Update on roses and garden midwinter

[@liensgarden301]

Thank you for the updates, seems very wet and cold there. The new bed and your roses look great, I don't mind looking at mine during the winter because I know they are just resting and soon produce a lot of blooms for me. We had rain here yesterday I bet my roses love it.

[@peterhaymaker7562]

Hi Nik, Good to hear you're alive and kicking. Another year and let's hope it's a good one for us all. Your thermometer: I bought several of the same one as yours a couple of years ago, kept X3 and gave the rest away as small Christmas presents. I also bought fire extinguishers one year as Christmas presents. If ever you're stuck and don't know what to get someone you get them a torch - always useful. Temps here down to -6'C on a couple of occasions over the last week. Brrrrrrrrrr! It'll be interesting to see how your 'sticks' progress. I'm certainly pleased I don't have badgers too. I'd give your daffodils a chance. I 'lost' some that I forgot to plant in the Autumn of '23 for '24 and planted them up this Autumn and they are coming up! Even the tulips are coming up. The hyacinths didn't make it though. Your daffs still look as though they could make it. I'd give 'em a go. I've pruned most of my climbing roses, two still to do when the weather warms up a bit. I can see you've been busy with your roses and still more to keep you out of mischief. I hope you have a great New Year. Cheers!

[@nikkonch]

Torches are one of my obsessions. I get very excited looking at their candlepower or Lumens ratings and am always tempted to get a bigger and brighter torch. They're useful living here - no streetlights. I could never resist flashing my Energizer keyring torch and illuminating the beach in Broadstairs when I was walking along the clifftops back from the pub when I was of working age - amazingly strong beam from such a tiny torch! Never felt the need for a fire extinguisher - probably just as well, I'd always be tempted to spray something with it. Let's hope for a warm, sunny 2025.

[@Raj-45a]

Hi Nik happy New year. You have nice addition of new roses. Surely we all rose admirers can't wait for spring to see new twigs & buds. Looking forward to seeing your roses updates in the new season.

[@nikkonch]

Happy New Year to you Raj. I am getting excited already just seeing those tiny signs of growth on the new bare roots. It's a bit like having children in fast-forward mode, watching them turn into fully grown adults in just one year!

[@Raj-45a]

@@nikkonch can't agree more, Nik 😅

[@gavinparry5426]

HNY Nik. Your cuttings look to be doing well? Beautiful day up here in Snowdonia today. Been out and pruned about 30 Roses. Lopers were out also this year! ATB Gav

[@nikkonch]

Hi Gav. Early days yet for the cuttings - I've been disappointed before after a promising start. Pruning 30 roses in one day is very good going. Keep those secateurs sharp!

[@FelicitySneyd]

Happy New Year Nik. Thank you for the video. Are you early having pruned your roses already. I haven't started yet. Nice to see signs of new growth.

[@nikkonch]

Yes, it is early to prune, but as long as we don't get an abnormally long and cold winter it should be fine (fingers crossed). We rarely get below -6 degrees C here, and not for very long either, and more often up to plus 6 - 12 C in the winter. The fact that new growth is visible on the outdoor stems reassures me - and I just think in my simplistic way that the earlier growth starts, the more growth you get by flowering time. It seems a waste to me to cut back a couple of months' worth of new healthy winter growth by leaving pruning until February or later. We really do 2 prunings - a fairly drastic early winter cut as you see (especially recommended if you have tall bushes and get strong winds risking rocking the roots) and a second lighter early spring cut to better shape the bush and cut out weak stems and crossed stems. You can see from Gav's comment on this page that he also prunes about now in North Wales.

[@FelicitySneyd]

Thanks for the good advice, I'll get going this week, it 'promises' to be dry here in Cornwall ....

[@gavinparry5426]

@@nikkonch I normally go for it on 1st Jan! but late this year due to snow and ice etc. Today was 5 but 10 expected tomorrow. Mulch next job!

[@obiwankenobi6952]

Hi nik,happy new year also, 🍀🍀🍀quite warm at your place, 😂😂we have -7 at night and -1 at day….😵‍💫 I never had any luck with cuttings, I lost a Standard of Gertrude in Fall and was trying to take cuttings, but they all turned black…what’s the secret ? Greetings from Germany

[@nikkonch]

Hi Obi (we must have similar mindsets - one of my other screen names is Daft Wader!). We've just come through a short cold spell - in fact we had the coldest day this winter where we are, and the electricity company decided to cut off our electricity for "routine maintenance" on precisely that day. Sometimes you feel that the whole world is against you. As for my "secret"? - Pure luck - all my carefully prepared and nurtured cuttings died last year - that rose in the greenhouse was the only success, and that was not planted with any care. That's why I decided to ignore all the rules and just stuck those stems in pots last month with no expectations. Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!

[@obiwankenobi6952]

@ 👍😂Dankeschön, now that’s terrible, hope you have a wood burner , I tried very hard many times, in spring in fall, in Sand in ..whatever, no success 🙂‍↕️my Mom actually did the same in her times, simply taking a cut stem and pushing it nest to the old Rose in clay soil…and it always worked..I hope all your beauty’s will survive…