Question
rose bush
Hello, I am in Zone 10, in southwest Florida. I am plant sitting for a month some friends. Among their plants I found a some twigs that had a few yellow, scraggly leaves hanging off them and a placard in the pot that said "Parade Rose." I've never cared for roses, but I looked up info and have since kept it outside, fed it, watered it, and it has responded beautifully. It has tons of new leaves, it is green, and it is thriving. Here's my question: I have 2 weeks before my friends return. Is there any way I can encourage this rose bush to actually produce blooms before then? I've been giving it Mrclgrow rose food, very diluted, about once a week, and I repotted them with some rabbit droppings. I've even share the dregs of my morning coffee with it. Any other suggestions? I'd love to surprise them with an actual rose bloom. Thanks much, mz
AnswerA quick lesson about roses and their flowering habits. All roses go through a cycle of making a flower. It starts with them growing their canes, then their leaves and finally their buds. All these cycles need nitrogen, but the blooming cycle needs phosphorous, that is the middle number in fertilizers. However these productions take up a certain time and forcing them is tricky. What I would do is buy some tomato fertilizer, which will be high in phosphorous, and only use it at half strength, but only once or you could burn the plant. Fertilizers plus rabbit droppings, are extremely high in nitrogen and now you want the plant to bloom not make leaves. If you keep using nitrogen, which encourages plants to put out new green growth, the plant will not have enough energy left over for making flowers. You have got the rose to the state where it can bloom, so now you want to concentrate on what will help it to do that because you have fertilized, plus used rabbit pellets, the rose will have loads of nitrogen for the roots. Also because you used rabbit pellets, there is a good chance you may have insects or grubs in the soil so keep an eye out for them a they can eat the flowers. After using the tomato fertilizer, keep the rose out of the hot sun both because fertilizer can burn in high heat and also sun puts roses under stress and you want it to bloom. Roses only need 6 hours of full sun to do well and as the plant has lots of new growth which is tender, it can burn under high heat. Now having said all that, it does take more than a couple of weeks to make rose blooms but you may be able to at least get some buds to impress your friends. They will definitely get flowers from the rose because of all your hard work and care.
Parade is a series of mini roses from Denmark by a breeder who puts out good roses. These roses are bred to be grown in a pot outside or on an open window sill.
