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Mount Hood Gardens Monthly Newsletter • MARCH

Yesterday I woke up to a male pheasant cackling and crowing outside my bedroom window. I love the sound, as I know spring is near when the pheasants are returning. Pheasants are fun to watch. They are quite territorial and the male will defend his female(s) against other males nearby, especially during the nesting period. Consequently you will not encounter many pheasants in one given area.

The weather has been delightful these past few weeks. We had an early jump on spring, although winter is supposed to lightly return once more. Of course, we can have snow in April …. The spring bulb flowers are out and the garden is coming to life.

Now is the time to do your spring clean-up and trim or prune the majority of your plants. We apply organic fertilizer such as 7-7-2 Bio-Fish to the planting beds and rake it in, before adding new fine bark mulch. Fresh bark ties up nitrogen in the soil, therefore we mix new and aged fine bark in equal parts to counteract this. I also prefer the look of the darker bark, however, aged bark by itself does not last as long when used as a mulch as the mixture. The dark bark does make a wonderful soil amendment mixed with compost, however.

For those of you who have read last month’s newsletter, I promised to tell you about rose pruning and some great rose cultivars for the Mid Columbia region.

ROSE PRUNING: Now that the buds have swollen on your roses, pruning is much easier. Pruning contributes to the health and longevity of your roses. You are aiming for strong growth and abundant flowers. The first step is to remove any crossing or broken branches, as well as those growing toward the center. The remaining canes, ideally spaced evenly apart, are cut back to no more than half their size (or less), mainly with Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses. Shrub roses are pruned considerably less than Floribundas and Hybrid Teas, as you may want to maintain the height of the plants. In that case only thin out the plants and shape them, to facilitate  good air circulation. In general, always prune back to an outward-facing bud, with the slanted cut pointing away from the bud to wick away any moisture. The cut should be about 1/8 to 1/4 inch above the bud, not in the middle of an internode or too close to the bud. As most roses are susceptible to a variety of fungus diseases (mildew, blackspot, rust), any pruning always aims to improve air circulation and reduce overly dense growth. Although roses need a steady supply of nutrients, organic or slow-release fertilizer is preferable to fast-acting synthetic fertilizer. Excessively lush growth promotes disease and creates a feast for aphids. All roses prefer full sun or very light shade.

RELIABLE ROSE CULTIVARS FOR THE MID-COLUMBIA: There are countless rose cultivars to choose from. Besides selecting for height and color, disease-resistance is an important consideration. Some of the rose cultivars we use frequently are the following:
• ‘Knock Out’: Eye-catching, cherry-pink blossoms for many months on a low, sprawling plant. Really lives up to its name and looks gorgeous combined with purple or silvery-blue flowering plants, such as Salvia ‘Caradonna’, Perennial Sage, or Perovskia ‘Little Spire’, Dwarf Russian Sage. Also works well in combination with Pennisetum ‘Hameln’ or ‘Cassian’, Fountain Grass. We have not tried 'Pink Knockout' or 'Rainbow Knockout' yet.
• The Simplicity series of easy-care hedge roses has been available for many years.  I love ‘Purple Simplicity’, with a dense habit to 4 ft. and reddish-purple flowers most of summer. It is not always easy to find, but makes a great low deciduous hedge in a sunny location.
• David Austin or English Roses are mostly good, but some are outstanding. They are hybrids between old roses and newer cultivars, combining a long flowering period and usually double flowers with a heavenly perfume. Butter-yellow ‘Graham Thomas’ has been a stand-by for many years, but grows quite tall and needs regular pruning. We have found ‘Golden Celebration’ with its rich yellow, very fragrant honey-scented blooms to produce a denser, more manageable plant, reaching 4-5 ft. in height.
• The Floribunda Rose ‘Black Cherry’ with its satiny, dark crimson flowers is a tireless bloomer and very disease-resistant with a compact habit. Always a delight.
• If you are looking for a Climbing Rose, seek out warm red ‘Altissimo’ or golden yellow ‘Golden Showers’.
• For a more naturalistic planting, try low-maintenance, 2-3 ft. high ‘Nearly Wild’ with single, clear pink flowers or compact Rugosa Roses ‘Wildberry Breeze’ (purple-pink) and ‘Wild Spice’ (white flowers). They are fragrant, have large, single flowers with golden stamens, and grow to 4-5 ft. with occasional pruning. These shrub roses are disease-resistant and produce beautiful, large orange hips in the fall, if not dead-headed past mid summer. They can be grown as a hedge or used in groupings in larger borders and combine well with perennials or other shrubs.


I hope you find these recommendations helpful. 
Suggestions? Comments? info@mounthoodgardens.com


Happy Spring from all of us at Mount Hood Gardens!

Marion McNew


                                                                                                   March 8, 2010