What Do Our Master Gardeners Grow? Part 2

 

From Master Gardener Pam:

Plants I'll always plant:  Perennials, low water, deer and rabbit resistant, attract pollinators and hummingbirds. Butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa,) Hyssop (hyssopus officinalis,) Caryoperis, Lavender cotton (santolina chamaecyparissus,) Kannah Creek buckwheat (eriognum umbellatum v. aureum,) Penstemon, Sedum, Yarrow (achillea,) Lavender, Tickseed (coreopsis,) Salvia, Rudebeckia, Pincushion flower, Blue fescue (Festuca glauca,) Dwarf fragrant sumac (rhus aromatic,) Lemon lace elderberry (sambucus racemosa,) Hostas, Sweet woodruff (gallum ororatum,) Roses – I usually look for zone 4 or Canadian.  Morden Sunrise and Dainty Bess from Hi Country Roses are favorites.

Plants I'm itching to try:  Salvia ‘maraschino’, Lead plant (amorpha canescens),  Englemann’s daisy (englemannia peristenia)

Forget about it:  Oregano,  New Mexican privet 

Fall Rose Care by Donna Duffy

The arrival of fall brings the realization that winter really will be here soon. Among all of your other fall garden chores, be sure to plan some time to get your roses “tucked in” and ready to brave whatever winter may bring. According to the Denver Rose Society’s publication “Growing Roses in Colorado,” there are five basic steps to remember.

Deadheading Myth by Bec Wolfe-Thomas / The Garden Professors

Photo: Bec Wolfe-Thomas

"Tis the season that posts about deadheading start to show up. The myth is that you need to deadhead spent blooms to get the plant to re-bloom. The theory people apply is that the plant will put all its energy into seed development and won’t bloom anymore because it no longer needs to for reproduction. This is false, plants are either genetically predisposed to re-bloom or they are not. To what degree they re-bloom also relates back to their genetics. It is a trait that plants are bred for.

Knock Out Roses (Rosa radrazz) by Quinn Wicken

Courtesy Tagawa Gardens

Knock Out Roses (Rosa radrazz) are an immensely popular, no fuss, beautiful blooming shrub here in Golden, Colorado.   These hardy plants are easy to grow and drought tolerant, come in many colors, and are naturally disease and insect resistant.  One of my favorite characteristics of these hardy bloomers is their self-cleaning abilities, knocking off their own expired blooms to make way for new blooms during the growing season. 

Rose: The Official Flower of Father's Day by Carol King

Father's Day Patio Rose

The rose is the official flower for Father’s Day and became so because of one of the founders of Father’s Day in the United States.  In 1910, Sonora Smart Dodd, from Washington State,  recognized the need for a Father’s Day after hearing a Mother’s Day sermon in church. She lost her mother at the age of 16, was reared by her father and became very passionate about the need for a Father’s Day. At the first Father's Day celebration, young women handed out roses at church, with attendees encouraged to pin on a rose in honor of their fathers– red for the living and white in memory of the deceased. Hence the rose became the official flower of Father’s Day. 

It wasn’t until 1972, during the Nixon administration, that Father’s Day was officially recognized as a national holiday.

Happy Fourth from the Rose Garden! by Donna Duffy

The Fourth of July is about all things patriotic: freedom, independence, fireworks! You can celebrate these patriotic roses all summer long.

Many experts consider Fourth of July the best Rose introduced in the past decade. Its climbing canes reach 12 to 14 feet tall, with fresh, healthy foliage. North or south, east or west, it demonstrates uniform vigor and flower color. And it re-blooms beginning the very first year!

Keeping Roses Healthy During Winter

Rose canes greening up in Lakewood - January 22, 2018

Have you taken a look at your roses lately? This warm winter has created conditions for the canes to green up very early. It’s way too early to prune them! Instead, check to make sure your mulch layer is still intact, and add more if you’ve lost some to wind or critters.

The following information from the Denver Rose Society gives tips on rose care during these late winter months.

Martin Luther King Jr World Peace Rose Garden

Photo courtesy National Park Service

The International World Peace Rose Gardens program is a worldwide effort to help youth recognize the importance and value of peace. In March 1992, the Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" World Peace Rose Garden was planted at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. The garden is an artistic interpretation of Dr. King’s life and ideals of peace through nonviolence. The garden’s starburst design brings attention to the brilliance of Dr. King’s ideals using the Official Flower of the United States, the rose.

Celebrate the Games of the XXXI Olympiad Rio 2016 With Roses by Carol King

"Olympiad" photo emeraldstudiophoto.com

The first Olympics is dated to 776 BC; similarly, ornamental roses have been cultivated, dating to 500 BC in Mediterranean countries, Persia, and China. Since the 1950’s roses have taken their names from many sources, from well-known public figures to seasonal occurrences and even the Olympics.

Tending to Roses in the Spring by Donna Duffy

It’s finally beginning to feel like spring! Your roses are probably showing signs of life again with canes turning green and leaf buds starting to form. But this is Colorado, and we’re not quite out of freeze danger yet. With that in mind, the following are some steps you can take to help your roses get off to a good start.