For about 25 years, our local men’s rose club members have debated whether it is desirable to set out new rose bushes in the fall.
We are no nearer to settling the question now than when we first began to argue about it. Some do and some don’t.
Fall vs. Spring Planting
My own opinion is that fall is better than spring, not only for roses but for most kinds of other shrubs and shade trees.
Planting conditions are better. I don’t plant many roses in the fall, for the varieties I’ll be setting out usually aren’t available until spring.
However, I set out twelve rose plants late in November a year ago. I finished up on Thanksgiving morning and shivered as I did it.
In the house, Maggie, my wife, was mumbling because this outside work made us late in taking off for the family dinner over at Donald’s.
Last winter was the worst winter for roses in my lifetime of gardening. As a result, I lost maybe 35 percent of all the roses I had growing in the beds. Ones properly cared for were just as dead last spring as ones neglected.
But I lost nearly one of those I had planted in the fall. Everyone came through the winter in good shape and, in due time, gave good bloom. I submit this as evidence in the debate.
As I was working amid the roses this past spring, in late April, along came Maggie, looking over things.
“What makes the roses in this bed look better than those in the other beds?” she asked. She looked at the bed where I had put those new ones last fall.
“Aside from these twelve new ones,” I told her, “This bed had the same treatment last fall except for one thing. Here is where I put all those wood ashes from the fireplace that I carried out in scrub buckets during the winter.”
I don’t know whether or not this had anything to do with it. I do know that potash gives added winter hardiness to plants. And wood ashes have potash in them. Anyhow, the losses in this bed were only about half that of the other beds.
Fireplace
Speaking of the fireplace, the time of year is at hand when I’ll get this happy feature of our suburban home to work again.
What a blessing a good wood fire is on a chilly evening as we watch Perry Mason and sing along with Mitch.
Now I have plenty of firewood, cut to the right length, left over from the trees taken down after that ice storm two years ago. But, sad to relate, many of the pieces are too big.
They have to be split up with a wedge and sled. It is a sight to behold to watch an old duffer like me getting out there and doing this splitting.
Bird Feeders
Meanwhile, I’ve gradually been putting up the bird feeders and getting started on my fall and winter routine.
Each evening, I carry out sunflower seeds, suet, and scratch grain. Then the birdies come for their suppers, and others are there the next morning for breakfast.
Putting Collar Around Roses
Instead of hilling up their roses, some of our best rose gardeners hereabouts fit some kind of collar around the base of their bushes and then fill up inside the collars with soil to protect the canes.
Last fall, I tried out a commercially made collar on two bushes. Over another, I placed an experimental cone that one of our local garden stores asked me to try.
I can testify that all three of these protected roses came through the winter okay. Maybe this collar is the best way of all. But I’ll never use it. Too much work for me.
November Planting Tulips
Tulips can be planted all November and well into December in our midwestern area. The only limit is to get it done before the soil freezes up.
So, too, can the other bulbs which are planted in the fall. This includes lily bulbs, most of which should be put out in the fall.
44659 by Harry R. O’Brien