Hubby and I finally got off of our lazy asses and started the gardening today. We ripped out a flower bed, put in a new retaining wall, and planted new flowers: roses. I’ve never had roses before. Hubby says he’s heard they’re the most difficult flowers to keep.
Three of them are called “carpet roses” which are small bushes. The other three are “normal” roses. The carpet roses claim to need no pruning or much maintenance. I know the other kind need pruning, but I don’t know how or when, exactly.
Has anyone ever had roses before? How difficult were they? Any recomendations on websites for beginners?
My second question is this: we haven’t planted the other roses yet. They’re still in their plastic pots. We were hoping to do it next weekend, but I’m afraid they’ll die. Can they stay in the pots for another seven days with no harm?
The plants still in pots – make sure you water 'em, they should be fine.
The roses that need pruning – that happens in early spring (March, here in Philly – when you first start seeing the signs of new growth). You’ll do this about the same time you throw a handful of epson salts and two handfuls of rabbit food at the base of each plant. (No, really.)
I’m an old-fashioned girl, so I get most of my gardening info from books. Every gardener needs a copy of The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. She has a whole long section on roses.
As twickster said, Spring pruning is best, and cheap beer. Got that from someone whose Mom had been in the nursery business for over 30 years and it seems to work. Make sure you prepare the soil correctly before planting (check what type of soil you have and add the appropriate fertilizer) and that you’re planting at the correct depth. Don’t overuse mulch around the base of the plants. Make a slight mound of mulch in a larger ring around the base, leaving a bare ring around the base of the plant. Water deeply, especially when the plants are first put in. You want to let the water drip into the ground as opposed to quick watering the surface. That way the roots grow down to get the water and will take better hold. Check for information on the specific type of rose you have.
Roses are quite easy to keep and maintain. Most people think they are difficult but they grow almost like weeds for me. A little care and maintenance is all that’s required and they are quite hardy.
I like to prune them in the late fall because in very cold climates the branches might crack due to freezing in the winter. It’s may be a moot point since you can prune them in the spring anyway but I like the fall. I usually wrap up the pruned bush with straw and burlap to prevent extreme dehydration due to cold winds and very low temps.
Also, rose food from the gardening supply store will usually take care of all nutritional needs. Beer may attract slugs and bugs and the like. You’ll want to avoid that. Aphids are a problem so a week dish soap solution sprayed on the leaves regularly takes care of them. If it’s particularly bad, I get the chemical solution from the gardening supply store.
Exactly where they’d be had you not purchased 'em and where they’ve been for the last several months. Just do as twickster saiys and don’t let them dry out. Keep 'em in sun though as roses need a minimum of 4 hours daily.
Very important for roses and many other plants to keep mulch off their trunk. Otherwise you’re inviting fungus and, quite likely, mortality.
I’ve no experience with the homespun fertilizers mentioned, although at least one of 'ems application might provide some good entertainment. But, if you want flowers, some form of fertilization is a must.
I bought some Miracle Grow for roses when I got the flowers, and also some slug repellant. (We’ve had a problem with slugs. They’ve been eating my green leafy plants.)
The roses also came with a pack of fertilizer to get them started. I poured it in the bottom of the hole before I planted them, and gave each a big drink of water. I’m going to go out this afternoon and give them another.
My house faces north. I’m pretty sure they’ll get about four hours of sunlight, but I’m going to have to watch carefully. If they get less, what will happen?
Four hours of sunlight should do it – you may get less bloom than you would with more light, but they should be okay. I have a couple of bushes under a tree (planted by the previous owners) that are bloom every year – I’ve been in the house 15 years.
Antique roses are the way to go. (That site also has pruning guides online.) Here is an article on using antiques in your garden.
Antiques are mostly just about indestructible. Give them some water and fertilizer to get started, and some sun to make them bloom, and you’re set. They also look good and smell wonderful.
Go here and add your location, and just drop by a specialist to see.
Yes, I don’t know how that rumor got started about roses being difficult to keep. I don’t do anything to mine except prune when they get too tall. They’re fine.
My grandmother had some hedge roses that turned into giant monster plants. They were right next to the road and one day someone slid off the road and into the bushes. And got stuck there.
A few years ago there was a commercial that said it all about roses.
It showed a cartoon rose with a “Southern Belle” accent, saying " I’m hot! I’m cold! I’m hungrrry! I’m thirsssty! Awooo somethin’s bitin’ my leaf!"
It’s really only the overbred, over-refined hybrid teas that get the reputation for being demanding and temperamental. And only some varieties of those. And not at all if you’re not going for flower-show champion-level blooms.
However, that said, non-hybrid-teas really are much less demanding, period. Shrub roses, Flower Carpet, antique roses, English roses are all usually freer-flowering, have a better form for the plant overall, and SMELL BETTER than most of the hybrid teas. The hybrid teas are bred to produce a killer-looking flower. Few breeders care that the plant itself looks like an anorexic triffid or that there’s absolutely no perfume left in the genetic line.
The cultivation shouldn’t be different. You have to decide how you want to train them, though. If you want something that’ll flow down an otherwise boring hill or bank, let them grow wild. If it’s right beside the house and you don’t want to have to fight your way through it to get to the backyard, you’re going to have to put up a (strong) trellis and tie the canes to it. There’s a bit of pruning involved with climbing roses, as well, just to keep them from becoming giant floral bed-heads of medusaic proportions.
Ortho makes a multipurpose rose food with insecticide in it. The plant absorbs the chemical, and any aphid or japanese beetle that bites your rose has had its last meal.
Aphids are black or green bugs about as big as a comma. They suck the juice out of a plant, and the leaves and flowers curl up. They love roses. Aphids are to ants as cows are to humans. The ants store aphid eggs underground, and in the spring, they carry the adult aphids up to the tender branch ends. Aphid poop is a clear sugary liquid called honeydew, and the ants carry it back to the nest as food.
On pruning… The plant’s goal is reproduction, not making lovely flowers for you. If you leave a spent blossom on the stem, the plant will put all its energy into making fat seeds, not new flowers. So, you must nip off the old ones.
When you do that, cut it back to just above the first stem with 5 leaves on it. That’s the node that will give you a new flower.
About winter… Roses came to us from southern China, so our winters can kill them. Some gardeners simply cut the plant back to about 3 inches high. With a lawnmower! :eek: Some park a foam plastic “rose cone” over each plant. I think those will cook the plant on sunny winter days. I prefer to make a little circle of fence around the plant and fill it with tree leaves. It keeps the icy winds from drying out the branches, but keeps it dry enough to fend off rot.
There are volumes of rose lore, if you really want to be a rose wonk, but most of us don’t need all that. I went to a rose show once. They had judges and ribbons in various classes. Those guys are obsessed. I think I mean that in a good way.
Winter protection depends on the type of rose, as well. Teas and hybrid teas need some protection, shrub and such (and especially roses that aren’t root-grafted) don’t need any at all.
I keep trying to give away roses but I get no takers. I have old old old rose bushes that like to spread tiny new rose bushes everywhere their greedy little seeds fall. We pull them out like weeds.
Of course, our soil is nicely acidic and roses just looove that. But I laugh when people say they have trouble keeping roses. Ours are weeds. Spiky weeds!
Thanks. How do you prepare them for winter, can we just prune it way back? It is up against the house and will have some shelter. Are they one of those plants that you prune last year’s growth and leave the new growth for next year?
We are beginning gardeners, this is our first rose attempt. Usually I do best with plants that come back on their own and the most I have to do is cut them down to the ground at the end of the year. I don’t have good luck with plants that need a lot of reassurance or attention. Grow by yourself, damnit! I didn’t even want a rose of any kind because I don’t do well with high-maintenance relationships but my husband has a fondness for them because his beloved grandpa grew them. This thread gives me hope that maybe they aren’t so tempermental after all.
We’re zone 3, and we don’t bother, either. Our roses are like weeds, too - they’re practically taking over our back yard. The key is getting plants hardy for your zone. We could plant finicky plants here, if we wanted to - we just don’t want to.
Other plants that are surpisingly hardy are lilies, too. Don’t be afraid to plant even the most gorgeous, exotic-looking ones. Just check your labels before you buy them - they should specify the zone, the water, the sun, the height and spread, and any special requirements for plants (some like to be deadheaded, some don’t, etc.)
