Contributions  from  a Master Gardener

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The Weather

Spring

Propagation

Northern Nevada Rose Issues

Roses from Seed

Small Crabs

Faded Bark Mulch

The Weather

When I started this 2 wks ago, we were recovering from the "pineapple express," which took out the power again,
and sent another rogue snowfall our way.  This winter has been the most power-outage-filled I can remember in
the 18 yrs  I have lived here. 

I don't mind it too much, but it can add to the gloom of the season at times, especially when we have seen
relatively little blue sky in the past few months.  Our house tends to be somewhat cavelike anyway, and candles
don't add much enlightenment sometimes. 

Spring

We have had more rain and more wind in the last two weeks, but it hasn't stopped  the daffodils, species tulips,
and flowering currants from blooming. 

Yesterday, I noticed the swallows were suddenly back in huge numbers, and I spotted 3 hummingbirds in a
neighbor's Oregon grape.  There was one hummingbird here in my  yard all winter, and I'm glad the currants
are out and give it something more to eat. 

Spring is in the air,but it is blowing all over the place, and wet and muddy most of the time.

Propagation

Since I am a seed fanatic, this is a good time to write about that, as well, so I am trying  to work on something on
seed propagation. Garden maintenance season is back in full swing, despite the rain and wind -- shotweed seems
to love it, so I don't have as much time to obsess about those things as I would like  right now.

Speaking of propagation, the winter-blooming honeysuckle is very easy to propagate.  You can take a bunch of
cuttings if you like, usually in late spring/early summer  for the almost-mature wood, or in late fall for the harder
wood.  The very softest new tips usually fail for me.  They need a little more strength before taking. 

I have had very good luck with the "simple layering" method up here, and usually get going on it in April, when
the new growth is not too hard yet. 

Very stiff, older branches do not work well for this.   

My honeysuckle shrub is in a bed with a bunch of roses, etc., so it is surrounded by soil  (and usually a plethora
of weeds) -- so I just weed an area close to the bush, and rough it up well. 

Some people dig small trenches, which works well, too.  Then, I strip off the leaves (except the top ones) on one
of the more slender side branches, use my carrot-peeler  to scrape off a strip of bark on the underside,  bend it to
the ground. 

The area of the branch that is in contact with the earth will root, and all the better  if you damage the bark in that
contact area -- hence the carrot-peeler. 

Those handy landscape-fabric staples work well for holding branches down, but rocks also do the trick in a
pinch.   

The end of the branch should  be trained straight up with a small stake.  This will be the new plant when the
branch roots.  You should cover the weighted area with a little hill of earth. 

I water the area when I think about it -- more is probably better,and in a few months, presto - the branch has
rooted at the nodes and I can cut the branch where it meets the parent shrub, dig up the rooted branch and have
a nice start.  Sometimes shrubs will  "accidentally" do this on their own, if a branch is bent to the ground or
buried, and  you can dig those up for new starts.. 

There are many many ways of propagating shrubs, but this is a handy and easy -- and cheap, if you have
patience--way to get new plants.  You can do this with  many vines, too. 

Wisteria, akebia, grapes, star jasmine, ivy, kiwi, bittersweet (!!), clematis, and more  can be propagated this
way. 

Rhododendrons, laurel, pieris, hazelnut, daphne, sumac, dogwoods, viburnums, and many more can be
propagated as well. 

Last year, I was working in someone's yard, and their rhododendron had been too heavily  mulched the year
before.  When I dug away the extra mulch, there were low  branches which  had been buried, and were rooted.

I just clipped the branches where they met the trunk and dug out the small branches that had rooted.
They were kind of funky because they had been held completely horizontal, but they made some interesting
bonsai subjects.  This method does require patience, but it is very satisfying. 

I just looked up easily layered plants, and noticed that some of their more expensive and nice trees  and shrubs
are good candidates for trying this -- Magnolia, Katsura, Disanthus, Carpentaria, Chimonanthus, Stachyurus,
Enkianthus, Eucryphia, etc., so it is a good way to reproduce some of those pricey shrubs.

Buddleia isn't pricey, but you can definitely take cuttings of that white buddleia and get more of them.
You're right about the white one being more straight upright, for some reason.  It also seems to be one of the
heaviest blooming, as long as you hack it down in the spring. 

Here in Washington, Buddleia is now a class C noxious weed.  It seeds itself -- at least the run of the  mill  unnamed" one does.

I have dug up several seedlings, and they are always the run of the mill,  never any of the beautiful cultivars. 

I know some people are down on butterfly bushes, but I love 'Lochinch' with those great gray leaves  and
blue-gray flowers, and 'Honeycomb' and its round clusters of flowers and great smell.
 
There are many great species Buddleias, too.  I have some seeds of B. fallowiana, and am looking  forward to
seeing how they do.

Northern Nevada Rose Issues

A couple of comments on your rose issues. 

I'm not surprised if you are having trouble with 'Playboy' and 'Betty Boop,' as they are not particularly tough. 
I even know people here who have given up on 'Betty,' though' Playboy' seems easier. 

And, speaking of 'Peace, ' I read somewhere several years ago that 'Peace' has been produced and reproduced
(cloned) so much for so many years that it has "weakened," which is why it has become more difficult to raise a
really good quality new 'Peace' in our short-season area.

As far as your problems with fried roses during the summer, there is one thing I was thinking you might want
to try.
 
When I was working for a nursery, I ordered hundreds of dormant bare root roses and had to pot them up  ASAP
and try  to give them the best chance of survival.  One of the "tips" I got from one of the big rose companies was
to use  the anti-transpirants 'Cloud Cover' or 'Wilt-Pruf' to keep the roses from losing  moisture from their stems
and leaves. 

A lot of times, these are used on wreaths or other holiday evergreens, to keep them looking fresh, but they work
well  on live plants, too. You should be able to find them at a bigger nursery, or even someplace like Home
 Depot, or "Home Dopey," as my son calls it.   Wind seems to be even more drying than sun up here, and 'Cloud
Cover' would be worth trying on your wind-walloped roses, too. 

I noticed a definite difference in how many roses successfully came out of dormancy after I started blasting
them with 'Cloud Cover.'  You might want to try it after a good watering during the hot season, and see what
happens. 

I've also heard that keeping the fertilizing to a bare minimum during the hottest part of the summer can help
in blast furnace areas.  Give a good fertilizing about a month before the hottest weather, and then just water
during the worst heat. 

As for your wildlife rambler, I would give 'William Baffin' a try --



it is the only rose I had to repeatedly prune  back at the nursery.  It shot out canes like crazy, and was covered
with blooms. I have heard it is hardy into zone 2.   If you planted two or three together, you could have good
shelter for birds. It's technically a  climber, but you could have a nice big heap of branches if you didn't train it
all straight up.  There isn't much fragrance, but it's an extremely hardy repeat bloomer.

Roses from Seed

I know I'm rambling on, but I think your problem with the rose seeds could be that you should plant them in
some seed  starting mix (not potting soil) after you clean them, and don't leave them in a bag in the garage for
the winter. 

You can water the pots thoroughly once and put them outside for the winter -- where they won't tip over or
blow away. 

I have planted many rose seeds and they seem to do best if they spend the winter outdoors, so if I order (or
collect)  seeds and get them out there in December or so, I will usually get several good seedlings coming
up in April or May.   

I don't plant one seed to a pot -- I put 5 or 6 in a 4" pot. 

I usually plant species roses, because I know what I'm getting, but I have planted seeds from modern hybrids just
to  see what I would get. I have also had fine luck with putting rose seeds in a baggie with a spoonful of sand and
a couple  of drops of water and then refrigerating for 5 or 6 weeks. 

I use that method if I get hold of seeds in Feb. or March, and may not have a good cold period before "spring." 

There is some argument out there over chilling rose seeds v. not chilling, but this is what works for me. 

Small Crabs

One last note before I finally send this -- I have seen some short little crab apples, usually in barrels outside
stores,  or on porches.  One that is resistant to some of the scabby fungus common to some crabs is 'Coralburst:"



which supposedly  can get to 8-10' in time.  The ones around one of our local groceries have stayed at about 5',
and they have been there for  years. Probably being encased in barrels and subject to uneven watering has kept
them down. 

Unfortunately, Coralburst doesn't have much, if anything,  in the way of fruit. 

'Lollipop' has white flowers and yellow fruit, and tops out at around 8'  -- also scab resistant.
I like it for the tiny gold crabs.  There are too many good crab apples out there, and I have such a tiny yard, I
have to admire them at other peoples' places. 

About that Faded Bark Mulch

Another last note -- I get a lot of gardening catalogs, and the other day I saw something new. 
You know how bark mulch fades out over the seasons...well, someone came up with a spray to "renew"  faded
bark mulch. 

It comes in 3 colors, and can restore that dingy mulch to its former glory. 

I got a kick out of that -- spray-painting your bark mulch -- but it's "all-natural," of course! 

I guess you'd better hope no one walks through it shuffling their feet, or you'd be in constant touch-up
mode. 

I can't stand bark mulch anyway, but this brings maintaining it to a whole new level of obnoxiousness.