Wednesday, February 10, 2010

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Decorate your garden with roses Roses like other flowering plants will add color to your garden. Growing roses from cuttings, air-layering, seed or budding is an inexpensive method of producing new rose plants for your garden. Growing roses from cutting, air-layering, seed or budding is an inexpensive method of producing new rose plants for your garden, however, it will take your plants about two years to mature to a good sized flowering plant. Taking cuttings: Take your cuttings from a flowering stem just as the bud on the stem is beginning to open. The cutting should be about eight inches long with at least three to five leaves. The bottom end should be near a node and a slanting cut should be made with a sharp knife. Dip the bottom into a rooting hormone powder and place the cutting in a pot containing a mixture of equal parts of peat moss and coarse sand or perlite. Make one hole with a pencil and insert your cutting. In one six-inch pot you can place at least four cuttings. Firm in with your finger and water thoroughly. Place your cuttings in a shaded place and keep soil moist. Within six to eight weeks, new growth should be visible. Air layering: Select a healthy cane and strip the leaves from the middle. Make a slanting cut about 1/3 through the stem to the cambium layer and one-inch long. Apply root hormone powder to your cut and wrap this area with a generous handful of moist sphagnum moss and secure it with plastic. Bind it securely above and below with wire or string. In about nine to 12 weeks you should be able to see roots through the plastic. Remove the covering very carefully and cut of the branch below the layer. Put the new plant into a six-inch pot of light soil and keep it moist in a shady area for about three weeks. Harden the plant by gradually putting it into the sun a little more each day until the plant has been conditioned to take the sun. Plant out sometime between February and April. Seed planting: A number of rose bushes produce seeds from spent flowers. Select a shallow tray or seed flat and fill it with fine sand or vermiculite. Shell the seed and plant them 1/2-inch deep and water thoroughly. Keep the seeds in a shaded area until germination takes place. After germination, provide the new seedlings with 16 hours of light a day. Transplant each seedling into a three-inch pot filled with equal parts of top soil, peat moss and perlite and water sparingly. Seedlings may bloom when they are nine to12 months old. Budding: Budding is the commercial propagation method for hybrid roses, it gives them a more vigorous root system. Rosa multiflora and Dr. Huey are the most commonly used plants. Budding is also an inexpensive method to duplicate plants. Cut a T-shape opening in the outer skin of the rooted stock cane below the foliage. Insert a bud or scion into the T-cut on the rootstock plant. Be sure that the bud goes into the cut all the way. Bind the bud in position with damp raffia. This should cover the incision from top to bottom. All of the procedures in this article should be carried out between November through February. Should you need any seeds please drop me a line. PLANTING GUIDE FOR JANUARY VEGETABLES: Beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, corn, celery, collard, cucumber, eggplant, onion, parsley, peas, pumpkin, peppers, potatoes, radish, spinach, swiss chard, tomatoes, turnip and watermelon. FLOWERS: Ageratum, alyssum, African daisy, aster, begonia, balsam, calendula, candyturf, celosia, carnation, cornflower, dianthus, delphinium, gaillardia, gerber, hollyhock, larkspur, lupine, marigold, nasturtium, pansy, petunia, phlox, salvia, shasta daisy, snapdragon, stock, sweet pea, Sweet William, verbena and vinca. GRASSES: Bahia, centipede and zoysia. For help with your garden problems write to Garden Korner, P.O. Box N-3011 Nassau. Tuesday, January 12, 2010