Rose Canes That Fall Over

Question from Sally:
I do have a few questions: My husband Brandon follows your month-by-month book for his roses but this year the roses are growing really tall and are thin and fall over see picture. Are they getting to much of something to make them grew too fast????

Thank you for any help you can be!

Answer from Pat:
When roses grow lanky and fall over it can come from any one of several possible causes. One is not enough sun. The fact that Brandon’s roses are growing next to a fence may account for them getting less sun than they should. Roses need 6 hours of sun a day. There also may have been a lot of foggy weather in spring. I think this rose in the picture was trying to reach for the light. The best solution is to prop it up and cut off the top of the blind shoot

and allow the ones with buds to bloom. You might as well have the fun of the flowers that I see will soon open. After they bloom, cut back a little further than usual to strengthen the cane. I think this problem will clear up in warm weather.

A second possibility is an imbalance in the fertilizer. Roses grow best with a 5-9-6 balance of nutrients. A deficiency in phosphorus and potassium (the 9 and 6 numbers in the formula above) can result in lack of vigor and overall plant health. A lack of these nutrients might be the cause of thin canes that fall over instead of thick sturdy canes like one wants.

The third possible reason that rose canes grow thin and fall over is because of variety. Some varieties make strong, stocky canes and others do not. Climbing roses will always fall down because they are meant to be tied up. Always choose strong, vigorous varieties that are free-blooming and disease resistant and grow each one according to the type of rose it is.

Also choose and plant the very best varieties available. It is not a sin to pull out a rose in winter that did not do well and replace it with something better. Recent All America Award Winners are almost all good. Do some research on this. Some varieties are better in one area than in another. Attending a few meetings of the local Rose Society can teach one a lot about the characteristics of rose varieties, since most Rose Society chapters have a few experts who know which roses are most successful where you live.

A good example of a rose cane that will always fall down is when a sucker is allowed to stay on a rose plant. Suckers springing from below the bud union shoot up tall and then fall over. This has been a problem for many gardeners this year due to the rains making suckers grow faster than usual and before gardeners have noticed a sucker will take over. The old China rose ‘Ragged Robin’ is rootstock of most roses. ‘Ragged Robin’ is a climber with red flowers, yellow centers and thin canes that always fall over eventually if they are not cut back. Always remove all suckers in winter when you prune your roses or else they will take over your plants and crowd out the varieties you originally purchased. Keep an eye out for them since they can spring up any time of year.