Once you have planted and pruned your roses, the roses should be maintained.  The following is a list of items that should be checked weekly and completed when necessary.

Fertilize your roses once per month - Use a good organic rose food.  It has all the basic ingredients for good roses in the bag.  Simply add two cups of the food for each larger roses and one cup for the Miniatures.

Weekly check for powdery mildew -Powdery mildew appears as a dust or powder like substance on the leaves of the plant.  It can be washed off with a hose and water.  Or add a little vinegar to a spray bottle if you have a few plants and have the time to spray.  Orthenex is both an insecticide and fungicide.  If you have a large amount of roses, mixing this product with water as per the label will help your plants

Weekly check for aphids and thrips.- Aphids seem to be the greatest problem.  The little green insects love the tender new growth and the buds.  So blast them with a strong stream of water between sprays of orthenex or use as an individual treatment.

May through July continually produce the highest temperatures and the most problems for our roses.  Discontinue fertilizing after April and put your roses on a lean diet.  Just give them water and shade. The following is a list of items that should be done during this period.

Check the soil for water every three days.  If watering by hand with a hose, use your finger to test the soil.  If it is dry down one digit, water your roses.  If you are using a drip irrigation system, use the finger check and adjust the time of your watering.  It is better to water the roses longer than more frequently.

Weekly check for insects.   Many time you will see small spiders or small bugs on the roses.  If they are found, blast them with the hose.

Leaf cutter bees wreck havoc with our roses.  There is little you can do to stop them and they are about the only pollinators we have left so just hope and pray your favorite rose isn't one of their favorites as well.

Rinse off your roses.  Your roses like to have their faces washed too.  Rinse them off early in the morning or late afternoon when the temperature drops.  Key to this is don't allow water droplets on the leaves to burn the leaflets.

You may want to provide your roses shade.  Some shade during this time of year helps the roses resist the heat a little better.  Put it on when the temperatures get over 100F and take it off when it gets below.  Don't leave the shade on during October though because you need the sun to develop the roses for the fall shows.  Remember, the days become shorter in the fall as well.

Rose growers in many states will soon see their last blooms for the year, while here in the lower desert we will be fertilizing and pruning our bushes for the spectacular fall roses that can bloom from late October until Christmas Day.

Your plants must be pruned six or seven weeks before their most prolific bloom cycle. That means that bushes pruned between September 1st and September 12th could be winners at the fair. Likewise, those pruned from September 25th and October 2nd should do well at some of the rose Society shows. You may want to prune a few bushes on each of these days.

Fall pruning is lighter than our traditional winter pruning. You should not cut off more than one third of the total height of each bush. Keep in mind that the cut needs to be on a stem of at least ¼" in diameter when pruning all but miniature bushes.

So what should we be doing now and until the pruning dates listed above? The days are still long and hot, so keep watering deep at least two times each week. Now is a good time to give you plants one half the regular feeding of organic fertilizer. You can start feeding the  plants more rose food after they are pruned and the weather has cooled some. Never fertilize roses with chemical based products until high temperatures drop below 95 degrees.

Last month we talked about pruning your bushes for the fair and the November rose shows.

Prune about one third of the total bush height, and give the roses 6 weeks before a show to allow them to bloom.

Feed them an organic rose food at half strength two separate times. First feeding is in mid September and then again around  October 7th.  

For greener foliage give the plants some extra chelated iron.  

Then give some water soluable fertilizer like Miracle Grow applied half strength each week for three weeks prior to the show should get results. 

You may need to rinse off the leaves to control white flies and spider mites.

After new buds start to form you should spray them every few days with a small amount of Orthene.  This will help to keep thrips from harming the blooms.

After a hectic show schedule and with Thanksgiving to prepare and enjoy, it is time for both you and your roses to rest. 

 Check to see if the roses are getting enough water.  By this time you should be able to cut back on the time and the amount.  

Keep watching for mildew and aphids if you want to use some of your roses for your own enjoyment.  

Prepare your wish list.  This is a good time to go through the catalogs, rose sites on line to develop your wish list for next year.

These months remain key months for the desert rose grower.  It is at this time the old roses, (Prior to February 15) are pruned and the new roses planted.

Pruning

Find your best canes.  The largest and healthiest.  Look for an outside bud Cut about 1/4 inch above it and then seal the cane with Elmer's Woodworking Glue. Remove no more than 1/3 of each of each cane you want to save. Also pune nor more of then entire bush.

Then strip all of the leaves, if there are any left and remove all the rose litter from around the plant.

Plant your new roses.

Buy the best-rated roses you want to afford.

Get only the number ones.  Notice: we mean bare root roses.  Not the ones in pots.

Pots often are the leftovers from the bareroots that may not have sold.

Be sure to go to the nursery with a list of roses.

Check with the American Rose Society for rose ratings.

Never buy one with a rating less than seven.

Better yet try one of the roses we recommend.