Viewing post #1171510 by Oldfatguy

RoseBlush1 said:I agree for the most part with Zuzu ... I am not 100% that what you are looking at is totally dead because you never truly know until you cut the cane and see the inside of the cane as some roses do develop bark as they age. Roses are tough and can be rejuvenated with a little help from the gardener.

You have identified the class of rose you have inherited, so even tho' you may never know the cultivar's true name, you can learn how to care for it.

Your first goal, of course, is to improve the soil, make sure it has sufficient moisture and nutrients. You will want to cut out obvious dead wood and then take a step back.

When you can provide photos of the whole plant and give us a better idea of where your are gardening, members of the Rose Forum can give you more helpful suggestions to help you move forward. Zone 6 only tells us your cold hardiness information, but doesn't give us much more information about the kind of climate you have for your garden.

It sounds like you are not struggling with bringing abandoned roses back, so you should end up having a whole lot of fun, but are in serious danger of becoming a rose addict. Zuzu is an incredible enabler ...

I've done nothing really.

My wife has been pruning, picking off th leaves with black spots.

She has never dealth with roses but is familiar with house plants and managed to keep a grocery store orchid alive for almost three years. It'd still be here but sometimes 3 year olds tear stuff up.

As far as addiction goes, it's too late.

I went by my grandmother's today and we are going to attempt to get her roses to take root in some pots. We started 6 of them so hopefully one makes it.

Her roses are from my great grandmother's garden from down in Kentucky. It made the trip in the mid 80's in a planters can.

She doesn't take care if it, which my wife is taking care of it as of today.

Here's a photo of my great grandmother's roses. They are smaller but they smell great. You don't have to be up on them to smell them like the ones already in my yard.






I started to trim a crabapple down to nothing today and stopped when I saw it's shading a few lilies.

I'm loving all the suprises this yard is bringing us. I also updated my location. I'm in SE Michigan.


Thank you all for the information and education so far. Hopefully I can contribute one of these days.