Let there be Hips!

For most of the blooming season, one of the main tasks in the rose garden is to "deadhead" or cut off old blossoms. After a rose has bloomed the part underneath the bloom swells up and ripens into a seedpod. This sends a message for the plant to slow down flower production. During spring, summer and early fall, good gardeners faithfully snip and clip off spent blooms to prevent hip formation and keep the rose pumping out flowers.

Fall changes everything. Rather than continue to deadhead, it is better to give the rose a chance to rest. Allowing hips to form in late fall allows the rose to complete its natural life cycle. The formation of hips signals the rose to slow down, induce dormancy and store energy for next year.

It can be tempting to keep on clipping. After all we love roses, and our plants which are well loved want to reward us with bloom. In fact, in mild climates it is possible to have have roses blooming through the holidays, and even a smattering at pruning time. In cold climates it may mean roses until the snowfall. However, let's not be greedy. The rosebush needs a rest.

Concerned if you don't deadhead you'll have fallen petals strewn about the garden? You can still have a tidy garden and allow hips to form by gently pulling off old blossoms from the flower head before they fall. This simple technique may satisfy your desire to deadhead yet it encourages hip formation. Yes, there may be times you just have to pull out the clippers and snip - blooms affected with botrytis (a grey mold fungus) should be removed. After all, allowing hips to form does not mean allowing disease to run rampant. Generally speaking a soggy bloom may rot, a dry healthy bloom will not.

When it comes to hips, learn to appreciate their function and beauty. Hips are a part of nature, they are full of vitamin C and can provide food for the birds. Hips can be quite decorative in the fall garden. Just as roses have many shapes, shades and sizes, so do hips. Some look like little orange pumpkins, others like juicy red balls. They make striking additions to fall flower arrangements, especially Thanksgiving bouquets. Hips can be quite pretty, and make a wonderful addition to fall rose shows.

Show your roses appreciation for a wonderful season of bloom. Give them a rest, and they will reward you next year. Hip Hip Hurray!