The hot summer days have arrived and there are a few tricks to keeping your roses healthy throughout the heat wave.

• Hopefully by now, you have mulch down. Any all purpose mulch will work just fine. The idea is to keep the fine feeder roots found just below the soil surface as cool as possible. A 3 – 4 inch layer of mulch will help keep soil temperatures from soaring. Mulch also helps reduce the evaporation of water and helps keep weeds under control. And as an added bonus, the mulch will break down into organic matter over the summer and will enrich your soil.
• The main problem during the summer is spider mites. These are microscopic bugs that create little colonies among your rose leaves. They can be devastating to your plant if they are not caught in time. Spider mites quickly kill the leaves and the plant defoliates. The best way to spot them is to look at the undersides of the leaves. If you see webs and what looks like salt and pepper, or if the undersides of the leaves feel sandy, you have spider mites. You can kill them off with a miticide or by blasting them with water every two to three days for a week or two. Either way should eliminate them.
• Keep up your watering schedule during the summer months. This is crucial since a missed watering can cause your plants to get stressed and this invites problems. The healthier the plant, the fewer problems it is likely to have. Remember, deep watering is best. Also, watering early in the morning is better than mid-day or afternoon. You don’t want the soil to be soggy, but you also don’t want it to get totally dry between waterings.
• Continue to “dead head” at least once a month.
• Apply a half strength liquid fertilizer once a month. As always, be sure to water your roses well the day before you fertilize.
• The other thing is to try to keep the weeds and grass from invading the rose beds. The less competition the roses have for water the better.