Several of my Explorer roses have turned into blooming machines this year. I’m not used to seeing blooms on John Cabot, William Baffin and Henry Kelsey in August. Champlain and Alex MacKenzie, yes, but the other 3 mostly have one spectacular bloom cycle. Perhaps it is a consequence of the bushes being well established…
I find the same with mine, but I attributed it to the severe pruning I gave them. Was it the early & temperate spring?
I have experienced the same situation in northern Wisconsin this summer, but I have attributed the repeat in bloom to the copious amounts of rain we have had this year. Northern Wisconsin has been in a drought situation for at least 6 years. I have always felt that my plants must survive under ambient conditions and I do not water unless the drought is extreme. Many of the roses that should repeat do not. My guess would be that (at least in my situation) the winter snow melt somewhat replenishes the water supply in the spring and there is sufficient moisture for the first bloom. Then as the summer progresses, the lack of moisture has the plants conserving energy and the result is no repeat or very reduced repeat. I have always heard the phrase “water, water, water” used with respect to roses–I guess it may be at least part of the key to repeat bloom.
Water, Water, Water certainly is a mantra that is oft repeated regarding roses.
Earlier this year when we had our automatic watering system turned on, we realized after about an hour that one of the hoses wasn’t connected to the watering system but instead was lying on the ground next to a rather large bush of ‘Father Hugo’.
The result is now evident as the plant has increased dramatically in size. It was a good sized bush that took up about 12’ of space along the fence, but now it almost appears to have doubled in size with new canes and longer canes all over the plant. I hope that they will winter well and we can enjoy even more lovely yellow blooms in the spring.
As long as you have good drainage, I don’t think you can water too much.