rose sucker transplant

Last spring, I harvested a 6" sucker from a Dublin Bay in Georgia and transplanted it in coastal Virginia. It grew 10 feet or so in its first season and sent up several canes. However, no blooms. Is this common for first year transplants?
Thanks

Sandi welcome to the forum

I am sure Julie will be so kind as to respond to this since she is a true Rose-connoisseur

Sandi, I just planted a Dublin Bay start this spring and got such luscious flowers that I'm actually putting one of the pictures in the American Rose Photo Contest for 2009. Mine didn't grow quite 10 ft. though. I'd say it put up about 6 ft. of canes.

From Georgia to coastal Virginia might be a soil change shock for your little rose. I would suggest that in the spring, you fertilize it with a good organic fertilizer such as Mills Magic Mix and give it an every two week treat of a banana peel. See if that helps with the soil transition.

Also check to be sure that your sucker is truly Dublin Bay and not a root stock rose. If your original rose was a start or cutting and own root you can be sure. If it was a grafted rose, you may have brought a different rose with you. Here, most of the root stock on roses is Dr. Huey. Another rose that is a rambler and gets huge, but doesn't bloom as nicely as the patented roses. It can be pretty in it's own right, but the flowers are smaller and more double and a different shade of red than Dublin Bay.

Good luck to you. I generally recommend the banana peels for folks who are having problems with roses blooming. The banana peels are high in potassium which is what force the roses to create buds and flowers.

Let me know what happens and how things go for you. You will probably not see any difference anymore this year. Your winters are very similar to my own and my roses are now dormant.

Not sure if it is a grafted rose but assume it is. Will try the banana peels and fertilizer next spring and see what kind of flowers develop. Do you have any recommendations for a fragrant heavy blooming climber for a s/w exposure? We are on the Piankatank River off the Chesapeake Bay and get intense afternoon sun in summer but no direct morning sun. Thanks for the good advise, Julie.

Well I'm Glad I read this I did not know banana peel would help Thank you.

Sandi, your spot sounds quite good for roses. I'm thinking though that you might have sandy soil there. You might want to amend that is a nice compost to help your roses.

As far as nice fragrant climbers, let's see...Actually, Dublin Bay is a very good one with a dependable repeat. I've only had this rose one summer, but fell in love with it. If the one you have doesn't turn out to be the grafted rose, you might try getting one mail-order. One of the best places to get own-root roses is Roses Unlimited.

Other nice climbers with reputations of fragrance as well as bloom:

(One's I grow)
City of York - Rambler, white, extremely strong spicy fragrance, large, up to 20', unreliable repeat, but does repeat.

Summer Wine - Rambler, salmon single with maroon stemans, moderately strong spicy fragrance, large up to 20', reliable repeat.

(both these roses have repeated nicely for me)

Queen of the Pairies - Rambler, pink, fully double, light but noticable fragrance, large up to 40', extremely disease resistant, does NOT repeat (very old rose).

New Dawn - Rambler, light pink to white, double, light fruity fragrance but noticable, large up to 40', one of the cleanest, strongest and best climbers in this area, repeats.

(Other roses that I've known)

Don Juan - Climber, deep red, fully double, very fragrant rose scent, medium size to about 10', excellent repeat.

Pinata - Climber, bi-colored orange/yellow, fully double, very fruity fragrance, medium/stiff canes (good for trellis or arbor) to about 8', excellent repeat.

Fourth of July - Climber, multi-colored striped all colors, single with yellow stamens, tall to about 20', supple canes good for fences, very good fruity fragrance, excellent repeat.

I've grown all these roses at one time or another and they are some of the most extremely disease resistant varieties and most stunning bloomers. They also have the fragrance you are looking for. Most of these you will be able to find at Roses Unlimited as own-root varieties and they will all grow like gangbusters. Most will bloom the 1st year. Some of the very old varieties such as Queen of the Pairies will take a couple of years to bloom. I hope this helps.

Julie, this is great info. I need lot of help with roses. We moved from Chicago last summer and planted the foundation beds in December. I am amazed at the vigor of the roses (and everything!)in Virginia. We used good compost in all the beds (Some good sand, but lots of marine clay here) with pinestraw mulch and the plants tripled and quadupled by late summer. My Disneyland Rose and Pink Knockout are huge and are still blooming. And no black spot this year...Of course the red Knock Outs are enormous and will thrive even with no direct morning sun. Just planted Easy Going,a fragrant yellow, down by the water. Will advise regarding tolerance of occasional salt spray.

The only pest problem I had was the Japanese beetles in June and July. Dreadful! I kept picking them off and the plants recovered. Will try to get the jump on them next year. I have also found that bunnies will eat the lower branches. A small gauge metal mesh/screen around the base of the rose helps.

I have limited experience with climbers and will order some of your suggestions. My New Dawn covered a 16 ft wall in Chicago but bloomed only once per season. I can't wait to see what it does here. Thanks again. I'm planning a couple of fences and a trellis or two.

Sandi

Sandi, with New Dawn, look later in the season and choose one that has repeat bloom. New Dawn is a sport of the giant once blooming rambler Dr. W. Van Fleet and is notorious for having a single bloom season (reverting back to the parent plant). Mine blooms very well three and four times a year. Often too, many of these New Dawns are actually am impostering Dr. W Van Fleet. They look exactly alike, grow exactly alike, but one is a repeat bloom the other not.

Now having said that, Dr. W Van Fleet is a gorgeous rose with one of the most spatular 6 week bloom cycles. Folks often complain to me that it blooms only once, even with an extended bloom cycle and that they want to get rid of it. I tell them to enjoy the history of this beauty and make sure they have their garden parties while it is blooming. I don't feel it's worth killing a 200 year old rose because it only blooms 6 weeks out of the year. It's strong and clean and needs very little care.