Roses

kellyagnew1

Afternoon everyone. Posted this on the problem solving page. It's just over 5 feet tall, few flowers, started blooming in june, still some buds to open. Does it look ok? The canes are really brown. Is there anything i can do to help it?

celcius_kkw

It looks good to me.. fairly healthy foliage in the second picture. Have you fertilised it yet? Seaweed feed is good.. or you could use tomato feed (Tomorite for example contains seaweed extract too) - that should encourage flowering with the high potassium content. 

kellyagnew1

Thank you for replying. Newbie when it comes to roses. I've always been afraid to have them in the garden due to having zero knowledge of them. This one was here already and i couldn't believe how fragrant it was, you can smell it from the other side of the garden! I would like to learn how to look after it properly! I put rose food down twice, and I have been feeding it weekly with tomato food. I don't know how to prune it, or when. 

Marlorena

I've just looked on the problem solving forum, I don't normally look there, and so I've seen your post... the crimson rose you have is not an old one at all..  it looks like 'Thomas a Becket' a David Austin roses... going by the foliage too... is this the same as in your picture above?  and is it the same rose in your other picture showing the base?..   there also appears to be a pink rose coming in from the right, is that a different one?..

..if your rose is Thomas a Becket, and I think it is, then you don't need to prune it much at all, just deadhead the spent flowers and allow it to grow... just prune back a bit if it gets in your way.. it needs no special treatment of any sort..
...you may never get the best from it due to cultivation issues I can see there... removing weeds and debris from around the base would be useful.. and roses do not like to keep their old bits of dead wood... you should cut out those 2 dead brown bits of wood as far down as you can without damaging the green canes..
here's a bloom of Thomas a Becket, much like yours... the foliage looks very similar.. it has a strong scent and is very thorny.. right??..

kellyagnew1

Hi,  Yes, all the pictures are from the same rose, maybe it was just the light showing the blooms in a different colour. Yes, it is very thorny and the scent is incredible! I was so afraid to touch it, but i will remove the brown parts as low down as i can. It's growing in between 2 trees, probably not the best place for it, but i daren't move it! I've been feeding it and deadheading so hopefully have a better show next year! Thank you for your help, you've saved a lovely rose!