Planting, Fertilization, & Watering

Greenhouse Garden Center’s roses were planted bareroot this spring, and until they are fully rooted out should be planted with special care so that the new roots are not damaged and your roses do not suffer transplant shock. After digging your planting hole, mix the soil you removed with about ½ as much compost or Rose Planting Mix. Back fill the hole with the compost and soil moisture so that the surface of the soil in the pot will be at the same level as the surrounding soil. Watering the soil gently will eliminate any air pockets. Water with a dilution of Master Nursery RootMaster B1 to help your plant become established more quickly. Regular watering and fertilization is essential to the healthy growth of your roses. Consider using Bayer Systemic Rose & Flower or Dr Earth Rose & Flower Fertilizer to both fertilize and protect your plants from insect damage. You may need to water your roses daily if the temperatures are over 85° and the wind is blowing—for the first week only. Roses respond well to watering every three days or less once they become established.

Pests & Diseases
Spider mites are minute reddish insects prevalent in hot, dry weather. Infected plants look yellow, dry, and dusty. Leaves become mottled on top then yellow, curl up, and fall off. Undersides of leaves may be covered in fine webs. Spray dormant oil just before leaf budbreak to kill overwintering eggs. Apply a summer horticultural oil or stronger miticide to kill adults.

Signs of sucking thrips include brown streaks and spots on petals, distorted blossoms, bud failure, and white, withered leaves. Remove infected plant parts. Apply foliar insecticide or a systemic poison.
Aphids congregate and feed on new shoots, leaves, and flower buds, deforming plant parts. Knock off adults with blasts of water from the hose or spray plants with insecticidal soap and summer horticultural oil. Dormant oil in late winter or early spring will kill the overwintering eggs.
Borers tunnel into canes and twigs, causing internal damage. Infected canes turn brown, wilt, and die back. Prune infected canes back to areas of healthy growth and burn the cuttings. Seal cuts with Doc Farwell’s Seal & Heal.

Leaf-cutter bees make regular circular cuts in leaf margins as the collect nesting material. These are beneficial pollinators and should be tolerated.
Black spot, a waterborne fungus, infects leaves during warm, humid weather. Small black spots appear on the leaves, which become encircled with yellow rings. Leaves yellow and drop off, defoliating the entire plant. Leave plenty of space between plants and avoid overhead watering. Remove infected leaves and discard them. Spray with fungicide.
Powdery mildew forms a grayish white powder on leaves and may stunt growth of young canes and interfere with flower development. Give plants good ventilation. Treat with fungicide.

Pruning
Pruning should be done while plants are dormant. We recommend April 15th. First, thin the plant—remove weak, crowded, crossing or malformed branches to let light and air into the plant. Then shorten the plant by not more than two-thirds of new growth. Don’t prune climbers—thin them. After pruning, seal freshly cut ends of canes with Doc Farwell’s Seal & Heal to prevent borers. Always use sharp shears and cut at an angle a short distance above a bud. The plant will send out new growth from that bud, and the direction the bud faces will determine the direction the new branch takes. Deadhead (removal of spent flowers) throughout the season to encourage rebloom.

Classification of Roses

Climbing: Roses with long arching canes (to 14’), suitable for training on low fences or trellises.
English: A new class of roses in which the repeat blooming habits of modern roses are combined with the form and fragrance of old garden roses.
Floribunda: Medium sized flowers mostly borne in cluster, often more compact in habit, medium length stems.
Grandiflora: Large flowers borne in clusters, usually taller in habit, individual stems within each cluster are suitable for cutting.
Groundcover Rose: A rose with a prostrate habit that can be used for bedding.
Hybrid Musk: A modern class of roses with an old-fashioned look. Their long, arching canes can be trained as shrubs or climbers
Hybrid Rugosa: Exceptionally hardy, vigorous, usually upright compact plants. Most are recurrent bloomers.
Hybrid Tea: Large flowers generally borne one per stem, medium to tall in habit, with long cutting stems.
Miniature: Small flowered roses with proportionately smaller foliage, often very compact in habit. Stems are also shorter but still suitable for cutting.
Patio Rose: A miniature tree rose of 18” to 24” in height.
Polyantha: Polyanthas present their delicate flowers in sprays well above their foliage.
Rambler: A climbing rose, that presents clusters of small blooms on long, slender canes.
Shrub: Any rose that presents its blooms close to the foliage and is well suited for unattended use in the landscape, usually good disease resistance and hardiness. Most are grown on their own root.
Once-blooming: A rose that has one annual bloom over an extended period in late spring or early summer. Most species and many old garden roses are once-blooming. Most modern roses are not.