Roses 101: They Are Easier to Grow Than You Might Think

Posted on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 · Leave a Comment 

I love roses, but avoided planting any for a long time. They had a reputation for being fussy. I thought they would attract Japanese beetles, and carry black spot and other diseases. In recent years I have been enjoying growing roses and find that modern breeders have come up with many fine roses that are easy to grow, and not fussy.

 

At Last is a re-blooming hybrid developed by Proven Winners. It’s a Zone 5 plant that I’ve had for 4 years in Zone 4

So what have I learned? First, roses love full sun, but will grow in part shade. But the more sun they get, the better they do. Six hours of sunshine is considered full sun by most authorities. Afternoon sun is more potent than morning sun, so the west side of the house is better than the east.

 

Second, roses need good, rich soil. If you have sandy soil or a heavy clay, you will need to improve it in order to succeed. What does that mean?  Dig a hole that is at least 3 times as wide as the pot it was in when you purchased it. If your rose came in an 8-inch pot, a 24-inch hole should be the minimum you dig.

 

The late Mike Lowe, a rosarian who grew 2,000 kinds of roses in Nashua, NH, told me to dig a hole 36 inches wide and 24 inches deep – if possible. If you have heavy clay, he said, put a couple of inches of pea stone in the bottom of the hole for drainage. The fill it with an equal mix of topsoil and compost.

 

When planting a tree, it is important to dig a hole shallow enough so that the tree does not get its trunk flare buried. The trunk flare is the portion of the tree that was above ground when it was growing before it was potted up for sale. Often that trunk flare is covered with soil when you buy it, and needs to be exposed.

 

 Not so, for roses.

 

This old fashioned fragrant rose blooms but once but it is lovely

Many roses are grafted onto rootstock. The bud union – a scar – should be buried in the soil. The colder the climate, the deeper that graft line or bud union should be. For Zone 4, it should be about 4 inches below the final soil line. Zone 5? 3 inches. Zone 6? 2 inches.

 

Third, roses like soil that is just slightly acidic – pH 6.0 to 6.8. If you have acidic soil, say somewhere in the 5.0 to 6.0 range, you should add limestone to bring up the soil pH and make it less acidic. Mike Lowe suggested burying a 3-inch square of gypsum wallboard directly below each rose to provide limestone over the long haul. I’m not sure just how effective that is.  

 

Don’t know your soil pH? You can get an inexpensive pH testing kit at your local garden center. Or you can send a sample to your State University Extension Service.

 

Roses need more water than most other things, but do not want to sit in soggy soil. They should get an inch of water per week from rain, or a couple of watering cans of water applied slowly so it can soak in. A deep watering once a week is better than a little sprinkle every day.

 

I called Mike and Angie Chute of East Providence, Rhode Island to pick their brains about roses. They have been growing roses for 25 years, and are the authors of Roses for New England: A Guide to Sustainable Rose Gardening. They are well known speakers at the spring flower shows. Their web site is www.rosesolutions.net , and it’s worth visiting.

 

I asked them what they thought of the new roses that have been developed in the last 25 years, and how they rate them against the old heritage roses. Mike explained that the trademarked “Knock Out” roses have become immensely popular. I have some, and agree that they are wonderful. They bloom most of the summer and well into the fall, seem to get no diseases and do not attract pests.

 

This Knockout rose blooms all summer

On the other hand, most of the Knock Out roses have no fragrance, and do not have the long stems that lovers want to present to their sweeties. Mike and Angie grow them, along with 150 other kinds of roses, and said that the “Easy Elegance” series of roses is at least as good, and maybe better.

 

Want more blossoms? Mike said that roses do better if they get some fertilizer a few times during the course of the summer. They use chemical fertilizer, a 10-10-10 for a “kick in the pants”, and mulch with chopped seaweed. They like an organic, slow-release bagged fertilizer called Rose Tone, and sometimes use liquid fish and seaweed fertilizers made by Neptune’s Harvest.

 

My roses grow in good soil, and I have been neglectful of them – I rarely fertilize. But I understand that a dose of liquid fish and seaweed fertilizer 2 or 3 times in the summer might help. I’ll do it this weekend.

 

Want to learn more?  The Chute’s book, mentioned above, is excellent, and worth reading. I also like one published by Rodale Press in 2002, Growing Roses Organically: Your Guide to Creating an Easy-Care Garden Full of Fragrance and Beauty by Barbara Wilde. It has a half-page description with a photo of each of 100 roses that will do well with organic care.

 

June is over, but roses are not. Now days, many roses will re-bloom every 45 days or so, and some bloom almost constantly. Just be sure to cut off spent blossoms, and down to another shoot with 5 leaves or more.

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books and is a veteran of the UNH Master Gardener program. His email is henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Filed under Article · Tagged with At Last Hybrid Rose, knockout roses, planting roses

Growing Roses

Before we launch into this week’s article…

Gardening Classes with Henry

 Lebanon College: Gardening: A Practical Workshop. Garden writer Henry Homeyer will teach you the basics of organic vegetable and flower gardening. From garden design to seed-starting , planting, watering, weeding, mulching, and harvesting, this course will give each student practical knowledge of gardening. Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30 for 5 weeks, April 3-May 2.Contact Lebanon College to reserve a spot for this5-part workshop www.lebanoncollege.edu or call 603-448-2445.

 AVA Gallery, Lebanon.  Henry will teach 3 classes at AVA Gallery this spring. You may sign up for one or all of these workshops:

Sculpting the Living Landscape: Starting Flowers from Seed
April 9; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class

Sculpting the Living Landscape: Perfect Perennials for the Upper Valley Garden
April 23; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class

Sculpting the Living Landscape: Organic Techniques for Enriching Soil and Managing Pests
May 7; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class

For more information go to www.avagallery.org or call 603-448-3117.

Growing Roses

          When I read a new gardening book I generally read it with a pen in hand. If I see something of special interest, I make a check mark in the margin. If I read something I agree with, and want to pass on to others, I underline.                                                                           

William Baffin: Zone 2/3 8 Ft. Climber

When I learn something important, I make a star in the margin. I recently finished reading – and marking up – Roses for New England: A Guide to Sustainable Rose Gardening by Mike and Angelina Chute of East Providence, R.I. The whole book is marked up and has several stars. If you’ve been leery of growing roses, this book de-mystifies the process and gives you all the information you need to succeed.

          March may seem like a funny time for reading about roses, but it makes sense to me: we have time to read now, before the gardening season begins. And if you want to order special roses, it takes some time make and receive an order. Bare root roses need to be planted while dormant – and while available. The Chutes recommend planting bare root roses in April or October.

          The book describes 6 easy steps to success:

1.     Select good plants. They have 150 suggestions for roses that are winter hardy and disease resistant. Steer clear of roses that have spots, blemishes or disease. Don’t buy a potted rose with wrinkled canes – it’s dehydrated. 

2.     Start with good soil. Test the pH: it should be between 6 and 6.8. Add lots of organic matter into a large planting

Nearly Wild: Zone 4/5, 3 Ft. Tall

hole, and some limestone if needed.

3.     Plant in a sunny location. Six hours of sunshine is needed for lots of blossoms.

4.     Provide plenty of water. Water deeply, up to 5 gallons per week in hot times. Do not get the leaves wet.

5.     Fertilize 3 or 4 times in the course of a summer. They use a combination of 10-10-10 and slow-release organic fertilizers, and sometimes give liquid fish fertilizers as a supplement to get more blossoms. As an organic gardener, I do little fertilizing and still do fine – my soil is good.

6.     Manage pests and diseases by “maintaining strong, healthy roses right from the start… Healthy plants have tougher immune systems”.

Although the authors recognize that some gardeners will want to use chemicals, they use no chemicals for insects, and rarely for fungus. A stiff stream of water from the hose will wash off aphids and spider mites, they explain, and hand picking beetles is better than spraying. If you spray for insects, the beneficial insects are killed along with the pest insects.

Chute's Garden

If you purchase bare root roses, you may be troubled by the question of how deep to plant them (I know I have been, at times). We’ve all learned not to bury the trunk flare (the natural base) of a tree or shrub, but roses are not the same. Looking at a bare root rose, you can see where it has been grafted onto a rootstock, which is called the bud union. That union should be 2-4 inches below the final grade of the soil. The colder the climate, the deeper the roots. I plant 4 inches deep for Zone 4.

Pruning roses is another problem area for many gardeners, but one easily and simply explained in Roses for New England. Mike and Angelina explain that some roses only bloom once a year, while others bloom repeatedly. For one-time bloomers, prune after blooming. For the others, you should prune early in spring, and then after each flush of blossoms.

Knockout Bed: Zone 4/5, 5 Ft. Tall

Pruning is important for rose health, too. To prevent fungal diseases, prune to open up the bush and allow good air circulation. You can direct growth by pruning just above a bud that is pointing away from the center of the bush, instead of one pointing in towards it.

I was fascinated to read (stars in the margin of my book) that the Chutes know how to prune repeat-blooming roses to get a flush of blooms on a certain date. Each rose has a certain time interval between bloom cycles. Cutting off all spent blossoms (and pruning back the canes) after a first blooming will stimulate a second set of blossoms. The more petals, the longer the period.

The simplest floribunda roses take just 40 days to re-bloom, while  heavily petaled hybrid tea roses can take 55 days. Learn the intervals on your roses, and you can have them bloom for your August tea party. The average time for

Brite Eyes Bush

re-blooming roses is 50 days. Of course, 2 weeks of cold rain can upset that schedule.

I like that this book explains that you don’t need a hazmat suit to protect yourself from all the chemicals that were used in the past. Buy roses that are disease resistant, plant them well, and they will resist most diseases – and make you swoon. To learn more about roses, go to the authors’ Web site, www.rosesolutions.net. You can order your own copy of the book there, too.

Henry’s WEB EXTRAS:

Julia Child: Zone 6, 4 Ft. Tall

All The Rage: Zone 4, 3-4 Ft. Tall

Heritage: Zone 5, 4 Ft. Tall

Brite Eyes: Zone 5, 6-8 Ft. Tall

Copyright © 2014 Henry Homeyer

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