Gardening pro's 3 key jobs to do this weekend to stop rose black spot – including £3 bloom boost
But how frustrating is it when you spot the
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Rosa laevigata has 'dinner plate-sized' flowers
Credit: Alamy
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Charles Shi is in charge of the Wild Rose garden at Kew Gardens, London
Credit: Supplied
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Black spot is a fungal disease that first appears as black spots on the roses' leaves.
Credit: Alamy
Black spot is the nemesis of all rose-growers - a fungal
Then the leaf will start to yellow - and fall off - usually spreading further down the plant.
And although it doesn't kill the rose - it can weaken it - making it susceptible to other
Spores can overwinter on fallen leaves - and then infects the soil and then the plant next year.
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Fight against it by making sure that all the fallen leaves are thrown away - not put on the compost.
And make sure the rose is
Although proper hard rose pruning is generally done in late winter or early Spring - a light prune now won't be a problem.
Also - mulching over winter can help.
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And make sure you're watering the base rather than from the top of the leaves.
Give your rose a dose of proper liquid rose feed -
Or
Finally - try and choose roses that are resistant to blackspot.
Everyone can spot the pot plants - but you have 20-20 vision & high IQ if you can find five red roses in just 19 seconds
The general advice with roses is not to plant them in the same soil that a previous rose was in.
It can - in extreme cases - cause replant disease - which is where the rose will struggle to grow. You may even find it dies.
It's because the roots won't establish properly.
But the
By the time the cardboard box has rotted into the soil, the roots will have established.
But if you're fed up of black spot, powdery mildew and rose rosette diseases - then have you considered growing a wild rose instead?
They might not be quite as extravagant and blingy as the cultivated varieties - but wild roses - known as 'Species Roses' in the catalogues - do a very good job of growing without any human intervention at all.
In fact - they're the roses that all our bred roses originated from - and almost thrive on neglect.
Charles Shi is in charge of the Wild Rose Garden at
As part of it's restoration, he and his team travelled as far afield as China and Vietnam to bring back roses that are so new, they haven't been named yet.
He told me: 'One of the great things is whilst they flower for a short amount of time - wild roses make up for that by being very resistant to disease.
'Even if they get smothered in
'They're also more hardy. And the early flowers are followed by hips if they're not deadheaded, which feed the birds over Winter.
'It's so important to conserve them - as they could have medicinal compounds that could cure cancer - we're discovering up to 100 compounds every year in our research - which are being used in medical trials.
'They also play a crucial role in ecological conservation by providing food and habitat for pollinators and wildlife.'
Some of Charles' favourites include...
Rosa Soulieana
- which he's nicknamed The Sleeping Beauty Rose - as it's like the one in the book that surrounds the castle. Smells of Cinnamon and up to 4m high.
Rosa hirtula
- from the Hakone, Japan, at the foothills of Mt Fuji - The only rose with a tree-like habit, with beautiful spiky hips
Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis'
A bushy shrub, about 1.8m in height, with purplish young foliage and almost thornless stems
Rosa laevigata
- has dinner-plate sized flowers.
Also in Veronica's Column this week...
Top tips, news, plant of the week, competitions and more
PLANT OF THE WEEK
Rosa 'Gorgeous' - a very easy to grow hybrid tea rose - with stunning pinky orange colour and strong fragrance - which when in full bloom almost looks like fire. Good for beds, borders and containers - and flowers from June to November.
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JOB OF THE WEEK
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