Lin's Plant Files: Delphinium

My experience:

I think delphinium (aka larkspur) is one of the most beautiful flowers of summer, and it is available in so many amazing colors.  It is one of my current favorites.  I bought some seeds on a whim, despite having no idea where I would put them.  The majority of my yard is shady, and I knew delphs liked sun.  I finally spread the seeds along the side of my garage and around the back corner.  I like growing tall flowers along a wall, and this area gets more sun than most other places I had available.

I will readily admit that I did everything wrong with these seeds and put in very little effort.  I didn't give the seeds any cold treatment before planting.  I put them out in late May, weeks later than I would consider ideal.  I didn't till the ground, I just threw the seed down, sprinkled a little potting mix on top, and watered.  I watered the area when I thought of it, but certainly not regularly.  I let weeds grow up around the area, because I wasn't sure what the plants would look like when they appeared. 

I eventually scoured the Internet and came up with a few pictures of delphinium seedlings, so I at least knew what to look for.  And lo and behold, a few weeks ago I noticed some small plants with the characteristic lobed delph foliage.  I don't have nearly as many as I had hoped for with the amount of seed I put down, but I am holding on to some hope that after laying around in the cold this winter, perhaps next spring I will have some more plants popping up.

Here is a pic of one of my little seedlings:

I guess I am just lucky.  By all accounts, my delphs shouldn't have survived my haphazard planting.  They are pretty small, only about 6 - 8 inches tall right now.  Since they came from seed, it will take a while for them to reach full height.  And they may never be huge in their partially shady spot.  But against all odds, I have blooms in the first growing season - which doesn't usually happen unless you winter sow or start the seeds inside very early, which I did not. The first bloom is small but so gorgeous.  Here is a pic:

Pictures don't really do this baby justice.  It is a deep purple with blue streaks, and it is really gorgeous.  I haven't taken the time yet to try and figure out what kind it is - I planted several varieties, all in shades of blue, purple, and white.  But I am thrilled to see these little blossoms.  I have a couple more small purple ones blooming, and several with buds that haven't opened yet. 

Since I have become very fond of these flowers this summer and have been waiting impatiently for them to grow, I did a little more research.  I may need to plant more next year.  So if you would like to know more about growing delphinium, the right way instead of using my crazy method, read on.

How to get started:

You can buy delphinium plants and put them in your garden.  This is the fastest way to get large blooming plants.  It is worth noting that many people report that mature delphs don't like being moved, so you may have to baby them a little if you go this route.  Delphinium can also be propagated by taking cuttings from mature plants and rooting them.  This is only recommended if you are experienced at taking and rooting cuttings, as they may not root as easily as other plants.  The third option is to purchase seed and grow them from scratch.  

Growing from seed:

I have seen a lot of gardening message boards with people lamenting their inability to get delphinium seeds to germinate.  It seems a lot of those who do succeed winter sow their seed.  If you don't know how to do this, look it up or wait for me to get around to writing about it (yes, it's on the list).

Not everybody likes winter sowing, so you can try stratifying and planting.  First, delphinium seeds must be fresh.  They lose their vitality after a year.  Your best bet is a supplier, especially if you want a particular color, as garden seeds may be hybrids.  Next, they do need to be stratified.  I know, I didn't stratify mine and they came up.  But I was lucky.  We had a cool spell a week or two after I put the seed out, and that is probably the only reason any of mine germinated.  My germination rate wasn't great.  To stratify, you need to put some potting mix in a baggie, dampen it slightly, and add the seeds. Label the baggie if you want to know what type of seeds are in there.  Put the baggie in the fridge, and check it every week or so.  The soil needs to stay moist, and you want to watch for germination - root tips or plants sprouting.  If you want more in depth info about stratification, check out my post about growing roses from seed.  It's the same process.  Some people put their seeds in the freezer for a day or two before stratifying.  It may be worth a try if you have had trouble germinating delphs in the past.

Delphs need to be stratified for at least a couple of weeks, and they need cool dark conditions to germinate.  I would leave the seeds in the cold treatment until you see germination, but if it has been several weeks or you are just too impatient, make sure to put your planted seed tray in a cool, dark location until you see growth.  You will want this location to be warmer than your fridge, though - around 65-70 degrees.  Move them into the sun as soon as you see sprouts.

Plant your seeds in a seed tray, or if it is late spring & the seeds are germinating, plant them outside.  Seeds need to be covered shallowly and kept moist.  First year plants usually don't bloom unless they are started inside very early.

Growing needs:

Delphiniums like rich, well draining, neutral to slightly higher pH soil.  They don't like having wet feet in winter, so modify your soil if you need to.  Adding a small amount of lime to your potting medium or soil may be beneficial.  Delphs need plenty of water during their heavy growth period - usually May - July, so be sure to water them if Mother Nature is slacking.  Don't overdo it, or you may end up with crown rot.  But don't let them go thirsty, either. 

These plants are also heavy feeders - they will need to be fertilized often throughout the summer.  A liquid fertilizer is probably best for these beauties, since it will be immediately available to the plant.  Liquid fertilizer can usually be applied every couple of weeks.  Be careful not to overdo nitrogen - liquid fish emulsion is suggested as a good option for fertilizing.

Delphiniums like plenty of sun, but they may tolerate partial or dappled shade.  Especially if you live in an area with intense summer heat.  My baby delphs are probably only surviving and blooming because they get some shade during these oppressive days of IL summer.  So take your climate into account when you choose your planting site, because your babies will go dormant or even die off if they get too hot.

You can get delphs in small sizes that only grow to about a foot, all the way to the giant breeds that stand 6 feet tall.  If you have the taller varieties, they will need to be staked.  Using 4 stakes to create a cage is a great way to keep them from falling over.  You can tie the lower part of the plant to a stake, about a foot from the ground.  Further up, you will want to tie more loosely to allow some movement, or the spike will break off in the wind.  This is why a cage setup is sometimes best.  Make your last tie just under the bottom spike. 

 
Dividing:

Plants that are getting crowded need to be divided.  For delphinium this is about every 3 years or so.  Making sure to divide and spread out your plants will help them last longer in the garden.  Dig up and carefully divide in the early spring, just as the first shoots are starting to emerge.  Each piece needs plenty of roots and at least one strong stem.  When you replant them, the crown should be about 2 inches under the soil.

Spike culling:

For healthy plants, you don't want too many spikes.  First year plants usually only have one flower spike.  Second years can handle three, and older plants can have up to five.  As the plant begins to put out spikes in the spring, select the spikes to keep and cut off the rest.  Older plants will produce more spikes. But too many spikes will deplete the plant and make it unhealthy, and crowding promotes fungal problems.  I know it's hard to cut off those potential blooms, but it really will make your plant healthier.

Pests:

The biggest pest problem comes from slugs.  Crushed eggshells around your planting area may help, or sinking a partially full beer can into the ground near your plants to act as a trap.  Slugs can take out your entire delph population, so take the threat seriously.

Diseases:

Keep an eye out for powdery mildew, black spot, and crown rot.  Treat with an anti-fungal if necessary.  Keeping your plants uncrowded and free of weeds will allow better air circulation, which in turn will cut down on fungal diseases.

Fall care:
When blooming is done, cut the spike off the plant.  It may rebloom in late summer or fall.  Allow the rest of the plant to stay and build up its food supply.  In fall, cut the plant to the ground and clear away all debris.  Slugs may take up residence and do a lot of damage if you leave the clippings laying around.  Also, spreading a little sand over the area will help deter them.
Life span:

Most delphinium will last about 3-5 years if kept healthy.  If you divide and replant as they spread, you should have delphs for many years.

Interesting facts:

Delphinium gets its name from the word dolphin, due to the shape of the bloom spike.  They are in the buttercup family.  The flowers can be used to make blue ink.  All parts of the plant are poisonous to humans & most animals if consumed, although it is thought that very small amounts can be used to treat asthma (but not sure I would try it!)

Good luck with your delphs & enjoy!

Rose Babies: How to grow roses from seed

I have really enjoyed myself this summer as I jumped into my first experiments with growing roses from seed.  I will share with you how I did it, what I learned, and what I will change next time.  There are all kinds of methods for growing roses from seed - this was my experience.  I don't claim that this is the only way to do it, and certainly not the best way.  But it worked fairly well for me, so take from it what you will.

Since I didn't want to wait for my roses to produce seeds, I got online and bought rose seeds.  The seller showed a picture of one of the parent plants, I am assuming the seed producer.  I have no idea if they were open pollinated, self pollinated, or purposeful cross breeds.  I intend to contact the seller and see if I can get more info, simply to have for breeding records for my seedlings and their future offspring.  But it doesn't really matter - find some roses you like and obtain some seeds.  I will go into cross pollinating and seed collecting on another post, once I have some pictures to use - for now I want to focus on what to do once you have the seeds in hand. 

The first step is a topic of debate in rose breeding circles.  Most people feel that rose seeds need to be stratified.  This involves giving the seeds a cold treatment to imitate winter conditions before planting.  When you are working with hardy perennials, many seeds have a natural chemical inhibitor that prevents them from germinating until the seed has been cooled for a certain amount of time.  The reason is because when a plant drops its seeds in the fall, Mother Nature doesn't want those seeds to sprout as winter is setting in.  The seedling would be long dead by the time spring showed up.  Therefore, most people growing roses from seed feel that you will get a better germination rate (the number that sprout) if you get the seeds nice and cold for a while before planting.  Personally, knowing what I do of plant physiology, this made perfect sense to me.  I chose to stratify my seeds.  It takes a little extra time and effort, but I had a tremendously high germination rate, so I guess it was worthwhile.

However, the debate doesn't stop there.  The next issue is, how long do the seeds need to be cold in order to break dormancy? Some people chill their seeds 3 months, to simulate a full winter.  Others chill for much shorter periods of time.  The seller I got my seeds from suggested 6 weeks.  I was impatient, and had planned to stratify for about 4 weeks.  Nature had other plans, though - more on that in a minute.

So, how should you stratify your seeds, if you choose to do so?  There are a lot of ways.  Some people put the seeds on damp paper towels and stick it in the fridge.  Others put the seeds in a potting material in a seed tray and put the whole tray in the fridge.  I went a slightly different route.  In the interest of saving space, I pulled out some snack sized Ziplock baggies that I had accidentally bought once and had no use for - they are too small to hold much of anything.  But they were perfect for this.  Label the baggies with a Sharpie so you know which baggie has which seeds - you will want to keep track of which plants are which, so use a different baggie for each type of rose seed.  I added some potting mix - and I used Miracle Gro, because that is what I had on hand.  Many sites I researched on said not to use fertilizers until the plants had a few true leaves.  I used Miracle Gro potting mix throughout this growing season since I had a bunch of it, and everything ended up fine.  I have a lot of baby roses, so it couldn't have done too much damage.  It does tend to be full of gnats though, so I don't recommend it for house or patio plants.

Back to stratifying.  I put a handful or two of potting mix in the snack baggies and dampened the mix with a small amount of water.  This can be a little tough to judge.  You don't want the seeds to dry out - but you don't want them to rot from being too wet, either.  The mix should be damp, not wet.  If you accidentally get it too wet, you can leave the bags open a day or two & let it dry. 

It is not a bad idea to use some type of anti-fungal agent with your seeds and baby seedlings.  Yes, you want plants that are strong without being babied a lot.  But roses are notoriously hard to grow because so many seedlings end up with damp-off (a fungal infection) and there is no way to save them once it hits.  A little prevention will give your seedlings the chance to get going.  Once they are established, then you can let them fight off disease and see which ones are strong.  Baby roses are a lot like baby humans - the very young are the most in danger when it comes to illness.  Once they get a little older they can fight things off more easily.

You can use a chemical anti-fungal, or something more natural.  I used hydrogen peroxide.  It was highly recommended, and I had it in the bathroom cabinet.  H2O2 has some pretty amazing uses when it comes to gardening, and I now go through a lot of it.  One thing it does is fight fungus pretty effectively.  I mix 2 tablespoons with 2 cups of water.  Use this solution to dampen your potting mix instead of plain water.  Or if you are using paper towels, use it to dampen the towels.

If you are a strict organic gardener, H2O2 is still an option.  Hydrogen peroxide is a naturally produced by plants - but the bottles you buy at the drug store have chemical additives ( I think as preservatives, but I could be wrong on that).  However, you can find food grade hydrogen peroxide, and this is an organic product.  I haven't done a lot of research on food grade H2O2 (yet), so if you are using it you will have to do your own legwork.  I do know that it comes in much stronger concentrations, so you will have to adjust for that when you make your mixtures.

Once your mix is ready, add your seeds.  Mix it up so that the seeds get spread out in the baggie and have good contact with the soil.  Seal up the baggie and put it in your fridge.  I put mine in the crisper drawer of the old fridge we have in the garage.  Don't put them in the freezer.  You want the temp of the fridge to be at least down to 40 degrees, maybe a touch cooler.  Some people suggest taking the seeds out every week or so and letting them warm up slightly, then returning them to the cold temps.  This mimics the temperature fluctuations of a natural environment.  I didn't bother, and it didn't seem to matter, but you can decided what you want to do.

Here are my seed baggies all ready to go in the fridge:

Check your seeds at least once a week.  If the potting mix is getting dry, put some H2O2 mixture in a spray bottle and mist the mix to add some moisture.  Look for the seeds - you will want to keep an eye out for root tips.  This will be a tiny white piece coming out of the seed.  They can be hard to see, but most rose seeds are large enough that you can see them if you look carefully.  Use a magnifying glass if you need to.  A seed with a root tip has germinated and is ready to be planted.  But you must be very careful - those root tips break off very easily, and that means death for your seed.

My rose seeds developed root tips much quicker than I expected.  Maybe I was lucky, maybe my fridge should have been a touch cooler, or maybe the seed seller let the seeds stratify before harvesting them.  Who knows?  All I know is, less than two weeks after putting my seeds into cold treatment, I had root tips.  When to plant is kind of a balancing act.  You want a good number of seeds to have root tips - if you plant too soon, seeds may not germinate.  But if you wait too long, the seeds will sprout before you get them planted, and it is difficult to work with a seed that has a tiny & extremely delicate sprout attached.  This is one way stratifying in a tray has an advantage - the seeds are already planted, you just pull the tray out after a few weeks or if you start seeing sprouts.  But with the baggies, you know how many seeds are germinated and can get a better idea of the best time to pull your seeds from the fridge.

Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of a root tip at this time - at the next opportunity, I will take one and add it.  But if you are really unsure of what you are looking for, Google the term and you should get lots of good pictures.

Once your seeds are ready to plant, pull them out of the fridge and let them warm up.  Now you have to decide how you want to plant them.  A friend of mine had an extra seed tray with the little soil pods that expand when you add water.  I used that for some of my seeds, and filled the plastic lid with potting mix to plant the rest of the seeds in.  With the pods, I dumped the seed mix onto a paper towel and used tweezers to separate out the seeds.  This was a long, slow process, and you have to be very careful not to break the root tips off.  I put two seeds in each pod, assuming that not all would survive.  When I ran out of room, I used my labeled bags to make sections in the other tray, dumped in the seed mixture, spread it out, and covered it lightly with potting mix.  The seeds do not need to be very deep at all - barely covered works well.  Just make sure you are still keeping track of which seeds are where - there will be no way to tell them apart if they aren't labeled.

Now, this is a pretty easy way to get the seeds planted and let them take off.  The problem is, you will later have to separate the little plants out to repot them.  I had a much higher germination rate than I expected, and my seed trays ended up being very crowded.  The seedlings became twisted and difficult to remove without breaking them.  The soil pods worked a little better, because even if both seeds sprouted and survived, at least they weren't tangled up with 20 other fragile plants.  It wasn't too hard to break the soil pod in half and replant.  But, if you plant a lot of seeds, this requires a lot of seeds trays and enough space to put them in.  Next year, I will probably try something different with this process - look for that info at the end of the post.

Once the seeds are planted, water with your H2O2 mixture.  Give them a good soaking, but don't overdo it.  You want the soil to stay moist, but too much water may still cause your seeds to rot.  Put the trays where they can get some light - mine were on my dining room table, a room that has a lot of bright, indirect sunlight.  Once your seedlings start emerging, I suggest moving them immediately into a place where they can get plenty of sun.  If the weather is warm enough (no chance of freeze, night temps staying above 40) you could put the seed trays outside.  Your plants would get plenty of light and wouldn't have to be hardened off later.  But, outside you can't control the environment as well - a rainstorm, strong winds, or hungry critters could quickly destroy your seedlings.  Mice love rose seeds, by the way!

Here is a look at my seed trays when I finished planting:

Depending on how many seeds you had with root tips, you may see emerging seedlings very quickly.  I had some sprouts breaking the seed coats as I was planting, and a lot of root tips.  Here are my roses emerging:

 

When the seedlings emerge, they should have a pair of leaves. These are not true leaves.  These are called cotyledons.  They generally store food for the seedling until it is capable of photosynthesizing.  After a week or two, the first true leaves will emerge, and they will be a different size and shape.  Eventually the cotyledons will die off. 

Keep your seedlings watered and let them have plenty of sun.  If they didn't emerge to full sun, increase the amount they get each day so you don't burn them with sudden sun exposure.  Keep using the H2O2 mixture to water until they have several true leaves.  This will help prevent losing all your seedlings to fungal infections.  This is important - the biggest threat to your babies is damp off, which will kill them before you even know it is there.  All of a sudden, a seedling will shrivel up and turn brown, and that's it.  In addition to watering with the H2O2 mixture, use a spray bottle and mist your seedlings every day or two with the mixture.  Watering with the mixture prevents root disease, misting prevents leaf disease.  Misting also increases the humidity, which roses like.  If the top of your seedlings are turning brown, they probably need more humidity.

Once the seedlings have a few true leaves (2-5), you can transplant them into their own little pot.  The smaller the plant is, the more difficult this will be, so the longer you can wait without the plant suffering for it, the better.  I had to move mine because the tray was so crowded, and they were still very small.  I lost quite a few because I broke the main stem trying to extract them. 

At this point, I put my seedlings into the large disposable plastic cups you get for picnics, etc.  They are a good size for this project, and fairly cheap.  Plus, I can use them again next year.  I would suggest poking a hole or two in the bottom for drainage - I didn't think to do this, and I wished many times that I had.  Use a potting mix - at this point you can use one with fertilizers if you wish.  If you add fertilizers, be careful - start with about 1/4 normal strength and work your way up so you don't burn the plants.  I continued to use Miracle Gro since it was on hand, and didn't have any problems.  After a few weeks, I sprinkled on small amounts of the granular slow release flower food I use in my gardens.  Give each plant its own cup, and use a Sharpie to label the cups so you can continue to identify which plants came from which seeds.

I moved my seed trays outside once I realized that my seedlings needed more sun.  I put them on my porch, where they are protected from heavy rain and get bright, indirect light most of the day, and direct sun part of the day.  When you move your plants outside, they need to be hardened off - gradually accustomed to the wind and sun so they won't get burned.  Do this by putting your trays outside for an hour or so the first day, then a little longer the second day, and build up over a week or so until they are outside all the time.  This is obviously easier to do if the seedlings are all in a tray instead of individual pots, so I suggest hardening them off before the first transplanting.



Roses need a lot of sun and a lot of water, especially if you have a hot summer like we do.  Also, rabbits love the tender new growth on rose plants - so you should consider how to keep them away.  Some people sprinkle cayenne pepper or use chemical deterrents.  I have found that the most effective way to keep the rabbits and squirrels away from my plants is to collect the hair my yellow lab sheds and spread it on and around any plants that I want to protect.  I have to reapply every couple of weeks or so, but the fresh scent of dog has worked pretty well for me.

You will have to decide if you want to spray your plants for bugs and diseases.  Once my plants moved outside, I stopped using the H2O2 mixture on them.  I never treated them to prevent insects from feeding.  My thought was that I wanted strong plants that could resist diseases and bugs, and the plants that didn't survive weren't worth keeping.  You may feel differently.  I do suggest fertilizing once they start to get bigger.  Plants need food - a starving plant won't produce many flowers, and those little cups will get depleted of nutrients pretty quickly.

Once your seedlings are in individual pots, they should be settled for several weeks.  Mine are now a couple of months old, and are starting to bloom.  This is the most exciting part - getting that first look at the flowers you worked so hard to raise.  I purchased some 6 inch inexpensive pots from a school supplier.  As each of my rose babies blooms, it gets assigned a number.  I use this number to record the parent of the plant, the initial bloom color and type, and the date it bloomed.  I give it a name & will also record where it is going - if I give it away to someone, sell it to someone, keep it, or if it doesn't survive.  I transplant it into a bigger pot and label the pot, then put it somewhere on my patio to get lots of sun.  Once they bloom, your babies are well on their way to adulthood.

Eventually I will write an entry that deals with culling your rose crop to get rid of undesirable traits, and how to identify the type of roses you have.  But for now, I am enjoying my new babies too much to think about discarding any of them just yet.

As I said, I decided to grow roses from seed on a whim.  I wanted to see if I could, and apparently, I can!  I have a lot of babies to find homes for.  But it has been an interesting experience, and I have learned a lot along the way.

Next year, I will make some changes.  Now that I have some experience, I have some different ideas.  Instead of mass planting in a seed tray, I may go ahead and plant the individual seeds in their own cups from the very beginning.  This will take a lot of time, and it will mean that my roses will be outside from Day 1.  But I don't want to end up with crowded, overgrown seedlings, and I won't have to worry about transplanting until they begin to bloom, so I am really just putting the time and effort in at a different point in the process.  To make planting a little easier, I may try the paper towel method for stratifying.  This would save me the painstaking process of sorting the seeds out from the potting mix when it is time to plant.  But I am not decided on this, because I think the soil contact does really help with germination.  That may be part of why I had so many plants sprout this year. 

When it comes time to start my next batch of seeds, I will keep you updated on the changes I make and how it goes.  If you are trying to grow your own rose babies, good luck!!

Next up: Undecided - you will have to be surprised!

Rose Babies: Becoming a rose hybridizer

As I put together my rose garden this spring, I realized how expensive rose bushes had gotten.  I finally went to a good nursery in a not-so-good neighborhood and got my rose bushes for a decent price.  They ranged from $12.00 to $25.00 depending on the size, breed, and age of the plant.  I saw roses in other places for $40 - $60, and said "I don't think so!" I had visions of a new, bigger rose garden in my backyard.  But I certainly couldn't afford to buy that many new roses.  I definitely couldn't afford all the new, pretty, cool looking hybrids that I coveted.

I began looking into growing roses from seed.  I had several new plants as potential parents.  I saw that it would be pretty easy to let my rose plants produce seed and try my hand at growing baby roses.  But, I wanted more.  Instead of letting my roses pollinate freely, I wanted to create my babies.

I did have some experience to draw from.  The summer after I finished high school, I worked for a seed company.  My job was to cross pollinate soybeans - taking pollen from one plant and using it to fertilize another plant, with the purpose of creating new breeds with good traits.  I knew my way around a plant and knew how to create hybrid breeds.  So, with a little research, I decided that I would hybridize my own roses - selecting parents to create new rose varieties.  Really, it was just for fun - I wanted to have a lot of roses for my new garden, I wanted unusual and interesting plants, and I looked forward to challenging myself in doing something that not everyone can succeed at.

But, I had a limited number of roses to work with, and it would be late summer or fall before I had any seeds to harvest.  Since I was impatient, I got on the Internet and found some rose seeds with interesting parents.  I figured I could start my first rose seedlings from purchased seed, and then plant later crops with seed my own plants produced.  Buying seed also gave me the potential to have more parent plants to work with next year.

I researched how to grow roses from seed, and found out that it can be challenging.  Many people reported a low germination rate, and losing a lot of seedlings to damp off.  So, I ordered 30 seeds from 9 parents.  Each seed type cost me less than $3.00. I chose what I considered beautiful or unique: unusual colors, multicolored, striped. I will go into greater detail about growing roses from seed on the next entry - for now I'll just tell you about my overall experience.

Most perennial plant seeds benefit from stratification - a cold treatment that simulates winter.  Not everyone agrees that this is necessary, but a lot of growers believe that stratification treatments give you better germination rates.  For roses, typical stratification periods are around 3 months.  I was impatient and intended to treat my seeds 4-6 weeks.  Instead, after about 2 1/2 weeks, I found that my seeds were already germinating!  So I pulled them from cold treatment and planted them in a seed starter.

I was in for a big surprise.  Since most people seemed to agree that germination was low for rose seeds, I planted them all.  And got almost 100% germination.  In fact, I must have been given extra seeds, because at one point I was pushing 400 seedlings instead of the 270 I assumed I had planted.  Here is a picture of my seedlings as they were just starting to emerge:



My seedlings grew like crazy and I was astounded.  In fact, I wasn't prepared - they weren't in a spot with enough sun, and they quickly became overgrown and leggy.  I am still working on correcting that as they are getting bigger.

So, I had A LOT of rose seedlings.  I was treating them to prevent fungal disease, and they took off.  Once they started getting true leaves, I started transplanting them out of the seed trays - this was only a couple of weeks after planting.  The trays were overcrowded (because I didn't expect so many plants!) and pulling them out was difficult.  I broke some of the seedlings, and others were just too overgrown and weak.  But I still ended up with hundreds of individually potted rose babies.

The next problem was where to put them???  I definitely didn't have room in my house, and I have limited areas of sunshine in my yard.  I didn't want all these little pots to be in the way when my husband mowed, but I was afraid to put them on a table because a good thunderstorm would send them flying.  I finally located about half of them on a shaded porch that had bright indirect light, and the other half I put behind the garage, on some cleared soil that was located in between some new bushes I put in this year.  The bushes will fill in over time, but for now it was open for my use & didn't need mowed.

Here are my seedlings at about 4-6 weeks old:

Now, a couple of months later, I have lost some plants - to disease, bugs, hungry critters, or because they just weren't strong enough.  I'm cool with that.  I do not need 400 rose plants.  And I want the strong ones, so I figure whatever survives has made the first of many cuts.  Once the babies went outside, I didn't treat for disease or bugs.  And I still have a lot of plants left. 

Now, a couple of months after planting, I am starting to see the first blooms on my rose babies.  This is the really exciting part - getting that first glimpse of what the flowers will look like.  Of course, the number and shape of the petals look nothing like an adult rose bloom, but I can get an idea of colors.

As my plants start to bloom, I am finding my expectations are again being completely blown away.  With hybrid plants, offspring from seeds are not identical to the parents.  I knew that my babies would most likely not look like the parent plants.  I just hoped for some of the unique traits to come through.  I expected a lot of red and pink roses, since these are the default colors.  But out of my first three blooming rose seedlings, all three are purple!!  I was pleasantly surprised. I continue to find this experience unlike what I expected, but I just shrug and take it as it is.  Since a lot of my extra plants will go to friends and family, I hope they like purple! 

I am so glad that I started this project this summer.  I still plan to do some cross pollinating and create more new rose breeds.  It would be cool to produce a really special plant - but mostly, it's just fun.  It is amazing to see these roses that are brand new - no one else has one.  I will keep the plants I really like, give away a lot to my friends and family, and if I have extras I may sell them off.  $5 for a unique first year rose surely beats spending $50 on a rose bush at the nursery that you can see in any neighbor's yard.  I will continue to learn as I go, and over the years I plan to put together one amazing rose garden.  In addition, I will probably expand my breeding horizons - I am already eyeing the day lily hybrids that produce seed so readily!

Next up: Rose Babies: How to grow roses from seed

First up: The Rose Garden

I have always loved flowers, any kind of flowers.  But I think my first love was the rose.  When I was growing up, my dad planted roses along our driveway.  He loved spending time every summer feeding, watering, and trimming his plants.  When my husband and I moved into the house I grew up in, I decided that I would revive my dad's rose garden.  It had not received a lot of attention in the several years since he had passed away.  Three bushes survived, and I had no idea how long it had been since any of them had bloomed.

I purchased some new rose bushes to revive the rose garden: an orange Tropicana, with it's neon blooms and fruity scent.  A Hot Cocoa, with it's ever changing colors. An Opening Night, for it's perfect red blooms and traditional scent.  A Blue Girl, because I couldn't resist the delicate scent and unusual silvery lavender flowers.  And a John F. Kennedy, because every rose garden needs a classic white rose to be complete.

I added these plants to the three "Gib" roses (so called because my Gib was my dad, the original grower, and I have no idea what varieties they are).  Two of the "Gib" roses already had active growth - they tend to grow tall and never produce a bloom.  I suspected that the hybrid grafts had long ago died off, and only the root stock remained.  The third plant had a single tiny cane with 5 lone leaves on it.  I had very serious doubts that I would be able to save any of these plants.  But because they were my dad's, I decided to give them one season of attention and see if they could be saved.  If they didn't improve & bloom, I would dig them up & replace them next spring.

I recruited my husband to dig holes and planted my new roses.  My father had created a narrow section the length of the driveway for the roses - I suspect because this is one of the only places in our yard that gets enough sun.  It is shaded in the morning, but gets several hours of intense summer sun in the afternoon. Here is what it looked like when I was done putting in the new roses:



  As the summer has gone on, my roses have performed beautifully.  I have had an abundance of gorgeous blooms, and my plants have been pretty healthy.  I have drowned some Japanese beetles, but thankfully I have only had a few and the damage has been very minimal.  I have fought powdery mildew on one of the "Gib" plants, but since it is just ugly and not harmful I haven't stressed about it too much.  I have fed my plants at the end of every bloom cycle.  Because I have so many new plants and the summer here in IL has been dry and intensely hot, I have watered my roses almost daily.  I am looking forward to not having to water as often next year, when my newbies will be well-established.

Here is a run-down of how the growing season has gone:

Hot Coca

This is one interesting breed to keep in the garden.  I almost didn't buy it.  I wanted one more rose, but it was late in spring and the nursery had a limited selection of decent looking roses left.  I just wasn't sure I would like the color of this dusty pink with its chocolate undertones.  But the idea that the blooms would turn a brick orange come fall finally intrigued me enough to take it home.  Now, I'm glad I did.  This has by far been my most abundant bloomer.  It is rare to see this bush with no flowers on it.  And they are all different!  Each bloom is a surprise, from hot pink to deep mauve, with edges ranging from red to purple.  It is a beautiful plant with tons of foliage, and I have had no problems with this plant at all.

John F. Kennedy:

This plant has surprised me a bit.  I didn't expect that it would have to be babied as much as it has.  Having never been solely responsible for a rose garden before, I didn't realize that the bugs would want my light colored roses.  I didn't know that my white baby would be so intolerant of our hot, dry summer.  This plant is the reason I water every day.  If I don't water it, the new leaves and buds droop pathetically.  I don't really like high-maintenance anything - especially plants.  But, I do love my roses, and so I accommodate my fragile white rose.  The second round of blooms had burnt brown edges, but by the third round I had figured out that it liked a nice cool drink every day and they were much prettier.  If I could convince my husband to dig it up, I would move it to a shadier spot, because I think it would do better with morning sun and afternoon shade.  But, I doubt I will succeed in the convincing, so likely I will be doing a lot of watering of this plant in the summers to come.  Luckily, it is located by the patio, so it's close enough to my planters that watering isn't too big of a hassle.  But if you are going to put a white rose in your yard, I highly recommend considering carefully where to plant it.

Tropicana:

Oh, I love my Tropicana!  The bright, nearly neon orange blooms attract a lot of attention, because these babies almost glow!  They are so pretty, and this plant is so easy to grow.  It has gotten very big in this first year, and produces a lot of blooms.  In addition, the blooms have this amazing fruity scent.  I just love it!  No disease problems so far, and the beetles only went after it once all the blooms were gone from the lighter colored plants.  I highly recommend this rose if you want one that is easy to care for and blooms almost constantly.

Blue Girl:

Ah, my Blue Girl.  I really enjoy this rose.  I was expecting this one to be my demanding plant - Blue Girls have something of a reputation for being bug and disease magnets, as well as being more difficult to get through a cold snowy winter.  We'll see how winter goes, but otherwise I have had no trouble with my gorgeous "blue".  This was the choice target of the few Japanese beetles I battled this summer, but I was vigilant and didn't have too much trouble.  The Blue Girl also needs a lot of water in this first summer, but I think it will do well once it is fully established.  The foliage is gorgeous - deep green and full.  This one has not grown as much as some of my others, and it doesn't bloom as readily.  But the beauty makes the blooms well worth the wait.  I have had three cycles so far - the initial one with 4 blooms, two of which came on very thin canes that drooped with the weight of the flower.  The second bloom was glorious - 6 flowers, all on nice sturdy canes.  This third round has produced only one bloom - I think the heat is taking a toll, as all my plants seem to be a little less profuse on this round.  But overall, I am thrilled with this plant and so glad I added it to my garden.

Opening Night:

Opening Night has been both my most successful and my most troubled new rose this year.  It has perhaps the most perfect buds as they open - hence the name, I'm sure.  These are traditional bouquet-style deep red roses.  They are simply gorgeous.  I debated where to locate this rose - the last open spot was at the very end of the driveway, close to the sidewalk.  I remembered that my dad always seemed to have trouble with the plants he put in this spot - perhaps too much water or not enough sun, as it has more tree overhang than other areas. Maybe even people and dogs passing by and knocking into it - we could never decide.  But I went ahead and put it in, hoping for the best.  For the first two months, it did beautifully.  It is a small, compact bush.  It hasn't grown a lot in height, or branched out a lot.  But it has put out plenty of healthy new foliage and tons of blooms.  It has rarely been without a flower this summer.  But then, I noticed that the new growth was a pale green - it just didn't look right.  I kept my eye on it, researched, and finally decided that it may not be taking up enough iron.  So I added some bone meal, hoping that would take care of the problem.  Then the mature leaves began yellowing, a little at first, but more and more as the days went on.  I then thought I might be over watering.  With my light colored roses needing water every day, I generally watered all my new plants.  So I cut back on the water and waited, and also treated for fungal diseases just in case.  It never showed signs of black spot, powdery mildew, or rust.  I went on vacation for several days, and when I returned almost the entire plant had defoliated.  Still no sign of disease on the leaves - no burnt edges, no spots, no deformities - just yellowed and fell off.  From the light green new growth to the defoliation, this has all occurred in about 3 weeks.  But the oddest part is that throughout this all, the buds on the plant have grown to maturity and produced large, beautiful, healthy blooms.  The buds seemed totally unaffected - but the leaves are gone.  I have increased water, thinking perhaps I was wrong and it needs more.  For now, I am again watching, waiting, and hoping the few remaining leaves stay put until more can grow.  I trim down the canes as the blooms die off, and I am seeing the first signs of some new growth.  If anyone has any ideas, I welcome the advice, because I have no idea what is wrong with this baby.  I hope to make it through the summer, keep it alive, and start over next spring after I cut it back.

"Gib" rose #1

This rose is my pride & joy.  This was the one rose plant of my dad's that I was SURE I couldn't save.  It started out this spring with one tiny, thin, scrawny little cane about 3 inches long with 5 leaves.  I felt sure that the hybrid canes were all dead, and all that was left were suckers from the graft host.  But, I decided to give it a shot.  I let it grow a little, and when it had two canes about 8 inches long, I trimmed them back.  I fed it, watered regularly, and little by little, it started to put out new foliage.  Finally, just a couple weeks ago, I had the first bloom on it.  It was small, but I was beyond thrilled.  Especially when it opened and I saw that it was orange.  I bought this plant for my dad for Father's Day, probably 20 years ago.  I know, because it was the only orange rose my dad had.  The drawback is that I inadvertently planted my new Tropicana, also orange, right next to it.  They are almost the same color, but I am sure that this one is not a Tropicana.  It has a more traditional rose scent, not fruity like the Tropicana.  It has a slightly more salmon color to the blooms.  Also, the petals are somewhat fewer and have a slightly different shape.  The two plants are still very similar.  But anyway, I am so proud of this plant.  It has a slightly spreading growth appearance, because the canes tend to be on the outer edges of the plant, since the middle died off long ago.  But I hope to improve the appearance in years to come with careful pruning.  It has grown tremendously, the leaves are healthy, and it just put out 5 new blooms.  I am just thrilled to have succeeded at saving this plant and being able to have one of my dad's roses contributing to the beauty of my rose garden.

"Gib" rose #2:

This plant is another of my dad's.  It gave me hope early on - it produced several small blooms this spring, that developed into pretty reddish pink flowers.  At the time, I was thrilled.  They were small - but at that point, the plant was still pretty small.  As the summer has gone on, this plant has produced vigorous new growth - it is as tall as I am, and I have cut it back twice because the canes were falling over into the driveway.  But no more flowers.  I have no idea if these blooms came from the graft host - I think it is possible, but it produced 8-10 blooms, which seems like a lot for sucker blooms.  I always got the impression that sucker blooms were few.  But, it refuses to produce any more flowers, despite feeding, watering, and trimming.  I hate to get rid of these plants, but I don't want roses that don't bloom.  So, I'm still deciding what to do.  We'll see what next spring brings.

"Gib" rose #3:

This plant doesn't have a picture, because it has done nothing remarkable aside from growing six foot tall.  It hasn't bloomed once, and it has been plagued with powdery mildew.  I recently cut it back and fed it again, and I haven't quite given up yet.  I have one more idea for getting these stubborn old roses to bloom, and if that fails then I will have to seriously considering pulling them next year.  I want healthy, productive roses, so I may have to suck it up and do it!

I hope to use this blog to document my adventures in gardening, but also as a source of information & instruction for other gardeners, and to facilitate conversations about gardening.  Please feel free to comment and advise me if you know how to get my roses to bloom or how to save my Opening Night!  I would appreciate any tips.

Next up - Rose babies: Becoming a hybridizer