Growing Roses

Sooner or later, everyone who has a garden thinks about growing roses. In general, roses outperform most garden plants in the number of flowers they produce, the length of blooming season, and, given winter protection, their life expectancy.

Location

The ideal location is probably a gentle slope to the south or west, sunny, well drained, and protected from strong winds.

Avoid areas close to trees or shrubs which will deplete the soil of moisture and nutrients.

Six hours a day of sunshine is a reasonable minimum although some light shade may reduce fading of blooms. Air circulation cuts down on disease. Roses lend themselves to their own beds, perhaps with a walk or stepping stones for access.

Soil

Broken-up clay provides some of the best roses, but it must be well drained. A determined gardener can modify both heavy and light soils by digging in quantities of organic matter such as decayed barnyard manure, rotted leaves or peat moss.

If a plant is being replaced in the rose bed, try to change the soil with that from another part of the garden. Remember that the previous plant may have exhausted the trace elements in the soil that roses prefer. It will be some time before the new rose bush will develop a far searching new root system.

Types of Roses

Roses are classified on the basis of their characteristics.

Hybrid Teas are the perfectly formed rose that is pictured as the true queen of flowers. They are tall plants usually with one flower to each branch. Floribundas have flowers carried in clusters and are particularly useful in adding a splash of colour to the garden. Grandifloras are a blend between the hybrid teas and the floribundas. Climbing roses are useful in providing height to the back of a border. Shrub roses provide protection for a property and are known for their hardiness. Miniature roses are ideal for planters and small areas, having the charm of the little.

Choosing and Planting

Early spring is the best time to plant. Growers dig and package the plants when they go dormant in the fall. Cold storage holds them until ready for shipment to the retailers for spring sale.

Most plants are packed in plastic bags with sphagnum moss or sawdust chips around the roots. Try to choose plants with buds just starting to break. Avoid those with long shoots of new growth or plenty of opening leaves. These will have a set back when planted, either from late frosts on the new shoots or from the disturbed root system. Container grown plants may have a lot of new growth and can be planted at any time if the growth has been under normal outdoor temperatures.

Plant so that the bud union (the knuckle like knot of wood on the main stem) is at least an inch below the soil surface. If the roots seem dry, soak them in muddy water for a few hours before planting. General instructions are usually on the package or available from your supplier. For container grown roses, slit the side and remove the bottom of the container. Try not to disturb the root ball.

Some roses carry the designation "AARS" on their labels. This is an "All-America Rose Selection". Candidates for this award are tested outdoors for two years at testing stations throughout North America and judged on vigour, hardiness, disease resistance, foliage, flower production, flower form, opening and final colour, fragrance, stem and overall value. Only top-scoring roses are designated for the award. Some years two or three new varieties receive the award and some years there may be none considered worthy.

Water

Rose plants need water during the growing season. Unless nature has provided rain, water deeply every week or ten days.

It is an advantage not to wet the leaves because moisture encourages the spread of leafborne disease. Use a soaker hose with the holes down or a water breaker on the end of the hose (available at your garden centre). Water until the absorption rate at the surface slows down noticeably.

Mulch

By all means, use a mulch to deter weeds and keep the soil as much as IOQ to 20Q F cooler in hot weather. Peat moss, bark, peanut shells, wood chips and weed-free manure are all good. A dust mulch also helps; that is, use a dutch hoe to scrape up the surface. Do not dig deeply during the growing season.

Fertilizer

This should be done in the Spring and again after the June growth is finishing. Your local garden centre will have fertilizer formulated specially for roses. Check the instructions on the bag or package for quantity. Late feedings, say in August or September, will promote fall growth when the plant should be maturing for winter protection. Thus, late applications of fertilizer should be generally avoided.

Pest Control

Well fed and watered plants resist attack. Keep the flower beds clean of fallen leaves and petals. The key is regular attention. Don't wait until the plants are covered with insects or fungi to start a program of control.

All purpose insecticides/fungicides are available at your garden centre for either dust or spray application. It is best to dust in the early morning when the dew is on the plant or to spray before 10:00 am and the heat of the day.

I prefer to use a compressed air sprayer on a selective basis:

- Cygon for aphids

- Sevin for leaf hoppers and/or caterpillars - Benlate for mildew, and

- Zineb or Funginex for black spot.

Be careful, you are handling poisons.

Cutting Flowers

There are right and wrong ways to cut roses because cutting determines future growth patterns. Sharp, clean scissors or shears are a must. Gloves an option.

Notice that the blooming stalk has small branches with five leaves on them (this is really a single compound leaf) as well as three leaf and single leaflets closer to the bloom itself. The five leaf branch is the one most likely to cover an "eye" or "bud" mature enough to grow into a strong flower bearing stem.

Cut 1/4" above the highest five leaflet pointing outward from the plant to direct plant energy to that particular bud.

If you cut too long a stalk, you remove foliage and may delay or slow main season growth. After mid-Season, enjoy a longer stem. Let the last blooms produce seeds as this signals the plant to settle into protective dormancy as colder weather approaches.

If you wish to disbud for larger blooms, do so when the side flower buds are very small to eliminate unsightly stubs. Suckers, that is, the fast growing new stalks from below the bud union or graft should be removed flush to the root stalk.

Winter Protection

The area around the graft or bud union of a tender rose bush must be kept at a uniform low temperature until spring. Mid-winter growth will cause tissue damage. The temperature several inches below the soil surface may be below freezing but it is nowhere as low as the damaging surface temperatures reached during the winter season.

The usual care is to carry soil from another part of the garden to mound up the plant to a height of eight to ten inches. Rose collars are available to help hold the soil in place.

I have been successful with the use of styrofoam rose collars. The bottom is cut from the bucket and it is invened over the plant (which has been pruned to fit into the bucket). Peat moss is added to insulate the plant and a stone is used to hold down the replaced bottom of the bucket, keeping the insulation fairly dry. The peat moss is dug into the soil in the spring.

Climbing roses should be laid flat on the ground and covered with boards or straw. They should not be pruned as they bloom on the previous year's canes.

The covering should be removed when the frost has left the ground in the spring, that is, when a shovel can be forced into the ground to a depth of about eight inches.

The best protection of all is a good early snow cover which lasts until spring has arrived.

However, as you become addicted to growing roses, you accept some winter losses as an excuse to purchase the new varieties which come on the market each year.

J. J. Sanders

Please contact the OHS or the author if you wish to republish these articles. © Ottawa Horticultural Society

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