need tips on rose bushes

[dinahmoe]

i know nothing about them but have become fond of one
here is the story-


we just moved into my MIL old farm house.we put a new roof on it 2 yrs ago and tore off all the old plywood and tossed it below.cleaned it all up and just finished the remodeling inside.this august i was cleaning out all the overgrowth and cutting down the old shrubbery up against the house.well, i came across this old rose bush.i knew that because of the thorn i grabbed.all that time with the roof i never noticed it.it was completely covered by brush.i cleaned it all out and saw that it was 3 little bushes.i think they are connected because one is bigger and they are close.i found the rusted wire tag still on it in the ground and it said hybrid tea rose"pink peace".so i have decided to try and help it and maybe plant some more next year.the really interesting thing is that i found out my MIL planted those roses in 1965-70 and no one has lived in the house since 1985.that whole area had roses but this is the only one left.

so that little rose has had no care for at least 25 years-how is that?
i keep thinking how aweful i will feel if it dies now that i start trying to care for it becuase obviously it doesn't need help.
any tips for them?-i am looking to buy a good book.
i was happy to see it get a bud and then bloom last month.
can't wait till spring.

i hit the root of the one in the middle and it started to wilt but it has recovered completely and growing nicely.

 

[Baymule]

How beautiful! I have "old" roses that were here when I bought the house 25 years ago. The roses do well despite what I do for them. Just keep them watered, mulch around them and treat with well rotted compost. Most of all-ENJOY!

 

[sheaviance1]

Banana peels!!!!

 

[hemet dennis]

Rabbit poop

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Beautiful rose, and I bet it smelled sweet, too. Please don't feel bad about anything. You can help it thrive - the plant's been in basic existence mode for a good long while.
It appears that you've got thin branches growing off of old root stock. I'd suggest not overwhelming it with lots of nutrients at the beginning. It's had nothing, so if you start laying a bunch of stuff on it, it will probably shut down. And right now you don't want to give it anything because it should be dormant. Check online to see how to trim a rose bush in winter dormancy stage. You want to see strong shoots coming off of the root stock in the Spring. In Spring give it a mild fertilizer - rabit poop is awesome. Seriously - lay low on the fertilizer this year, just a bit to get it going and trim the bush to get it strong. Then next year, assuming you've gotten good growth this year, you can really lay on some good mulch and fertilizer and get it going strong.
Good luck - it's awesome that you're trying so hard for this rose bush -

 

[arianna]

The rose looks very beautiful and healthy. In the spring you have to prune it to give it a good start for the year. When you cut, always cut in a angle, one inch above the nod. Roses are very beautiful flowers but they do require some maintenance, except Knock-Out roses witch are low maintenance. During spring and summer you need to remove all the dead leaves and steams, and cut the extra branches to reduce the nutrients waste. Out of the petals from some fragrant roses, you can make a delicious drink ( just put the petals in a large glass jar with water and sugar, cover with cotton and tide, and then set it out in direct sun for few days). The water will ferment a little bit and the drink will have a very good aroma. As a child we had a very large rose garden, and we use to make drinks and jams out of it all the time. You can make jam out of the rose hips (a small red fruit). This little fruit has the highest concentration of vitamin C (I believe is twice more than an orange).

 

[Mattemma]

Very nice roses! The hips and petals would be great for home use. I can still smell the rose water that got all over the bags when we were at the arab market.Heavenly! I prune too and now that I have a rabbit and chicken mulch I add those.The rabbit poo will not burn and can be added straight to the beds.The chicken poo needs to compost,and looks as nice as the store bought mulch but better!

 

[ozark hen]

Bravo to you!!! throw some used coffee grounds around them, too. Yes, banana peels for sure. Good job, gorgeous rose

 

[dinahmoe]

thanks everyone

the bushes were cut down to nothing this august as the we were cleaning everything out.i didn't know it was a rose bush until i picked up the "weeds" and found the thorns.then i felt bad becuase it had been there so long.i left the roots and clean out from around them really well.well, in a week or so i saw little green leaves coming out.each plant had one skinny stem shoot straight up and only the big one bloomed.the first bloom was so small but it bloomed.the second 2 flowers bloomed last month and were huge.
thanks guys ,i hope it will make it