Rose advice

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

Sir Arif its better to start your standards direct in ground.As the stems have some reflex so stake them with strong stakes.Ather three or four year when the stems develop strong wood remove all the stakes.This will help to get straight strong wood stems.Try to purchase weeping standards or standards grafted with miniature buds.Miniatures make nice heads.

[muhammad umer]

i would recommend callling mr ibrahim and telling him to make standards for u, bespoke, he is making his stock right now(to sell in march he told me) and will gladly comply . that way u can have whatever u may wish. if i had the patience i would have had california dreamin grafted on 60 inch stems , it would have been a killer , a tarffic stopper if planted outside the home.

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

Arif sb Ice berg makes perfect standard.Try to get all three colors.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Prune all the roses & uproot after 10th of Dec. Wash the roots & replant where you wish to see them. choose thick (pencil size) soft wood cuttings & plant in shady location in any well drain media.It will be good if you plant in pots.So when it gets hot you can move the cuttings in shady location.Upto 80 % cuttings sprout but we loose them simply because of the hot sun light.So to avoid that its good to plant in pots & keep it in pots till next season.
One thing i don,t know about Lahore.But once i tried to make my own root roses at Bahawalpur.I planted some cuttings of hybrid roses but they reverted back to wild stock.i think it was because of the heat.But here at Islamabad the variety comes true to the type almost every variety.

I am pruning and re-locating my roses 25th onwards,the standards are not available till March
Rooting of cuttings will be an experiment.

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

This is the right time Brig sb to relocate your roses.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Relocation of my roses is complete. some cuttings to get own rooted roses have also been planted, some have already sprouted, hope they survive.

[Mustansir Billah]

Arif sb. Please share some pictures of cuttings.

[Morina]

I grew over 35 bushes this year, many of them DA roses. I did not use any insecticides, except on two occasions when I thought it was absolutely essential. Frequent use of insecticides, IMHO, has it's environmental hazards. IMV, best is to allow the plants to develop their natural system of fighting diseases / pests and they will do that if they are strong / healthy. Use of organic matter like ash, corn floar etc and washing effected areas with soap water helped during mild attacks. Instead of using an insecticide right at the outset, I used to wait and see for a while. When it became uncontrollable than the use of insecticide was resorted to, as a last resort. During whole season, I had to do it with only two bushes and all other roses, over 35 new and 15 three years old bushes, grew quite well.

IMV, good soil preparation is vital. If the soil mix is fertile, containing right proportion of desired elements and having correct pH level, it promotes good growth plus if the drainage is also good, it will help control the diseases as the plant will be strong. Soggy or poorly drained soil retards growth which encourages fungus and other diseases. Good mulching also helps. I normally used pine bark in my rose beds, basically due to its acidic qualities (pH 4-5) and their long life. It helped. Just my two cents.


Arif Sahib, Sir in my limited experience of growing roses, all do not do well in our climate. Therefore, one may have to select the right varieties that perform well in Pakistani summers. By and large, it is easier to grow roses in hot climate as compared to cold & wet climate, if one is careful during days of extreme hot weather. The flowering season will be short in hot areas during summers but one can be rewarded with a good second flush in Sep/Oct/Nov which is normally not the case in cold areas. A bit of study on the ultimate size, growing habits etc of a rose bush before the purchase might help a lot. Ghafoor sb at Changa can give a very good advice regarding those varieties which perform well in heat. Rose growing has it's difficulties but the reward is incomparable IMV. I curse myself for taking 30 years to understand this simple point.

Best regards and happy rose growing.

Thanks for your complete explanation. I just want to add that garlics planted near our rose roots are wonderful natural antifungal.

[Muhammad Bilal]

I grew over 35 bushes this year, many of them DA roses. I did not use any insecticides, except on two occasions when I thought it was absolutely essential. Frequent use of insecticides, IMHO, has it's environmental hazards. IMV, best is to allow the plants to develop their natural system of fighting diseases / pests and they will do that if they are strong / healthy. Use of organic matter like ash, corn floar etc and washing effected areas with soap water helped during mild attacks. Instead of using an insecticide right at the outset, I used to wait and see for a while. When it became uncontrollable than the use of insecticide was resorted to, as a last resort. During whole season, I had to do it with only two bushes and all other roses, over 35 new and 15 three years old bushes, grew quite well.

IMV, good soil preparation is vital. If the soil mix is fertile, containing right proportion of desired elements and having correct pH level, it promotes good growth plus if the drainage is also good, it will help control the diseases as the plant will be strong. Soggy or poorly drained soil retards growth which encourages fungus and other diseases. Good mulching also helps. I normally used pine bark in my rose beds, basically due to its acidic qualities (pH 4-5) and their long life. It helped. Just my two cents.

Arif Sahib, Sir in my limited experience of growing roses, all do not do well in our climate. Therefore, one may have to select the right varieties that perform well in Pakistani summers. By and large, it is easier to grow roses in hot climate as compared to cold & wet climate, if one is careful during days of extreme hot weather. The flowering season will be short in hot areas during summers but one can be rewarded with a good second flush in Sep/Oct/Nov which is normally not the case in cold areas. A bit of study on the ultimate size, growing habits etc of a rose bush before the purchase might help a lot. Ghafoor sb at Changa can give a very good advice regarding those varieties which perform well in heat. Rose growing has it's difficulties but the reward is incomparable IMV. I curse myself for taking 30 years to understand this simple point.

Best regards and happy rose growing.

Thanks for your complete explanation. I just want to add that garlics planted near our rose roots are wonderful natural antifungal.

Morina, is planting garlic beneficial as anti fungal for rose only or this tip is affected for all home plants as well??

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Thank you every one for your interest but I have accepted that I am no rose man.