Dr. Grow: Managing plant stress

Dr. Supreme (as he refers to himself) and I have often met, during the last 20 years, to discuss the art and science of growing turf grasses and landscape plants. Our discussion usually revolved around the efficacy of new fertilizers or pesticides on the market.

On one occasion, Dr. Supreme made a statement that still sticks in my mind. He said, "We are not plant managers, we are stress managers."

It took me a while to digest the meaning of his statement. Perhaps I can explain it to you by using examples from modern medicine. As you are fully aware, stress plays an important role in your health. If you eat properly, get enough sleep, take vitamins, exercise, and don't let your relationships or job cause you too much stress, you are probably a very healthy individual.

On the other hand, if you don't eat properly, stay out late, smoke, drink too much alcohol or let your job or your relationships get to you, chances are you are a good candidate for heart disease or other common health problems. Stress on your body caused by an unhealthy lifestyle makes you prone to disease.

Plants are no different than we humans. Each plant that grows in this world is genetically encoded to flourish in a narrow range of environmental conditions. They each need a certain amount of rainfall at a particular time each year, a given intensity and duration of sunlight and a particular set of soil parameters for them to grow at an optimum rate.

If for some reason an individual plant is moved to an area in which the environmental conditions are other than those for optimum growth then stress begins to takes its toll on that plant. As in humans, if stress continues, individual plants lose vigor and disease sets in.

Most of the plants that we use in our landscapes are plants that are introduced to the Heartland. They are not native to this area. Consequently they often are planted in environmental conditions other than those within which they are conditioned to grow vigorously. So how does a Heartland gardener decide what to plant in this area?

As I see it, you have two choices. The first one is to use plants that you know will work in the garden area that you are interested in. For example, use impatiens as annuals in shaded areas. Then make sure that you provide them with a well-prepared soil, fertilize and water properly. If you don't know what plants do well in a particular garden situation, visit your local garden center. Ask lots of questions and take their advice. If no one wants to talk to you or if no one can answer your questions, then go to a different garden center.

The Heartland gardener can also do what many hybrid-tea rose growers in this area do. Roses are susceptible to black spot and several insects when grown in this area.

Rose growers deal with all of the problems of roses by providing their roses with well-drained soils, good nutritional levels, proper watering techniques, and they constantly spray for diseases and insects to keep the roses in tip-top shape. To reiterate, the Heartland gardener has, in the past, had to limit his choice of plants to those that grow naturally in this area, find plants that can tolerate our environmental conditions, or resort to using plants that require lots of treatments to keep them healthy.

Not much of a choice when you think about it.

I am happy to report that plant breeders have now given us another option. They have been busy developing plants that are popular with the public and yet are able to withstand all of the environmental extremes that the Heartland throws at us.

A good example is the new Dream Rose. This rose comes in yellow, red or pink and is similar to a hybrid tea, long-stemmed rose. The most remarkable attribute is that it is supposed to require no spraying, minimal fertilization and minimal watering and soil amending. How was this rose developed? Breeders grew roses in very adverse conditions. Only those that survived with minimal care were used as parents for succeeding generations of roses. Each succeeding generation was subjected to the same harsh conditions. The result, after several generations of exposure to harsh growing conditions and continual selections, is the Dream Rose. It is billed as the rose that anyone can grow.

It will be interesting to see if these roses can withstand the environmental conditions of the Heartland, the disease capital of the world.

If you want to have some roses growing in your landscape, but are not dedicated to the constant spraying, watering and fertilizing, purchase one or two Dream Roses.

You can find them at your local garden center. They are more expensive than most roses, but they will be well worth the price if they grow as well as they are supposed to. If you try some, let me know how they work for you.