Questions About Rose Care

Basic information on rose planting and care is provided here.

Your package should contain a paper with instructions on how to care for your new roses. Unpack the plant immediately and water thoroughly. Remove any damaged stems and foliage. Place the plant in a shady to partly shady location for at least 3-4 days before moving into full sun. If the weather is warm, water the plant each morning to prevent it from drying out. We recommend that the plants be potted up into 1 gallon pots and grown on before placing in the garden. Keep well-watered and use liquid fertilizer at half strength.

Horticultural zones are determined by the USDA and can be found by looking at a zone map.

Spring and fall are the best times to plant roses in warm climates. Container roses can also be planted in summer so long as the roots are not disturbed when planting and the plant is kept well-watered until it has adjusted. In cold climates, spring and summer planting are best and give the plant time to adjust before a harsh winter.

Deadheading is the process of removing spent blooms and preventing the development of seeds. This conserves the plant's energy, promotes faster rebloom, and in generally improves the appearance of the plant. Hybrid tea and many floribunda roses will perform much better if deadheading is done. However, deadheading is a choice and does not affect the overall health of the plant. In fall, leaving spent blooms to form attractive hips for winter is desirable for many varieties of roses.

Choose a schedule and method that fits your lifestyle and stick with it because roses really do like fertilizer. For young roses, use only organic, slow-release, or liquid fertilizers. For mature roses planted in the ground, granular fertilizers can be used as well. A simple and easy system is to use a slow-release fertilizer in early spring when the roses start to grow leaves, them reapply as directed, stopping a minimum of 2 months before the first frost. In addition to this, add an organic amendment to the soil in winter or early spring. Refer to our fertilizer chart for more information.

Ideally, roses should have several inches of water 1 to 2 times a week, either from rain or a sprinkler or irrigation system.

Roses need 4-6 hours of full sun to perform well. Less than that, i.e., shade, and they may not bloom well or at all.

The most common reasons are lack of sun (roses require full direct sun for a minimum of 4-6 hours each day), lack of water, or lack of nutrients. A rose in poor health for these or other reasons may also fail to bloom.

Blackspot, powdery mildew, rust, virus, and botrytis blight. Refer to our diseases page for more information on these and other diseases.

Aphids, thrips, leafhoppers, leaf-cutter bees, etc. Refer to our pests page for more information on these and other pests.

Spraying is done for two reasons. First, to control diseases like fungus and mildew; second, to control destructive insects. If your roses tend to develop diseases or have serious insect problems, then yes, you should spray them. However, many people do grow roses successfully without spraying. I believe that roses can be grown in the garden without insecticides quite well, and that spraying should be done only in severe infestations. Remember, insecticides kill beneficial insects too, and so should be used sparingly. If you decide that a weekly fungicide spray program is not for you, then be sure to choose roses that are naturally resistant to the primary diseases in your area, plant in full sun, keep the foliage dry when possible, and allow good air flow between bushes.

Insecticides should be used only when needed, and applied as directed. Only used insecticides forumulated especially for roses. Fungicides come in two basic kinds - contact and systemic. Contact fungicides sit on top of the leaves and systemic are absorbed into the leaves and/or stems. First you must determine what rose disease you have. Most fungicides are prevetatives, which means you must spray them regularly (weekly or biweekly) to avoid disease. Blackspot is the most common rose disease, and it is a good idea to choose two fungicides and spray them alternately to avoid the fungus developing a tolerance for any one product. Mancozeb and manzate are the only products that kill blackspot spores, and they may added to another contact or systemic fungicide when spraying. If you have only a few roses, you can buy fungicides in ready-to-go spray bottles and any garden center. Or you can buy a concentrate and mix it in a hand-pump gallon or two-gallon sprayer. For people with many roses, there are battery-operated sprayers available. Whenever you spray, wear protective gear to spray (long pants and sleeves, safety goggles, and a respirator) as directed by the product. Refer to our Fungicide Spray Chart for more information.