Peter Beales Roses, Simon White. October's meeting

 For October's meeting we had a fantastic talk from Simon White of Peter Beales Roses. Simon, accompanied by his wife, travelled from Norfolk to be with us. They also brought lots of roses and other garden products for us to purchase and he generously donated two roses for our raffle. Simon is the president of the Norfolk and Suffolk Horticultural Society and has been with Peter Beales Roses since 1981.

 Simon told us they plant the rootstock, which is grown from seed, in the Spring. The planting is now done by machine into fields. They rent fields from the farmer next door so that they can operate a system of rotation to reduce the risk of disease. In June/July they take a stem of the rose bush they wish to grow and graft it to the rootstock by hand. They have to anticipate which roses will be popular that year.

 When planting your rose at home, good soil preparation is important. Simon recommended that you purchase good quality horse/farmyard manure, but make sure it is well rotted or put it on your compost heap for 6 months. Fresh manure will burn the roots. If you have to plant a rose where one has been before then get a very large box. Dig a big hole and sink the box into the ground. Fill the box with new compost and manure and plant the rose into this. This allows the rose to establish itself before its roots come into contact with the original soil. Use bonemeal or mycorrhizal (e.g., Root Grow). Plant the rose at least one inch lower than it is in its pot so that the graft is below soil level. They are thirsty plants and need watering. Feed with a high Potassium feed.

 Prune in February and don't be scared. A good hard cut back is best. You can even prune into the hard wood. They are strong plants. Try to prune stems just above a bud (branch bud not flower bud), and ideally a bud which is pointing away from the main plant so that you create a goblet shape to the bush. When pruning a climbing or rambler rose, prune the vertical branches to create horizontal branches. These are what will flower. When deadheading, don't just remove the bloom, remove the stem down 4-5 leaves below the bloom. This promotes new growth. If you need to spray against diseases, use different sprays so the plant doesn't become immune. For an organic spray use skimmed milk diluted 50/50 with water.