Throughout history the rose has had many meanings. It has divided the great houses of Royal England and was a symbol of revolution during Scotland’s quest for independence. Roses stand for love, friendship, and purity. Growing roses commercially is a multi-million dollar a year business, but what if you want to grow your own to enjoy all gardening season long?
Roses have long been known to be a bit temperamental. They have special needs, and when those needs are met, they flourish. There are so many characteristics to consider when choosing the perfect rose for your landscape or garden: color, fragrance, petal count, plant form, hardiness zone, and various growing characteristics such as disease resistance. And there are so many varieties to choose from.
Choosing Your Rose
Hybrid Tea
Hybrid teas are the world’s most popular type of rose due to their color and flower form. Their single flowers are usually found at the end of long stems, which makes them popular as cut flowers. Most hybrid tea bushes tend to be somewhat upright and grow 3 to 6 feet in height, depending on the variety.
The hybrid tea is considered a modern rose, resulting from a cross of the hybrid perpetual rose and the tea rose. Its hardiness exceeds that of its parents, which has made it very popular. Most hybrid teas have a wonderful fragrance, ranging from mild to powerful. When most people think of roses as cut flowers, the Hybrid Tea is what comes to mind.
Grandiflora
As the name suggests, Grandiflora roses are an elegant blooming beauty, a cross between a hybrid tea rose and a floribunda rose. This variety has picked up the best parts of both parents: high-centered, hybrid-tea-like blooms in clusters on long stems, excellent for cutting. Grandiflora roses have also gained the hardiness, good repeat blooming, and cluster bloom production of the Floribunda rose. The Grandiflora bush likes to grow tall and will usually exceed all other roses in height, other than climbers. Like the hybrid tea, Grandifloras love sunshine and thrive when kept fed and well watered.
Floribunda
Floribunda (Latin for “many-flowering”) is a modern group of garden roses developed by crossing hybrid tea with polyantha roses. The idea was to create roses that bloomed with the polyantha profusion but with hybrid tea floral beauty and color range.
Typical Floribundas feature stiff shrubs, smaller and bushier than the average hybrid tea. The flowers are often smaller than hybrid teas but are carried in large sprays, giving a better floral effect in the garden. Floribundas are found in all hybrid tea colors and are still used in large bedding schemes in public parks and similar spaces.
English / David Austin
David Austin Roses are bred by crossing old garden roses with more modern roses to achieve the superb fragrance, delicacy, and charm of old-style blooms combined with the repeat-flowering characteristics and wide color range of modern roses. Some English varieties are extra vigorous in warm areas and may want to become semi-climbers.
Shrub Roses
Shrub rose bushes are defined by the American Rose Society as “a class of hardy, easy-care plants that encompass bushy roses that do not fit in any other category of rose bush.” Some shrub roses make good ground covers while others work well as hedges or screening in the landscape. Shrub rose bushes can have single or double blooms in many different colors. Most will bloom repeatedly and very well if properly cared for. This category includes the ever-popular Knockout and Drift Rose varieties.
Planting Roses
Select a planting location that gets at least 6 hours of sun and has good drainage. Roses, like most plants, like to be kept moist but will not tolerate wet feet. Planting your roses a little above grade and amending our heavy clay soil will help improve drainage. Roses should be planted 36 to 42 inches apart, in an area that allows for good air flow. Planting on an inside corner of your home or fence may restrict airflow enough to promote fungal growth. Make sure your plants have access to water. Watering by hand at the root or by soaker hose is the preferred method. If they are under a sprinkler system, try to water in the early morning to allow surface moisture to evaporate during the heat of the day.
Once you have found the perfect location, dig your hole a little deeper than the root ball, or to the bottom of the graft, and 2 to 3 times the circumference. Scrape off the top soil layer first and set it aside. Mix in a ratio of 1/3 to 1/3 to 1/3: the topsoil you set aside, the clay you removed, and a good rose-friendly soil amendment. We highly recommend Back to Nature Blend, a mixture of composted cow manure, cotton burr compost, alfalfa meal, and humic acid. To this mixture, add a quarter cup of magnesium sulfate, half a cup of granulated lime, and 3 cups of Espoma Rose Tone. You now have the best planting medium to give your roses the best start possible.
Own Root vs. Grafted Roses
We carry roses in two categories: own root and grafted. A grafted rose means that a hybrid rose cane has been grafted onto a stronger, more disease-resistant wild rose rootstock. This is very common and should not deter you from buying this type of rose. Own root simply means the rose is grown on its natural root system.
Removing the Rose from Its Container
Do not try to remove your rose from its plastic container by pulling from the top. With younger plants, the root system has not expanded enough to hold all the soil together. Instead, take a sharp pair of scissors and cut the plastic at the side, connecting the drain holes at the bottom. Tilt the pot and remove the bottom. Put a small amount of potting mixture in the hole and, while placing your hand over the bottom of the pot, place the rose in the center of the hole. Cut the plastic pot from top to bottom but do not remove it yet. Fill in the hole around the rose, keeping the soil loose. Once the hole is filled, pull up on the plastic to remove the remainder of the pot without disturbing the soil around the roots.
Your goal is to plant your rose a little higher than the existing grade, with the graft or knuckle at or just above the soil line. Give your rose a good watering and allow the loose soil to compact on its own. Add more of your mixture to fill any voids. If everything went as planned, your rose will be about 1 to 2 inches above grade, with the grade angling up to the plant, not down.
Caring for Your Rose
Roses are prolific bloomers and therefore heavy feeders. For the first growing season, feed with a good well-balanced organic rose food like Espoma Rose Tone. Rose Tone is formulated to promote strong, healthy roots that support the growth above ground and give you the foliage and blooms you want. Once your roses are established, you can feed with synthetic food, but we still recommend adding amendments like those found in Back to Nature Blend to keep the soil and roots healthy. Either way, the number one recommendation for roses is: keep them fed. As always, follow manufacturer’s recommendations on all products.
Insects and Disease
Treat roses for insects and disease early in the spring before new growth begins to show. We recommend Ferti-Lome 2-N-1 Drench, which contains both an insecticide and fungicide to give your roses a fighting chance against the most common threats. The disease we see the most is Black Spot, a fungus that grows on the leaves of roses and, once it starts, is difficult to control. The best way to control black spot is to make sure the rose is planted with good air flow and to start spraying proactively with a systemic fungicide. Staying ahead of insects and fungal diseases will keep your roses looking healthy long into the growing season.
Rose Rosette Disease
Rose Rosette Disease (RRD) has been making an unwelcome appearance in landscapes across the United States. A virus carried by an eriophyid mite, this disease can affect all cultivated roses, including shrubs, hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, and miniatures. Researchers and breeders are working on solutions to combat RRD.
In the meantime, basic planting and pruning habits are the best defense. The number of cases has dropped significantly due to many uncared-for and infected plants being removed and destroyed. If you believe you have a disease on any plant, dip your pruners in bleach or alcohol before making another cut on that plant. We encourage you to carefully cut us a sample or bring us a picture of any concerns you may have.
Pruning Your Roses
Pruning promotes growth. Every cut results in healthy new growth that will eventually bear flowers. Pruning also determines plant shape: every cut causes growth to head in a specific direction. If you want your rose to grow a certain way, you can position cuts to coax growth toward that shape.
Annual pruning helps deter disease. When you remove older or crossing stems in the center of the bush, you make it easier for sunlight and air to reach between branches. Increased airflow and sunlight dry wet leaves more quickly, which helps prevent disease outbreaks. Whether canes are diseased, damaged, or dying, a simple snip eliminates the problem and encourages remaining stems to grow stronger.
What You Need to Prune Roses
For basic pruning on recently planted roses, you only need leather gloves to protect your hands from thorns and a pair of sharp hand pruners (bypass pruners are best). If you have more mature roses, you will also need a pruning saw and loppers. For very thorny canes, look into rose gloves that extend beyond the wrist to protect against scrapes.
Roses are a welcome addition to any landscape. As always, we encourage our customers to call or stop by if they have any questions or concerns. It is a great day here when a customer full of pride brings us a beautiful rose they have grown in their garden.