrats have done to all of my roses this winter. They only moved into the neighborhood this year. It's amazing how much chomping those critters can do in such a short time.

Your rose will be fine. Be sure to post photos when it is in its full glory ...

Amanda! But I'm sure Lyn is right, it will recover.

Yep, I'm sure it will be fine, but it still was a bit of a shock to go outside and wonder where in the world the rest of the bush went!

Don't be alarmed if it doesn't bloom this year. If it's a once-bloomer, this was the wrong time to prune it. If it's a rebloomer, it wasn't the wrong time.

Hi all!

My rose - that I was afraid my boyfriend butchered - actually has quite a few buds on it and I found the first fully open blossom today. It has what I would consider a "normal" rose scent, but very faint.

I thought I would show y'all and see if anyone can point me in the direction of an ID. Really, though, I'm just glad it's blooming at all! Oh, and can anyone tell me what the white stuff underneath some of the buds is?

Beautiful!

It might be Dr. Huey, which is particularly susceptible to powdery mildew ("the white stuff underneath some of the buds").

Thanks Zuzu! What can I do to get rid of the mildew?

Luckily, I don't get mildew in my garden, but someone else will give you a remedy soon, I'm sure.

I thought the bloom looked like Dr Huey but the growth pattern didn't. I can't help with the mildew either.

Wow! What an interesting thread! Wait for it: I have learned a lot!! First off, all of our Canadian grown out roses, are either own root, or grafted on "multiflora", never on Dr. Huey, because it is not as hardy. So when I saw the picture(s) submitted by MarmorealArbor (not sure why one would copyright an unknown rose), none of my business, and then I read the post by ZUZU, suggesting it might be "Dr.Huey", I refreshed my memory (failing badly) on "Dr. Huey" on the net, and I am glad I did. First off, it certainly does look like "Dr.Huey" in terms of the colour, colour of the stamens, susceptibility to powdery mildew, and virtually thornless. Then I remembered something else: Last year, I noticed a rose in my "Rose Hospital", (a warm bed where I transplant roses which I'm not certain if they are dead or alive, but not ready to shovel-prune) which I could not identify, but in retrospect, looked identical to MArbor's photos, and to those on the net. Each year, I will spend a few discretionary pesos on bagged roses at Home Depot, which come out of Paramount/Mea nursery in Lindale, Texas. I also have more than several "Brownell" roses, coming from the same source, and almost all of those are grafted on "Dr. Huey" rootstock from that Nursery! So who knows?? I just happened to notice today, that my perhaps "Dr. Huey" is looking very healthy. Thank you Marmoreal and ZUZU!! I will also check to see if the growth comes from below the graft. Cheers and again, thank you both!!

Powdery Mildew: A spray available anywhere, containing Sulpher. It is great when starting seeds indoors so that you don't get that whitish "powdery mildew" on same. There was a spray, "Damp Off" but it was a "bad" spray, "Benomyl", not available in Canada anymore.