La vie en rose Painting

There are a lot of old wives' tales about roses and rose culture. Some seem to have merit, others don't. During our Exhibitors Rose Trip IV, we started a list of what we called rose myths or mistruths. We have found rosarians around the United States disproved many of these oldtales, some of which are very basic and covered in every rose culture book. Pruning & Deadheading of Roses One of the first myths is we have to cut or deadhead roses at a 45 degree angle away from the budeye. Now allegedly the "sap" from roses will seep over the budeye and kill it or stop it from growing. This is false. First off, how often do you see rose sap oozing from a wound on a freshly cut cane? Almost never. Rose canes are porous and very pithy, which holds onto water. Since the rose isn't a true hardwood plant, there is no sap per se, at least the way we think of tree sap, such as with pines and maples. Even if it did, it would not hurt the budeye at all. Think about it. Why would sap hurt a budeye when many of the roses shipped around the United States, especially the northern climates, are dipped in wax? If wax can't kill a budeye, it is doubtful sap would. Now it is true that if you prune high above a budeye, then that section of the cane will die back to the budeye. So always cut just above a budeye, it just doesn't matter if it is flush or at an angle. Next would be the myth that you have to cut back all your roses in the summer time, aka summer pruning. Frances Ballentine of South Carolina disproved this myth. And what she said makes sense. Roses transpire gases and water through leaf pores called stomata. This helps cool down the plant. If you remove all the foliage, then the rose is left to the harsh environment unprotected, which means 110+ degree weather in some areas. You know this cannot be good for the rose, similar to not winter protecting at all up north. So the more foliage, the more the plant has a chance to cool down during high heat. Similar to this is the myth of having to cut back to a five-leaflet leaf, especially during the summertime. Exhibitors have shown that roses do fine if you simply remove the spent bloom at the base of the peduncle, just above the bracts. This gives more foliage for cooling. During rose show season you would cut back to a strong budeye, and not likely down to the first five-leaflet leaf. All rose books say you must prune during the winter. Do you really need to prune your roses at all? Not really. My favorite saying is roses will survive despite us. I think pruning does help the plant with a good start coming off dormancy, whatever little we get of it here in our area, and for aesthetics it is good. But what if you never prune at all or never got around to it? Will the plant die? No, it will survive and grow on. We still suggest getting rid of dead wood and diseased parts.