Hi again it's Jason from Fraser Valley Rose Farm i'll start today by pointing out that some of the
stems of my roses have turned black all the way from the tips down to near the base of the plant
now blackness and black stems means die back and so this should concern me right well because of
the timing and because of what we saw this last winter i have a strong feeling that this is just
seasonal damage and not some sort of disease or problem that will carry on and infect my roses
so let's have a closer look at this damage i also want to parlay this into a conversation about what
you should be looking for in a temperate climate like mine where you've had a winter you're coming
out of winter and look at the condition of your plants and see this and know what to do in terms
of pruning timing of that pruning and what other things you should be doing with your roses this
time of year if say you're a novice rose grower let's have a look at the damage here see what we
can tell so first of all you can tell that it is dark black all the way from the top tips of these
stems and as i move downwards on the rose you're going to see that it extends downwards right to
the point where you have the bigger thicker canes coming from the base those canes would
have been more protected by the plant because the plant would have decided they were more important
than the extremities but also because they were further down and perhaps more protected by snow
or other cover it is the pattern of this damage the fact that it is not in patches or blotches
and that it extends from the extremities downwards towards the center of the plant
plus the fact that it happened after we had an unusually cold winter in our area that clues me in
that this is cold damage i'll show you one other thing is that the damage is present on this plant
here this plant is stephen's big purple which is a hybrid tea which is hardy down to zone six it's
also present on this plant over here olympiad in a pretty pronounced way which is also a floribunda
with a similar hardiness level but it is not present at all on this plant over here which is
chlorus an elba rose which looked like it took zero damage at all from the tips downwards so
and that one is down to zone three i think so zone hardiness actually makes a difference on plants i
talk about zone hardiness it doesn't guarantee you that if it's below the zone that you're in that
you'll have no damage but what it will mean is that you're more likely to have your plant survive
returning to that olympiad for example i would have no trouble making all of the calls that i
need to make right now looking there i can see some of the black stems that i have to take out
from the center of the shrub really this is the point of spring pruning or at least one
of the main points of spring pruning is to remove some of that winter damage and the damage stems
from last season before it leafs out and makes it really hard for you to spot them
so this would be the before and this would be the after
something like this on the other hand still looks fairly dormant and i can definitely see some black
tinging on the stems but what would be the harm in waiting a little bit to see what this looks like
when it leafs out and i see where the new shoots are coming and then i can more easily identify
those stems that it's given up over the winter so for this one i wouldn't see the harm in waiting
a few weeks on that now other things that you'll plan on doing at the same time as you're pruning
in the spring is if you have a mulch on it you would replace that mulch and remove any dead
leaves from the base of the plant and i'd usually do an early feeding at this time as well if i have
organic fertilizer on hand i use that i'll show you a bag that i have of that one or i also could
just use if i have it on hand the bulk amendment i like a lot is alfalfa meal or pellets which i
usually just use a cup and scrape it into the base of the soil around the plant and let that
give it a good boost to start the season i'll be around throughout the season as well just to see
if it needs anything else thanks for joining me as i assess the winter cold damage on my roses
i don't get a chance to do this that often we're in a mild climate and i'm not really looking for
a chance to do it more often but really it is no different than assessing any other kind of
pruning that you would have to do in the spring you're looking to target those dead diseased
damaged crossing branches weaken spindly growth and to thin out the rows a little bit that's
usually plenty so cold damage is no different and you do want to try to tackle it before the
rose leafs out and then it's harder to spot now certainly if you're sitting on the fence when it's
very clear-cut you have black at the top and green at the bottom you can tackle that now without any
doubt but if you're just seeing a blackish blush on some of the stems and the plant hasn't come
out of dormancy yet certainly there's no rule that says you have to do it right now you can
tackle that in two or three weeks when it's very clear which way the rose is going to go with that
some people are very worried about how much damage has been done to this to the rose if you see green
at the base in general if it's a strong growing rose and it's well established it will bounce
back just fine it has dormant buds down low that it will reshoot from it's really when you see that
the rose is that dark black color going right down into the crown then i'm concerned that you've lost
that rose at the same time that you're doing all of this i just wanted to remind you it might be a
good time to do a clean up of any fallen leaves or stems or anything that would be harboring disease
get that away from the base of the rose replace your your mulch if you've used some fertilize for
the first time and maybe the only time depending on how much feeding you need in your garden
and those would be the sort of routine tasks that i key in my head for happening at the same time
as you do the pruning of your roses all right if you have any questions about anything i've
talked about in this video please drop that down in the comments and thanks again for watching