Learn from the Winning Rosarians – Feed your Roses now for a glorious display in spring. This feeding program is inspired by the late, David Lowell, a local rosarian and friend who developed a number of hybridized roses and always took home ribbons for his rose show entries.

Dave’s Rose feeding program provides for general plant vigor and beautiful looking roses! For use on established roses only (planted for at least six months). Apply in MARCH.

For each rose apply:

• Master Nursery 16-16-16 – 1/2 cup/rose (5# bag for 18 roses)
• Bone Meal 1/2 cup per rose (4# bag for 18 roses)
• Sulfur* 1/2 cup per rose (5# box for 18 roses)
• Gypsum 1/2 cup per rose (5# box for 18 roses)
• Magnesium Sulfate 2 Tbs. per rose (5# box for 70+ roses)
• Chicken Fertilizer 1 shovel per rose (1 bag for ~ nine roses)

*to supply sulfur, use one of the following: Iron Sulfate, Iron Plus*, or Soil Sulfur. Iron-containing products can stain. Wash off adjacent paving after ­application. (*Iron Plus is non-staining.)

The suggested time for pruning roses is January in Northern California. Even though your roses may still be leafy, budded or blooming it is time to force them to rest. Pruning them back now, removing every single leaf and dormant spraying with copper will provide a healthy beginning for the coming season.

Here are some tips in advance of our pruning classes.

What You’ll Need:

• Body armor – safety or prescription glasses, a hat, and a long-sleeved sweatshirt will go a long way insulating you from thorny branches. A good pair of leather gloves such as gauntlet types will do a superior job of protecting your forearms
• Pruning shears – sharp hand shears along with a long-handled lopper and a pruning saw are helpful for hard to reach or extra large wood
• Pruning seal – sealing cuts prevents the cane borer insect from invading and killing stems
• Copper dormant spray like Monterey Liqui-Cop to control over-wintering diseases

For specific variety and form (bush, miniature, tree & shrub) pruning tips, come in and one our rose experts will be happy to help. In the meantime here are some pruning basics. For the most part, roses produce flowers on current season growth. Therefore, the more new growth you have, the more bloom potential you’ll enjoy. Pruning is one way of stimulating new growth.

If your bush form roses have grown sky high lop off the top one-quarter to one-third of the plant so you can more easily and safely do the ‘fine pruning.’ For bush and tree forms you always want to maintain evenly spaced canes (stems) around the outside of the plant. The number of canes that you leave depends on the vigor of the plant. Three to seven is the rule in the case of bush roses. Tree roses rarely sprout new ones as they age so encourage and maintain those well-spaced branches. The final height of the stems depends on the variety and vigor of the plant.

We have gotten away from pruning roses to within an inch of their life (6-12 inches). The general rule is to prune back by at least 1/3rd, and no more than 1/2. Leaving the canes a bit longer provides the plant with extra energy for the coming season’s performance. Prune to an outside bud where a leaf was to ensure that the next branch will grow in an outward direction. On both tree and bush roses remove all twigs and stems that are crowding the center of the plant. The extra sunlight will warm the bud union and encourage more young stems to grow that will eventually be selected to replace the older canes. The light also stimulates increased flower production.

The bud union is the area where desirable buds from the specific rose variety join the rose rootstock .

Always remove any stems coming from below the bud union. These suckers are vigorous and can over-grow the desirable rose. If your white or pink rose is producing small red flowers, it has been taken over by the rootstock rose.

Maintain a nice compliment of permanent climbing rose canes that you will arch against the fence, wall or train over an arbor. The stems that grow off these permanent canes are pruned back to four buds. The resulting new growth will produce a mass of flowers. There are always exceptions to the rule so touch base with our rose experts for just the right pruning guidance.

Roses are perhaps the most popular ways to add vibrant color to your landscape. If you don’t love them already, give them a try! Roses are available in a myriad of colors and styles; some suited for cutting, others suited for landscaping, some are climbers, others low and rambling. Roses add beauty, fragrance, curb appeal and color, and they attract beneficial pollinators to the landscape.

Most roses will bloom the first year and grow under many different climatic and soil conditions. However, when given optimum conditions, roses will thrive for years to come.

Don’t be afraid to experiment using roses in your landscape. Some uses might include:

• low growing types for planting along beds or lawn,
• a pathway leading to your front door,
• mass plantings of floribundas, miniatures or even hybrid teas for a magnificent blast of color and beauty,
• hybrid tea roses to create a beautiful and colorful cutting garden to fill your vases with all season long,
• a climbing variety to grow up a trellis or over an arbor,
• tree types, making a great backdrop and companion plant to other shrubs and perennials in your garden,
• and roses which thrive in containers on a porch or deck.

Whichever you choose, all lend themselves to a very casual or formal looking landscape. Oh, my! So many options! Next time you are wondering what can I plant, consider using roses. We’re ready to help you select one, two or even three that will suit your style. You’ll be glad you did!

See our 2025 rose list HERE.

Now that your roses are budding and ready to reward you with their glorious blooms, it is time to get a care plan in place to sustain them all season.

Insects

With the warmer, sunny days also come insects, keep an eye on new growth and watch for infestations of aphids, these insects are usually light green in color and cluster on new growth and buds. They can be hosed off with a strong jet of water which renders them unable to feed or spray with Bonide All Seasons Oil which will smother them. Follow up in a week or two with a release of live Ladybugs, they are voracious feeders and will devour any new hatchlings.

Fungus Diseases

Powdery Mildew is a dusty looking white powder spread across leaves and stems. Rust will cause yellowing leaves and orange pustules that rub off easily on the undersides of leaves. Blackspot will also cause yellowing with black spots on leaves that fall off easily. If you notice any of these symptoms, it is best to act quickly with fungicide sprays like Bonide Copper Fungicide or Neem Oil. Also, clean up any leaf litter from around the plant and remove infected leaves from the plant.

With a little bit of loving care, you’re on your way to a rich reward of blooms all season.

Fertilizing

Fertilizing will get your roses thriving for a sustained blooming period.

How you water – sprinkler vs. drip vs. hand/hose will determine what type of fertilizer you use. If you have a drip irrigation system on your roses, you will need to use a liquid or water soluble fertilizer like Maxsea 16-16-16 or Master Nursery Liquid Gold 15-6-3. Both of these are concentrates that are diluted with water and watered in.  Always remember to water your plants the day before fertilizing.

If you have a sprinkler system or hand water you can use granular products like E.B. Stone Organic Rose & Flower Food 5-6-3 or Master Nursery Rose and Flower Food 5-10-5, again remember to always water the day before and water your fertilizer in well.

Change fertilizers for many of your shrubs this month. Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and Camellias need monthly applications of Master Bloom (0-10-10) to ensure good bud set for the spring. Citrus plants need regular feedings with Master Nursery’s Citrus Food to help protect them from frost damage.

The first cool rains of fall are a reminder that now is a great time to apply sulfur products to citrus, camellias and other acid-loving plants.

Citrus foliage commonly turns yellow in winter Soil Sulfur or Iron Sulfate help counteract this tendency.

We recommend 2-3 applications per year of some form of sulfur. Apply one before rains stop in early spring, one as rains begin in fall, and one application mid-summer.  Now is a perfect time because gentle rains (we hope) will wash nutrients into the soil.

Several products fit the bill and provide a pH adjustment which releases iron. or simply apply an iron product.  We suggest you rotate through products, applying one now and another later, so the plant gets a well-rounded diet of minerals and nutrients.

Sulfur products:
Gypsum or PH Adjuster Plus

Sulfur products containing Iron:
Greenall Iron Sulfate
Greenall F.S.T.
Master Nursery Iron Plus

Apply sulfur or iron products now to help citrus, camellias, azaleas, and gardenias stay green.

Now is also an excellent time to apply gypsum to the lawn or hydra-blue to Hydrangeas.

Lawns in general (if yours is still green) will appreciate a fertilizing before the weather gets too cold… this will help keep a green lawn through winter. Hydrangeas treated with Hydra-blue now will stay on the bluer side as opposed to pink.