My patio roses have been given some TLC (TenderLovingCare) to set them up for flowering this summer.
TLC has involved checking over the pots and how they and the roses over wintered. Luckily there were no disaster or significant problems.
Pots were on the dry side, no bad thing through winter but now I will up the watering with dilute fertiliser.
The high growth had been trimmed in late autumn but now I undertook some careful pruning. Old and dead wood was cut out and the center of the rose was opened up to allow in air as they develop.
I took off the top 3 inches of soil and replaced it with a top dressing of John Innes and compost. I added a few slow release granules to each pot first.
Last year I covered the top of each pot with an inch of Strulch to suppress weeds and help watering. That worked so well I am repeating this mulch for this year. The old Strulch and top compost has gone on the heap.
I checked the pots for winter damage, fortunately they survived intact
Future Care and Boosting Plans
Black spot can be a problem on susceptible varieties so I will spray with a fungicide. Infected leaves will be taken off and dustbinned.
I will feed with a rose feed in may and a tomato feed after the first flush of flowers.
I am potentially over feeding as I hope to get some more cut flowers this year.
I also plan to buy another plant, or several, they are great value for money.
Pot Observations
My pots are a mishmash but I prefer those that are uniform terracotta pots.
Even in my glazed pots and two twelve inch square plastic efforts the patio roses produce masses of flowers annually.
Most pots contain roses over 5 years old and I do not re-pot them.
My favourite pots are 16 inch high ‘Long Toms’ that make a group of three. This grouping helps a micro-climate and a blowsy display.
The shortest pot in 9 inches high and I should have selected a miniature rose rather than a fully fledged patio variety. Several miniature roses are in my shallow soiled rockery.
