Josephs Coat Rose Help
by Joe
QUESTION: I have a Josephs Coat Rose on a trellis as in the attached photo. It is growing very well and is fill of buds at this time. I am in costal South Carolina, zone 8A. I prune it once a year around Valentine's day. My problem is that after these current buds are spent, it quits forming additional buds until next spring. It is my understanding that this rose should continue to bloom all summer. What suggestions do you have to encourage continued blooming? ANSWER: Hi Joe! Thanks for your nice image of the Joseph Coats climbing rose. This rose puts on a fabulous first flower show, but then only flowers sporadically over the summer. If you deadhead spent blooms, and give it a good dose of rose food, in early fall or late summer, you will have a real nice fall flower display. Actually most garden roses take a break from flowering during the hot summer months. The heat takes most of the energy from them. That's what my roses are doing here in Los Angeles. Take care and provide water during hot dry summers. When you prune the rose, only prune the lateral short shoots. Those are called the flowering shoots. You can prune the lateral shoots down to 3 inches or so. After a few years, when you notice that a long base cane is slowing down producing lateral flowering shoots, it's time to take a pruning saw, and cut it off at the base. This will encourage new long base canes to grow that will produce lots of blooms. |
