Winter Rose Care & Pruning
Although major rose pruning is not done until late February into early March, there are a few things I do to get roses settled in for the winter. First, I wait until the first frost has occurred before I do anything. That happened on December 1 this year, a little later than normal. If you do any pruning prior to that, new growth will be encouraged, and it will just be nipped later. I will then do minimal pruning, about 1/3 of the plant or to about waist-high. It does not matter how you make the cuts. More precise pruning will be done in late winter. Giving roses a slight pruning at this time will decrease the damage from strong winter winds. Roses are not deeply rooted, and any long canes can spell trouble. Pick off any remaining leaves, if possible. I know that can be a big job if there are still many leaves left on the plant but you don't want leaves, especially diseased leaves, left to fall and harbor spores for next season. Clean the area around the base of the rose. Rake out ...
Interesting oddity. I'm clueless. I'll have to check back and see how the experts replied.
ReplyDeleteThe daylily folk I work with call it a prolif, short for proliferation. If you cut it off of the mother plant and give it a little TLC it will give you another plant. These same folk will look for profifs to cut off of the ones we have for sale or planted in the display gardens, that way you get the plant without having to pay for it or dig it up.
ReplyDeletethis is probably a stupid question but when you say stalk do you mean the blooming stalk. I only have a few daylilies and I've seen nothing like this.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you showed this Phillip, I have one daylily with the exact same thing on it, Raspberry Rasper. Why just the one variety and not others, I wonder? Good to know that it can be potted up and grown on and what the name of it is, prolif. Will do so today. :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
I have seen this before. I didn't know what it was called. I just thought it was a nice bonus.
ReplyDeletePhillip,
ReplyDeleteWe've had several of these and I've made the mistake before of cutting the blooms stalk before the roots had formed well enough.--Randy
The term is "keiki", meaning baby or child. Some daylilies reproduce in this asexual manner, as do some orchids. Also, if you think about regular houseplants, the Spider Plant sends out shoots with quite a few keiki plants and tiny blooms. I've had all of the above keiki offshoots and had great success with each.
ReplyDeleteI have heard one orchidist say that the Phalaenopsis orchid which pushes a keiki means it is not receiving sufficient nutrients. Perhaps. Never researched it further.
With all keiki offshoots, snip them and treat them as any baby plant -- they will continue to root and grow if given proper potting soil and care.
Hope this helps.
I've never seen that before. Thanks everyone for enlightening me!
ReplyDeleteI've read about proliferations but never seen it happen on my daylilies. I've heard you can use rooting hormone and stick them in potting soil enclosed in a baggy or something to retain moisture. Never done it.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
Interesting to know the term. that iris DOES sort of look like a spider plant, too!
ReplyDeleteI have seen these on my daylilies, but never thought much about it...good to know
ReplyDeleteI see someone else answered it, but we call them prolifs in the club, and they are quite sought after at the end of the season. I can always tell that I will have one if the scape stays green. Fun to watch grow. Then, even more fun to transplant. Certain varieties prolif more than others. Isn't that strange?~~Dee
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ReplyDeleteI've seen this on one daylily in the past...but not recently. Who knows what's under all those Susans! Thanks for sharing this Phillip...now i'll pay attention. gail
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting. I'd never seen that before, a great way to get more plants!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of those from hemheads but never actually seen any on my daylilies.
ReplyDeleteNow this is easy propagation. I like it.
ReplyDeleteHow Cool! I wonder if any variety can do this... or what special conditions might bring it on where others do not encourage this type of offspring.
ReplyDeleteMine never do that. That looks like an easy way to propagate a Daylily. No messy digging & dividing!
ReplyDeleteI cut the scape about a half inch above and below the keiki and push it into the ground with the keiki resting against the ground. It holds it securely until it grabs hold.
ReplyDelete