I am not a "shovel pruner". As long as a plant is trying to live, I try to keep it alive. It is part of my personality/garden philosophy. However, there are certain plants that I am tempted to remove, or move to a different place in the garden...
The most disappointing rose in my collection is "rountuit", a Moore rose. It seems to grow horizontally, except for one huge cane sticking straight up. I am tempted to cut it, but it is much thicker than the other canes. Maybe the rose will improve with time. I can't comment on the flowers, because it hasn't bloomed, yet. At the moment, its form resembles an obscene gesture. Could be partially from the crabgrass that is sprouting thru the prickly, prone canes. Maybe it doesn't like the heat or the growing conditions or something. I don't think I over fertilized, especially since I just watered it during the heat wave.
http://www.helpmefind.com/rose...
A quote from an article quoted in hmf "Rountuit Hybrid Rugosa... a Miniature x Rugosa cross having small blue-green foliage and very double rose-pink flowers in clusters... It needs so little attention that it has been called "the lazy man's rose." Mr. Moore recommends fertilizing it sparingly, trimming it if and when you get around to it! "
I'll read more about rugosas. Maybe I am doing something wrong. My Jens Munk rugosa is suffering in the heat as well. At least I think it is the heat....The foliage on my hybrid teas looks better than the rugosas. Maybe it is something else. Last fall, Jens was the first to drop its leaves, but the first to bloom this spring. It hasn't grown much. I put it in the back of the flower bed thinking it would get big since it is "a vigorous grower". Not yet, but this is its first full year, maybe it is vigorously growing roots.
My spellchecker suggested changing rugosa to Yugoslav....I refrained. The rose "rountuit" is correctly spelled, although I keep wanting to write "roundtuit". I remember the pastor putting one in the church bulletin, TUIT printed in a circle, and giving a seventies style sermon about "getting around to" things. I think he was speaking about tithing, my mother tried to blackmail me into doing more housework, as if obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder was spiritually enlightened. What was I thinking with this rose....
