There are many – at least 20! – categories and subcategories of Roses! Read more to learn about what kinds you will be able to at our garden center this year and/or in the future.
¾ of roses on the market are grafted. This is because roses on their own can’t achieve the assortment of colors, bloom size, petal count, cold hardiness, or other traits that can be achieved by grafting. Grafting for roses is taking the roots from one and the cane from another and joining them together. When pruning, NEVER cut below this. Otherwise your rose bush will grow into the rootstock plant, not what you purchased!
Hybrid Tea
First introduced in 1867, these roses have 1 large bloom at the end of each cane (stem). Generally, these roses will be between 3-6 fee tall and not be found in blue or black. Tea roses bloom several times from early summer through fall.
Floribunda
Cross between Polyantha Rose and Hybrid Tea Rose. Flowers resemble hybrid tea roses, in clusters of vibrant colors. The plants themselves are stocky, rigid, and cold hardy. Reblooming is encouraged by cutting off spent flowers. Most varieties bloom throughout the growing season.
Grandiflora
These roses are a cross of Hybrid Tea roses and Floribunda roses. Sometimes you will find that the tags say Hybrid Tea/Grandiflora. That’s because some varieties are Hybrid Teas, others Grandifloras. With the flowers resembling each other so closely they are grouped together. This type was first introduced in 1954 with the Queen Elizabeth. They also bloom continuously all season.
Climbing
Require a sturdy trellis, arbor or pergola to keep their canes upright. Manually tying them to the structure for the first year or two will help get them established and keep them from falling off. The canes grow upright to a height of 12-16 feet, however the plant doesn’t send out tendrils to help grasp onto anything. Flowers tend to be large, and can be found in single or double form. They are continual bloomers. Keep your plant pruned to prevent accumulating dead wood in the center.
Rugosa
Extremely cold hardy. Native to Siberia, Northern Japan, China and Korea. The flowers are very fragrant, yet tend to be small and single in shades or pink or red. Their natural habit is sprawling and rangy, reaching 6 feet in height and width, with now particular shape. However, with tissue culture we now have new varieties that are more compact – 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide.
CARING FOR ROSES
Oftentimes we here others complain about roses. “They are hard to take care of”, “They have this…….” “They have that…” Well with a little know how you will be prepared for your “Little Bundle of Joy”!
1) First, make sure that you will be planting a rose in full sun – at least 8 hrs!
Any less and you are asking for headaches. Will it grow, yes. However; you are asking for mildew, less blooms, aphids will become your new best friends, and get to know black spot, along with other fungal diseases!
2) Make sure where you are going to plant the rose has good air flow and good drainage.
It shouldn’t be windy. But you don’t want a spot that’s all crammed together. A rose needs about 12” of open space around it. If you ever have gone to any historical rose gardens, you’ll see roses are the only thing in them. With lots of room around them. Why you may have wondered? See number one. Roses need deep watering quite frequently. However, if those roots are sitting in water they will rot. Also too much water creates a breeding environment for fungal diseases. (see number 1)
3) Picking out your lovely.
You get to the garden center all excited and overwhelmed. Color is everywhere, you see roses, but you don’t smell them. UGH …what happened… Do you go home? You are so disappointed! Don’t cry! Through the last 150 yrs of rose grafting we have lost the scent. Yes some varieties have a little. Here’s a trick. If scent is more important to you than anything. Come in when the store first opens. The flowers have the strongest scent when they first open and the air is calm. From 8-9am on a calm morning you can smell roses everywhere.
4) Getting to the heart.
So now you have decided on the variety. How do you pick out “The ONE”? First look for the overall shape that fits into the space its going into. Sometimes you might want a flat sided plant if its going against a fence. Remember, you will cut back the length of those canes, so don’t be concerned with the top ½. Worry about the bottom 1/3. This is the important “Heart” of any plant. If this isn’t healthy when you buy it, the plant will die before next Spring. Sooner if you aren’t able to baby it. You are looking for thick foliage, thick canes, no mildew, rot, or dead stems. There also shouldn’t be any bug infestations. Yes, you will find bees, flies, some aphids in the case of roses, or even a even Japanese beetles. None of these will kill your plant if found in small numbers. However, if it looks like your plant could crawl home on its own. Move on to the another.
5) Planting.
When digging the hole dig as deep as the pot and twice as wide. You can add composted manure at this point or compost to amend to your soil. Mix thoroughly equal parts compost and soil, set aside. Place rose in the hole so that the graft is roughly 1” below the soil line. Refill the hole with soil mix. Sprinkle bone meal across the area. This encourages root growth which is what’s important first for any newly planted rose.
*Don’t trample the soil after planting! You are working out the air from the ground which is necessary for root growth. Now you just made concrete!
6) Watering.
Roses are deep water drinkers and high nitrogen feeders. Two important terms. Deep water drinkers need a hose turned on and let run for about 5 min when watered. Roses should NEVER be watered on the leaves!! (see number 1) High nitrogen is the first number on fertilizer. It should be at least 20! You can give your roses coffee grounds. Spread them around the base. Fertilize every time you water! How often should you water? Look at the plant. What is it saying? Is it perky? Leave it alone. Is it droopy? Run the hose. IF it’s 90 degrees for 30 days straight, run the hose for 30 days straight.
