crop 244

Crop 244 July Issue of Flowering Shrub Farm Pictures; January February March April May 1 to 15 May 16 to 31 June 1 to 7 June 8 to 14 June 15 to 21 June 22 to 30 July August September October November December We propagate and grow for mail-order many hard to obtain roses, lilacs, blueberry bushes, rhododendrons or azaleas and report how we are doing to potential customers via these monthly newsletters (larger plants are usually available for pickup during our plant sale). Click on the picture and it may open a larger version with more detail. Reload this page in case your computer has it cached. 09:09

julyfrontporchsmall.jpg, julyinbacksmall.jpg

For the three months July, August and September we are propagating and doing mailorder for lilacs, roses and more. The newsletter I am working on this month is at www.floweringshrubfarm.com/garden.htm and includes a link to "what we do and when we do it". The pictures below are probably from previous years unless they have been recently over-written.

by mail Nadezhda and coldframe. A potential customer from California is interested in a one gallon Nadezhda Lilac. So I went and found one in the cold frame and took its picture (arrangements have to be made now for bare root plants next spring). $15 plus shipping by priority mail through the US Postal Service. Next Spring in March (after calling this customer or after they have emailed me) probably I'll strip the soil from the dormant plant, have it inspected, bag it up, weigh it, figure the shipping cost, and place it in the refridgerator until I get the check (I dont cash the check until I send the plant). Another potential customer from Nevada wants gallica roses (go to LIST linked above for particulars).

Roses hardy in zone 3 to be used as a source of cuttings are planted in 45 gallon pots. Those that are less hardy to zone 4 and 5 are planted in the ground along the drip line. First I empty a bag of manure in the location and mix it into the existing soil, then later after we plant a rose bush I mulch a couple times a year with composted manure. Every morning I turn on the drip line while I'm walking the dog or having my coffee.

We moved these James Macfarlane lilacs off of drip line to be planted in a mass on the side of the foundation. Next week I will throw around a half yard of compost among the plants making up the mass and water at least once a week from a hose. It is important to remove plants from the drip line that dont sell frequently so as to create more space for more popular varieties (in masses I can still take cuttings or even dig one plant out). We also planted 1 Albertine Rose at the far end, 4 Autumn Damask Roses in the middle and 1 Alchymist Rose at this end 12 feet apart along the edge of the weed mat adjacent to emmiters (as a source of cuttings) so they get watered when the drip line is turned on.

A potential customer from PA is interested in a Ludwig Spaeth and I'm having trouble finding one in a 3 gallon pot that is labeled. If I find it we'll cut it back to fit the flat rate priority mail box. So every year those lilacs that flower in spring are labeled with an abreviation of the name on a yellow label. Those plants that dont sell during the plant sale are usually cut back the following spring sometime in March or April, sometimes divided in half and returned to the field on drip line. I ordered 50 Ludwig Spaeth from a wholesale cuttings nursery that I will get next spring (they will be potted into 3 gallon pots, placed on drip line and not sold until they have flowered and been labeled). Sometimes when you order wholesale rooted cuttings you can get multiple varieties but none of what was ordered, so its important to see them flower before selling them.

Plants of good size that are hardy to zone 3 can be planted in 45 gallon pots and used as a source of cuttings.

I try to plant roses alongside the drip line every 12 feet that when they grow to maturity will be used as a source of cuttings. My Leverkusen that was in a forty five died last year so here on the right is its replacement.

Ludwig Spaeth. I'll trim around and see if this would be a potential candidate for mail order.

In back and pot-in-pot. Quite a few roses that we use to take cuttings from still remain in the low light area around the pot in pot because at this time of year I just dont have enough help. Normally we have moved these plants onto drip line where they get more sun.

On left is Rosa rugosa from seedlings. Click this link to see us propagating rugosa species from seed. On the right are the sliding windows on the front of the potting shed where you can see the utility sink through the glass (these benches are set up in winter with bottom heat set at just above freezing where I can place some of the more tender cuttings in zip lock bags).

On the left is a flower on rugosa rose 'Blanc double de Coubert' planted in a 45 gallon pot (hardy to zone 3 growing up to 6 feet tall and wide originally a seedling of Rosa rugosa alba introduced around 1898). On the right is the cuttings picture which will show the plant we take cuttings from if we have no rooted cuttings at this time but as I stick cuttings in the propagation box I will over-write this picture with one of those and if they root and survive the winter I will over-write with a picture of the rooted cuttings in one gallon pots (not for sale until a price sticker is attached and visible in the cuttings picture).

American Pillar rose 2014-882 or other that flowered on July 5 on left. I clip the flower and a piece of stem off, slip it under the pot and save it as the days date (later, I might save it elsewhere). I hurt my back in the first few days of July so I'm even slower than usual but we got the propagating box together with the electronic leaf and the first few pots of semi-plena and fantin latour cuttings. I'll try to over-write a couple pictures every few days or so but I'll need some bed rest for my back. As you can probably see from some of these pictures below most cuttings aren't quite ready to be taken yet anyway.

On left Rosa rugosa using the trailer as a table. On right 'Queen Anns Lace' growing wild among the lilacs.

coldframe and red door

For the next several months I'll be wandering around looking for viable cuttings and taking pictures while watering the plants (I will over write these pictures throughout the month). If the potential cuttings are not yet viable I'll take a picture with a pencil nearby so a comparison between the thickness of the pencil and the thickness of the cutting can be made (check these pictures below of potentially viable cuttings). If the cuttings are viable I may collect them, take them to the potting shed, pot them 4 to each one gallon pot, take a picture to over-write with and place the cuttings in the propagation box (click the picture for a larger version then look through the ventilation hole at plants inside).

camaieux and magnifica

I am seeking cuttings thicker than a pencil so my first picture will show potentially viable cuttings being compared to the thickness of a pencil. When the cutting is thicker than a pencil I will take them and stick them 4 to a one gallon pot, the variety name printed on the side with the date and over-write with a new picture.

roseraie de l'hay and semi-plena

I will continue to look for viable cuttings throughout the next three months. If you want me to take additional cuttings from a particular variety send me a text or an email asking me to do it.

fantin latour and ispahan

I plan to get some compost to add to soils where we will plant roses to be used as a source of cuttings. I am planting plants hardy to zone 4 or 5 in the soil at the end of the drip line (I will roll up the weed mat a few feet and spread compost in that area). Plants hardy in zone 3 get planted in 45 gallon pots.

schneezwerg and rotesmeer

jens munk and celestial alba

schneekopp and centifolia

This centifolia rose was planted here in 2015 from a 3 inch pot and gets mulched with compost a couple times a year. Any stems with faded flowers will be taken as cuttings as soon as the stems are as thick as a pencil (or maybe sometime in August at the latest).

in back and front

This 'Super Dorothy' produced a single flower.

The electronic leaf placed among cuttings in the propagation box turns misters on and off. As the mist is collected in the alluminum mesh of the leaf its weighed down until it shuts off the water. As the collected droplets evaporate the leaf rises and turns the water on again.

The solenoid above left is a valve that turns the water on and off controlled by the electronic leaf. On right is the propagation box. Curt plans to come over wednesday and mow, stick cuttings, change the misting heads, move some plants from pot-in-pot out into the field under drip line and plant own root roses along side the drip line that we will use in the future to take cuttings from (I will be taking pictures to add here and helping as needed).

We use several kinds of misting heads in the propagation boxes. A blue one that I used for many years (Mr cash at the SUNY Ag school likes this one) but I also use brass fog-it nozzles because I dont need a pressure regulator. I'll be adding this part of the newsletter showing the electronic leaf etc. to the growing page at GROW above.

The electronic leaf placed among cuttings in the propagation box turns misters on and off.

In back and pot-in-pot.

Rosa rugosa from seedlings.

July 5 on left. I clip the flower and a piece of stem off, slip it under the pot and save it as the days date (later, I might save it elsewhere).

Rosa rugosa using the trailer as a table.

coldframe and red door

For the next several months I'll be wandering around looking for viable cuttings and taking pictures while watering the plants (I will over write these pictures throughout the month).

camaieux and magnifica

I am seeking cuttings thicker than a pencil so my first picture will show potentially viable cuttings being compared to the thickness of a pencil.

roseraie de l'hay and semi-plena

fantin latour and ispahan

I plan to get some compost to add to soils where we will plant roses to be used as a source of cuttings.

schneezwerg and rotesmeer

jens munk and celestial alba

schneekopp and centifolia

Any stems with faded flowers will be taken as cuttings as soon as the stems are as thick as a pencil (or maybe sometime in August at the latest).

in back

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