Well, we had a mostly delightful June, but the long-range forecasts indicate that we will be getting our typical July weather after the first part of the month. Check your watering system to make sure your roses are getting adequate water. You may need to increase the time that you are watering or run an additional cycle depending on the temperatures. Roses love to be washed down with a hose, and this will help prevent spider mites. Make sure you spray under the leaves where the little buggers love to hang out. Do this early in the morning so the leaves have time to dry off to avoid fungal diseases.
Lightly deadhead blooms or allow your roses to form hips during the summer. If you lightly deadhead, make sure you clean up the leaves and spent blooms. Don’t use the rose clippings as mulch because they can harbor diseases. After Labor Day is when you will start to prepare your roses for their fall bloom, so wait for serious deadheading until then.
Make sure you have a good layer of mulch (minimum of 3 inches) around the dripline of your roses. It will help to keep them cooler in the summer, help to maintain moisture and deter weeds. If you can, for those roses in pots, move them where they will receive morning sun and afternoon shade. You can also use shade cloth or an umbrella to cover roses to help them survive our Fresno summers.
Speaking of shade cloth, remember to take care of yourself when gardening. Wear gloves, sunscreen and a broad-brimmed hat. The mosquitos are out in force, so you may want to use a eucalyptus-lemon oil mosquito repellant as well.
To avoid stressing your roses, reduce or discontinue fertilizing until the temps are cooler around mid to late September. If you choose to feed, use a lower nitrogen fertilizer (that’s first letter on the fertilizer package) and dilute it or reduce the amount.
What is eating my roses this month?
Look out for caterpillars, cabbage loopers (those imported cabbage loopers love my roses), rose sawflies rose sawflies (roseslugs), katydids and grasshoppers. Katydids just love to eat the tops of my new growth of my antique roses. They are hard to see and even harder to catch.
Until next time …..”We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.” — Dale Carnegie