Vigourous growth, no flowers

[Drlepsig]

I have a Mr Lincoln and it was the only rose bush to survive a severe winter. It had one round of buds with decent flowers to no bud and very strong growth. The plant looks very healthy and I trim it back but have no flower growth. Can I salvage the plant or should I pull it?

[rainbowgardener]

Why would you pull a healthy rose bush? (Especially one that has already demonstrated it can survive your winter). Sorry about no more flowers this year, take good care of it, and likely next year will be better. Gardening takes patience!

I don't know what all is implied by "I trim it back" but many roses bloom on old wood (last year's canes), so it's possible you are "trimming" off the bud nodes that would become flowers. It's also possible that the severe winter you mentioned, killed the canes that would have flowered. Give it good winter protection this year and hope for milder weather.

If you tell us more about the conditions it is growing in (sun exposure, etc) and how you treat it (fertilizing etc) we might be able to give other suggestions about how to make sure it flowers next year. Sometimes flowering plants that grow vigorously but don't flower are being over fertilized with high Nitrogen fertilizer.

[Drlepsig]

Thanks for replying. I have a raised bed with 12-14 hrs of direct sunlight. I use miracle grow for fertilizer and the other rose bushes, I have 6 plants in a 20' x 4' bed and the other plants are doing very well. The Mr Lincoln is a strong plant with no buds while the others had new buds and flowers all summer long. I prune the plants to stimulate growth and the other roses are doing very well. It is just this one plant that has no flowers. Any thoughts?

[vintagejuls]

I have a Mr. Lincoln that blooms less than my others... but yours is not blooming at all.

I used to feed my roses Miracle Grow but now I give a rotating mix of Epsom salts, Blood Meal, Coffee Grounds and a thick layer of compost/mulch. I have to admit I'm not good about feeding as much as I should as I only do each of these things about once or twice a year but I do produce some good blooming plants. They could be much better though if I was more diligent in my timing

Give all your roses Epsom salts at the beginning of spring to replenish the soil then again at fall. Give Blood Meal and coffee grounds rotating once a month.

Also, give the Mr. Lincoln an extra dose of potassium as that is the ingredient that provides nutrients for blooms. Banana peels under the soil or compost; or visit your nursery for some food higher in potassium as compared to the other ingredients.

Good luck and post some pics.

[diggerdave]

Is Mr Lincoln grafted or own root? The first thing that came to mind was you had a grafted Mr Lincoln that didn't survive winter and the rootstock took over. Dr Huey has dark red blooms in spring and grows like crazy the rest of the season without blooming. Here is a link to our Dr Huey album page:

[url]https://65.18.154.219/digger.com/gallery/huey[/url]

Dr Huey is the most likely rootstock if it is/was a grafted rose. If grafted, did you plant the bud union below ground level?