gardening...help!

When is the best time to transplant rose bushes?

I also have some zinia bulbs that need to be moved. I planted them on a slight hill and they are falling over because they've gotten so tall. When can I move them?

Thanks for the help!

My guess is that DJ could answer that. She is our resident expert in the gardening arena...I'm sorry I can't contribute any advice here. I'm still fitting the weeds in the flower-bed thing.

JJ

Once had nearly 75 Rose bushes and found the best time to plant or transplant was when the branches were bare, in Fall. Worked for me. You can stake the zinnias until and if you plan on moving them. I never moved anyhthing alive always waited till they were asleep, soto speak and that worked for me at least in the rich saol in Illinois. Here we have clay, sand, leachy and NO good dirt so I have gravel instead of lawn and NO flowers. I do have 4 gigantic flowering Oleandor bushes. Can't kill them if you'd try.

Chatty, I've staked them for now and it's working. I just want to move them for next year because I think they'l do much better on flatter ground. I'm going to put them where the rose bushes are so I'm thinking fall will be a good time for both.

What a rose garden. I bet your home smelled lovely! Did you cut them and take them in the house? That's one of my simple pleasures in life...cutting flowers and bringing them indoors!

Do you mean dahlias? Zinnias are annuals so you usually grow them from seed. Just plant them somewhere else next year.

As chatty says, you transplant roses when they're dormant. Early spring is best, after the ground thaws. Make sure to dig a big hole and enrich the soil before planting in a new, sunnier spot with good air circulation.

The big problem around here with roses is black spot -- and that happens because of the high heat and humidity. You can avoid it somewhat if you give the rose plenty of room between it and the wall so the air circulates around it. I have too much shade for roses, but have roses anyway, and I never spray, which the experts say you really must do in this climate. Consequently, most summers after the initial blooms, one of my roses gets black spot and ALL the leaves fall off, so I'm left with green thorny branches. Because it's been a cooler summer, though, this year wasn't so bad.

[ August 21, 2004, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: DJ ]

My home did smell nice but not from the roses, in front of each window all around the house were large Lilac bushes filled with blossoms and the air around the home and inside as well smelled like Lilacs. My Rose bushes were out back planted in rows with slab stones between them so people could come see them and snip off a few. I always had a large vase of roses and one with Lilacs in my ex's tavern and sometimes the guys would bring their wives to the house to see the flowers. Our yard sloped down to the pier and into the lake and sometimes boaters would go by and take pictures of my beautiful rose garden near the lake.

Chatty, sounds like a dream house to me!

Dj, you're right. They are dahlias. I didn't realize they got so tall. I'm moving them and gettingmore bulbs so I can have a bigger section. I love those flowers. They're great for cutting.

I have the same problem with the roses. Did someone say you can plant garlic under them to prevent black spot?

Dots,
keep in mind that dahlias are rather tender around here -- not guaranteed to return. You need to plant them in a protected location, but even so, they might not make it through a rough winter.

Usually companion plants like mint, marigold and garlic, keep pests away, like aphids or other insects. But the aromas of any of those plants aren't enough to keep fungi and mold away!

DJ, why is it that dahlias don't always come back?

I'd never grown them until this year. They remind me a little of roses because the leaves tend to get the same black spots. Is there anything to spray them with?

I plan on moving the bulbs and buying some more for next year just in case they don't come back. I love cutting them and bringing them in.

[ August 26, 2004, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]

I have Zinnias and 4 huge, I mean, GIANT, sunflower plants! Someone got envious and cut the flower off of the tallest plant and the first one to bloom! (this was overnight! )

The 1st year I was here, someone cut off my three giant sunflowers and my neighbor's too!

What is wrong with people around here ?

Probably stole them for the sunflower seeds, either to plant of roast and eat. People are pigs and have no respect for others property. When I owned my home on the water, city people from Chicago would pull up to my dock and walk into the rose garden and snip some. That happened twice. I had the yard fenced on both sides down to the water and allowed Shadow and Raven my Dobermans to run loose...Guess what, it never happened again. We never locked the dog door and they use to lay in the utility room and watch the yard, if anyone stepped onto the pier the dogs were after them. Like I said, people are pigs for the most part.

Dots
Dahlia corms don't come back in this zone because they aren't hardy below 5 degrees, I think (I'm not exactly sure how much cold they can stand. The ones I had were next to the wall, facing east, and next to the dryer vent. They lasted 2 or 3 years there.) So if it goes to zero, they die.

My sister's house is next to an alley, and people used to go by and cut off the tops of flowers all the time, until she decided not to plant them there any more.

DJ,
I know this is probably a dumb question, but I do need help with it. I have a bed around my front porch and have lots of different things in it...the problem is the weeds. I clean out the bed every spring and fall, but the weeds are coming back within a month and continue popping up here and there. Some of them get away from me and before I know it, it looks like I've planted a bush! I wish I knew what this one weed was called. I hate those things and it is always the first thing to come back. Anyway, I have the black stuff down...and have put new down, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. Is there something I can spray that wouldn't hurt the plants, flowers or bushes in there?

jawjaw, great question about a spray.

Our weeks have been worse this year than any I can remember. We always spread mulch in the spring, but for some reason it's not doing the trick this year. Do you think it could be the difference in the mulch from one year to the next?

JJ what black stuff are you referring to that you have down? Do the weeds come up in exactly the same place each time?

there is no rhyme or reason to how they come up...the black stuff I'm referring to is the tarp-like stuff you lay down before you fill a flower bed with your plants. It is suppose to keep the weeds out. Not.

JJ