Roses in Puna

[DickWilson]

Wife wants to know, do roses do well in Puna, or can they be grown at all?

dick wilson

[Carey]

We are in Keaau town, and have a number of roses that are doing well (I am not a huge rose fan, pretty much ignore them until they get all overgrown then drastically trim them back.... & haven't killed them yet!) Most of ours are med red, we do have a small pink tea & a large red (one neighbor has a large pink...)

[Kapohocat]

okay bear in mind that I have a brown thumb.... (thats the disclaimer)...

I come from the land of rose gardens! So I was so disappointed when I could not get one rose to grow decently until we moved down to Kapoho. Now I know they grow them in Waimea - big beautiful ones that are shipped all over.... but me, the only way I get them to grow here is to ignore them until the fall each year and then prune. But more often they die!

I would appreciate advise too!

[DickWilson]

Thanks all, they are a favorite of the wife, which means I get to prune, mulch and otherwise be responsible for the things. My own approach would be termed benigh neglect, but as we all know, if momma aint happy, aint no one happy.

dick wilson

[Hotzcatz]

There are several local floribunda roses which do really well. One is a red rose with a lovely scent and it is almost thornless. I'm thinking the name is "Healani" or some such, but I can't remember right now. I have some of it if you want to come take cuttings.

The Japanese beetles adore roses, too. I'll dust the rose bushes occasionally when the beetles have eaten up most of the leaves. There is a Chrysler Imperial by the driveway (where else would you plant a rose with a name like that?) which is constantly being eaten by beetles but seems to manage to keep going and makes roses. The Don Juan climbing rose by the back bathhouse is thriving. It is in a wetter and more sheltered spot with hardly any sun at all but it still keeps growing and making roses. The Healani is on the windward side of the house in full sun for half the day. It is still getting aclimitized to that spot but seems almost happy there. There is a scattering of other roses around the place as well, but the ones in spots sheltered from the wind with extra moisture seem happier.

[tptplyr1]

Hotzcatz-If the rose you are talking about is red and the center portion gets pink, it might be the Lokelani variety.

Most roses that are imported can be grown in 5-10 gallon pots. Use a good potting soil and find a nice sunny area. The good thing about planting in pots is that you can move them around if they aren't happy with the location. If you want to take care of the rose rather than hope it survives (I tend to do the "hope it survives" method) use either a controlled release fertilizer or water soluble type. There are also organic fertilizers for roses. The beetles can be controlled with chemical sprays, mostly systemic types, but if you can keep the plant in a well lighted area till around 10pm or so, it normally prevents the beetles from attacking the rose bush. The beetles feed at night and most of them can't afford sunglasses.

Also the lifespan of the rose plants tend to be shorter in Hawaii because there isn't a dormant time for them each year.

dean

[DickWilson]

Hotzcatz; Thanks for the cutting offer. When We're up and running I'll take you up on them, keep mom happy.

dick wilson