Make sure plants are thoroughly watered the day before you fertilize. Valley News/Adobe Stock photo
Frank Brines, ARS Master Rosarian
Special to the Valley News
I always enjoy looking back to last year’s care column for the month. According to weathercurrents.com, the hottest Oct. 1 was in 2020 at 102.8 degrees. In 2022, the region got slammed with a high Oct. 19, of 113 degrees. According to the same site, the “normal,” or multi-year average, for October is 82 degrees and the low was 54 degrees. So, the watchword is “vigilance” – watch the forecast and make sure to adjust your watering program to be neither stingy nor wasteful. Your roses will reward you for it.
On that same note, mid-season pruning and fertilizing should be carefully coordinated with weather conditions. When pruning and grooming your roses at temperatures in the 90-100s, don’t remove so much foliage th
