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Rose Pruning Again

Late February to early March is the time for the major pruning of roses. Back in December, I did a preliminary pruning , now is the time for the last major pruning before the spring season begins.  First, a comment on hybrid tea roses. This is what most people have in their gardens. I only have a few hybrid tea roses. These are the roses that need the most drastic pruning. Basically, you cut all the canes down to about 1 foot, making the cuts right above an outward-facing bud. The result will be something like this -  Most of my roses fall into the shrub and climbing categories. These roses are pruned differently and not as severe as the hybrid teas. For shrub roses (and many of the David Austin English roses fall into this category), I first take out the older canes completely to the ground. The older canes are easy to spot - they will be thicker and darker in color. After thinning out the older canes, I remove any canes that are damaged, crossing one another and canes that ...

Favorite Garden Photos of the past year

January


February

Thin ice (2/3/17) (Vancouver, WA)

March


Dutch Iris

April




May

lupines



June


July

Yarrow, lilies, agastache, Rose 'Marie Pavie'

August

strawflower-mohave-orange

September



October

sourwood-oxydendron


November

amsonia-geranium-rozanne-2


December


strawberry-plants-frost

Happy New Year!

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. You are such a good photographer Phillip. These beautiful scenes give me courage to face the rest of this winter. I know there will be blooms in the future. Happy New Year to you too.

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  2. What a treat for the eyes, such gorgeous photos! August and January my favorites--the texture on the petals in August and the graceful drape of the snow-covered tree in January--perfect.

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  3. This is a wonderful post idea, I hope you keep doing it in the future. I love November's yellow-purple vignette. Such a vibrant display as the garden slows down is quite an achievement and a sign of a gardener's talent. I also love the wavy motion of Carex comans (if only it didn't reseed so prolifically).

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  4. Garden blogs that I used to follow that sadly no longer are there used to do an end of the year post with highlights from each month. Love your photos. They are certainly beautiful

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  5. Just coming out of the deepest freeze here in decades, my eye is drawn to anything that radiates warmth, so I lingered over August for some time. After that warmup, even the small hot flashes among the frosted strawberry foliage of December were effective; that one's my favorite, in fact.

    But they're all excellent. July is just smashing; isn't 'Marie Pavie' a great rose? And you've accompanied her brilliantly. Thanks for the beauty!

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  6. These are gorgeous! Especially love Jan and March. This may inspire me to do favorites next year instead of my usual "Best of the Rest" from leftover photos.

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  7. Great plant groupings and great photos. The January image was so striking I had to see what else you picked.

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