Late-summer roses. Clockwise from top left: Selfridges, Double Delight, 1812, Tournament of Roses, unknown. (Photos by Joe Barkovich)
(Gadabout Gardener is a recurring feature on the blog. The focus is on randomly selected or recommended garden spaces in the city. Do any sights or sites come to mind as photo suggestions? Contact Gadabout Gardener at fromareportersnotebook@gmail.com.)
Reds and white in the rose garden. Photos were taken before the rain. Pictures keep them at their best, forever. (Photos by Joe Barkovich)
(Gadabout Gardener is a recurring feature on the blog. The focus is on randomly selected or recommended garden spaces in the city. Do any sights or sites come to mind as photo suggestions? Contact Gadabout Gardener at fromareportersnotebook@gmail.com.)
Welland’s Chippawa Park, particularly the Joseph L. Mocsan Memorial Rose Garden, Thursday afternoon was a joy to visit. Congratulations to the city’s parks staff for the loving care given to this horticultural showpiece. /Photos by Joe Barkovich.
(Gadabout Gardener is a recurring feature on the blog. The focus is on randomly selected or recommended garden spaces in the city. Do any sights or sites come to mind as photo suggestions? Contact Gadabout Gardener at fromareportersnotebook@gmail.com.)
A floribunda rose, Nicole is cream with pink edges. It grows to three feet to four feet high and has a frilly, large, semi-double bloom. It has a light fragrance and is a repeat bloomer. It also is one of the early-blooming roses in the side garden./Photos by Joe Barkovich.
(Gadabout Gardener is a recurring feature on the blog. The focus is on randomly selected or recommended garden spaces in the city. Do any sights or sites come to mind as photo suggestions? Contact Gadabout Gardener at fromareportersnotebook@gmail.com.)
The rose garden in Chippawa Park draws visitors to the park year after year. It’s named after Joe Mocsan, one of the Rose City’s best known rose growers, promoter of rose culture, and chair of the Rose Festival rose show for many years. Welland city council passed a resolution in October, 2011 naming the rose garden after Mr. Mocsan. The top three photos, taken Wednesday, May 26, show the sitting area and plaque designating the garden as the Joseph L. Mocsan Memorial Rose Garden. The two photos at bottom are file photos, the one at left taken in early evening and the one at right taken in early morning. Mr. Mocsan passed Saturday, May 31, 2003, aged 71. (Photos by Joe Barkovich)
(Gadabout Gardener is a recurring feature on the blog. The focus is on randomly selected or recommended garden spaces in the city. Do any sights or sites come to mind as photo suggestions? Contact Gadabout Gardener at fromareportersnotebook@gmail.com.)
Captions, clockwise from top left: Frank Reddon and Craig Danys check out work to be done in the Joseph L. Mocsan Memorial Rose Garden, Chippawa Park; Danys trims a bush, part of the winter rose care regimen; Reddon at work hilling up a bush to give it winter protection. (Photos by Joe Barkovich)
By Joe Barkovich, Scribbler-at-large
WELLAND – When in doubt about when to start winter rose care, watch what the City of Welland’s gardeners are up to.
When you see them cutting back rose canes and hilling up the crowns, that’s a sign for you to do the same. Or when you spot bushes that aren’t as high as they were days ago, time for you to get into a bed for this part of winter rose care.
Gardeners were in Chippawa Park on Monday, working on the 32 beds in the Joseph L. Mocsan Memorial Rose Garden. They were back Wednesday to finish the job.
Frank Reddon, a lead gardener with the city, said rose canes should be cut back this time of year. Cutting them back “prevents whipping or rocking” in winter’s harsh winds. Aesthetically, the bushes look nicer cut back and roughly the same height, he added.
Craig Danys, landscape technician, said the canes should be trimmed to a height of about 18 inches, although some rose growers opt for trimming to 12 inches or so. Danys then did some snipping to show how it is done.
Once the canes have been trimmed, the crown of each bush should be covered with a mound of soil 10 to 12 inches high, then covered with compost if available.
This hilling insulates the rose bush for the winter, protecting roots and the vulnerable bud union from cold temperatures, they explained.
Using a small hoe, Reddon showed the proper form in hilling a bush, scraping up soil from around the bush and moving it onto the crown area. He said this should be done with care because it is easy to knick the bush, injuring it and making it susceptible to disease.
“You never want to knick the crown,” he cautioned.
Interesting to note that the park’s rose garden has transitioned over the years. Hybrid teas were dominant years ago, now the shrub rose dominates. That’s because shrub roses are the most durable, Reddon said. Hybrid tea roses are the most difficult to care for.
When the park reopened after the COVID-19 lockdown, it was like a magnet for people, the gardeners said. They came in large numbers, many of them actually taking time to admire the roses. There was also a proliferation of picnics with more people enjoying the grounds than in many, many years.
With the care given the roses in this showpiece Victorian garden and its 650 rose bushes, visitors who stop by next spring and summer can look forward to beautiful displays of roses for their viewing pleasure.
Late-summer roses photographed today: Top, Allspice (hybrid tea); centre, Tournament of Roses (grandiflora), pic at right shows three stages of development; bottom, Climbing New Dawn. (Gadabout Gardener is a recurring feature on the blog. Photos by Joe Barkovich.)
