Abe is a rosebush (and not a character in a computer game). An Abraham Lincoln rose, to be precise.
Abe has the misfortune to be cared for by a brown-fingered vegetation-destroying Lucretia Borgia of gardeners. That would be me.
So, after a winter’s worth of not going out on the balcony, where Abe lives, and thinking vaguely(as I viewed him out of the corner of my eye) ‘Oh, he doesn’t seem to have any leaves. Well, it’s winter after all…’ I actually go out onto the balcony and realise
[ul]
[li]out of three canes which had leaves on them last summer, two have completely turned into dead wood[/li][li]the third (live) cane has about three leaves on it, and they’re starting to shrivel up and go brown[/li][li]the live bits are completely covered with little green bugs (aphids?)[/li][/ul]
:eek:
So I squished all the little green bugs, scattered rose-food pellets and watered them well in, and repositioned the chicken wire which is supposed to stop the cat shitting in the dirt. I have thrown out my previous watering policy (which could be summed up in the words “It’s winter. Winter’s wet. Why would I need to water anything?”) and determined on giving him a soaking every two days. But I’m wondering…
Is Abe Doomed? Did I neglect him too long, thus unintentionally condemning him to dehydration and destruction?
Is there anything else I can do to increase his chances of survival? I don’t want to kill him with kindness (like feeding a starving man a three course meal…next stop, Death!) But I really do want him to live.
If the Abraham Lincoln bush is anything like most roses it will stand heavy pruning. This seems like your best option. You mention that Abe lives on a balcony so I assume he is in a pot.
Water Abe well. Cut away the dead canes completely and prune the live cane at a point 0.25 inches above the lowest node. Do this as soon as possible. This is where any new growth will come from.
Remove him from the pot and gently tease out the root ends. Prune away obviously dead roots. If he is totally potbound you may wish to consider the purchase of bigger container. Buy some fresh compost and pour some into the pot. Place Abe in the pot and add more fresh compost until his rootball is covered in it. Water well once more, and Do Not Water Again Until The Surface Of The Compost Begins To Dry Out.
If possible move him into the shade for a couple of weeks, by which time his roots should have taken. Then move him back and see what happens.
Never water container plants unless they need it. A policy of watering Abe every two days whether he needs it or not is a recipe for a Dead Abe. Overwatering pot plants is one of the most common reasons for their early demise. In winter Abe should be able to tolerate dryish conditions but not to the point of total moisture deprivation.
Check his condition frequently. If aphids appear, treat with an organic soap based spray. Check for the reappearance of aphids every day.
Only ever feed Abe in the growing season. Buy a proprietary rose food and follow the instructions on the packet.
If he is in the ground rather than in a container you may safely ignore any references to pots as above.
Thanks Nostradamus. I’ve cut away a lot of wood (in some cases this may not help - it’s difficult to cut it all away since the entire right hand side is all dead wood and I certainly don’t want to do anything bad to the bits that are still alive.
I went away over the weekend just past, and managed to resist the temptation to water him again before I went. Mind you, this was Not Hard as it was raining at the time… He didn’t look any better when I got back, but he didn’t look any worse either.
I’ll try digging him out and giving him new compost then. He’s definitely not potbound (the pot is about 2ft high and a similar width) but it has been about 3 years since he ate any fresh dirt.
This board doesn’t have a :cross-fingers: smiley. I reckon I need one…
Just curious–is it a dark red hybrid tea rose with an intense classic “rose” fragrance? That’s “Mr. Lincoln”, not “Abraham Lincoln” and it’s considered one of the all-time classic hybrid teas.
If so, (a) give it a modicum of decent care and it’ll come right back, and (b) if it dies anyway, you can go buy another one, they’re still widely available at fine nurseries and greenhouses everywhere. I keep seeing them at Wal-Mart and K-Mart every spring, for one thing.
Reason I know is, I’ve got one myself, been hanging on for nearly 15 years now in spite of the most atrocious neglect on my part. It produces one flower in June, and one flower in September, that’s the best it can do in amongst the crabgrass and the runaway mint.
But it blooms, by golly, it blooms. “Robust” is right. It’s a good 'un.
I’m not exactly sure what a tea-rose is: is it the sort of thing that a thouroughly ignorant person like myself might call an “ordinary” rose? (not a climber, not a miniature… etc)
If so, yes, it looks like you’ve hit the nail on the head.
But I’m going to keep calling him Abe anyway, 'cos hey, that’s the most famous Mr Lincoln that I know of
I probably would have tried the “buy a new one” strategy already by now, actually. except that:
a) I’m terminally stubborn and don’t like to admit defeat
b) He was a wedding present, so we’d never be able to admit to it if we replaced him!
It will do the plant no harm if you remove it from the pot to take a look. If necessary, first run a sharp knife between the soil and the inside of the pot. If all you can see is a mass of roots then a new container is desirable.
If he is not potbound you could top-dress Abe by scraping some old compost from the top and replacing it with fresh dirt.
Congratulations on your refusal to admit defeat. However I’m still worried that you are going to drown Abe. I suggest you buy a moisture indicator. You can stick it in the soil and the reading will tell you if water is required.
Or, as this website puts it, “your basic ‘rose on a stick’.” Um, yeah… (Also has pic of Mr. Lincoln, along with about a hundred other pix. Slow page to load.)
Tea roses, however, are something different. They’re an old-fashioned, non-hybridized rose, and my understanding is that in the U.S. at least, they aren’t considered a “northern” rose, not really winter-hardy, so most people who grow them tend to live in the South (Georgia, Tennessee, etc.)
So, see, if you remember this, then if you do ever find yourself in the position of talking to a Rose Snob about Abe, you will save yourself from some patronizing condescension when you refer to him as a “tea rose”.
“Not a tea rose, dear–a hybrid tea, which is quite different…”
I did take him out of the pot and have a look - most of the roots seemed to be ordinary-looking stringy white things … further down there were some that were more stringy-looking brown things, but nothing that actually looked rotted. So I just stuck him back again, with a little fresh compost. I will do the moisture-indicator thing tho’, that sounds like a good idea.
Duck Duck Goose If I do ever meet any rose snobs, I’d probably be hard pressed not to describe him the wrong way on purpose, just to stir. “Basic Rose On Stick” sound like a nice technical descriptor to me
(Also has pic of Mr. Lincoln, along with about a hundred other pix. Slow page to load.)