Roses Tips
Read these 74 Roses Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about English Garden tips and hundreds of other topics.
Soil Preparation For A New Rose Bed.
Rose bed preparation is very important as the bushes can live for 30 years or more.
All types of soil are greatly improved by the addition of organic matter
Well rotted horse manure is the best or garden compost.
If you live near stables,often the owners are only to glad to sell you horse manure and usually deliver.
The manure/ compost must be dug into the soil.
The best way to do this is to spread a 4" layer on the soil surface.Take out a trench the width of the plot and a spade depths deep.
take the soil out of this trench and barrow it to the other end of the plot.
Now, scrape some of the manure/ compost into the base of the trench and turn the soil over to cover it.Repeat this till you get to the other side of the plot, where you should be left with an open trench.This is where you dump the soil that you took out of the first trench.
Make sure that you remove any weed roots as you are digging.
This seems like an awful lot of bother, but remember that your roses could live to be 30, so it is well worth the effort.
Leave the plot for a few weeks to settle before you start to plant.
when you come to be planting your roses, take out a hole wide and deep enough to take all the roots and add a slow release fertilizer,such as osmocote or bone meal to the soil mound , mixing in well, before covering the roots.Firm down the soil all around the bushes using the heel of your boot.
Leaf Hoppers
Mature foliage takes on a mottled appearance - masses of white spots. Turning a leaf over reveals fairly large fast moving , slim, greenish white flies.
The damage is very unsightly and the rose can lose vigour.
Spray bushes with systemic insecticide during April, early May and mid June
Will They Grow In Pots?
The smaller growing English Roses look perfect in larger patio pots. Use a container at least 2 ft wide and deep for best results.
Roses For The Small Garden Or Container.
There are many suitable dwarf and patio roses that grow to about 2 feet tall and remain compact their entire life.
Some of the best are:
Lili Marlene - crimson.
Princess of Wales - white.
Sweet Dream - apricot.
Bright Smile - yellow.
Marlena - scarlet.
Queen mother - pale pink.
Regensburg - Pink and white , handpainted type.
Sweet Magic - peach.
Trumpeter- vermillion.
Piccolo- orange/red.
Spreading the Infection.
It is a well-known fact that wet summers are vintage years for rose diseases. Spores in water spread many fungal rose diseases. Don't imitate the perfect conditions for the spread of fungal diseases by watering your roses overhead. If you need to water, keep the foliage dry and water the soil only.
Dead Wood.
Dead wood is easy to identify in roses : It is light brown in colour , whereas living wood comes in various shades of green. Whichever pruning method you use, dead wood should always be removed
When To Prune: Frost Free Areas.
In the warmer southern regions of the United States, where harsh frosts are rare, Fall pruning is the norm. This gives the roses a rest, mimicking what occurs naturally in the north.
How To treat rose Rust disease.
If only a few leaves are infected, pick them off and as a precaution spray with a systemic fungicide.
If the disease is already advanced when you discover it, spray the bushes fortnightly until the symptoms subside.Make sure you remove and if possible burn any fallen leaves as they are a possible source of infection.
Home Drying Roses.
Here's a very simple old fashioned way of drying roses that works very well.
Choose blooms that are partly opened and cut them when the petals are dry,(wet petals can go mouldy).
Take a biscuit tin and place a couple of inches of oven-dried sand in the bottom .
Place the flowerheads on the sand , close but not touching.
Carefully cover them with more sand and if you like add another layer of rose heads.Repeat as before.Replace the tin lid and seal with sticky tape. place in a warm room .
After four weeks the process is complete and you can carefully remove the sand.
Push florist wire into the base of the dried blooms and arrange as you wish.
English Roses: An Introduction.
English roses are a relatively new type of shrub rose.The main breeder of this class of rose is David Austin who's name is now synonymouswith English roses
English Roses are the result of cross breeding old fashioned Rose types ,such as Teas, noisettes and chinas amongst others,with modern floribunda and hybrid tea roses.
The resulting hybrids combine the wonderful shapes and perfumes of the old fashioned roses with the vigour, health and repeat flowering qualities of the modern roses.
Many old types were once flowering in mid summer, the English roses flower in flushes from June till the frosts.
When To Spray Pesticides.
Choose a calm, overcast and dry day or wait till evening . Never spray during bright sunshine as this will result in severe scorching of the foliage.
Purple And Lilac Shades.
Unusual shades that are not found in many modern roses.
"Charles Rennie Mackintosh": An exquisite silvery lilac, with a strong deep fragrance. 3.5 ft tall.
"The Prince": One of the deepest crimson of all roses, that fades to a deep velvety purple. As one would expect from a rose of this shade, the perfume is rich and strong.
Rose Pink.
Shades of pink that contrast well with other roses and look particlarly attractive when planted alongside herbaceous salvias or underplanted with violas and Campanula carpatica.
"Brother Cadfael": Beautifully formed peony-like blooms in a shade reminisent of the floribunda "Queen Elizabeth." Richly fragrant and 4 ft tall.
"Mary Rose": An older variety but one of the best. Beautifully informal loose petals that flutter in the breeze. A gorgeous old-fashioned scent on one of the first and last bloomers.
The variety started my love affair with the English rose. 4 ft tall.
"Gertrude Jekyll": When I first grew this warm pink variety, I was amazed that such large blooms could develop from such small buds.The perfume is absolutely gorgeous. Apparently this is not just my opinion as this variety is now being grown to produce rose essence, a fact that only confirms the quality of the fragrance. 5 ft tall.
"Redoute": A natural sport of "Mary Rose"and similar in every respect, except colour,which is a softer, more delicate pink
An Introduction.
Roses are to a greater or lesser extent susceptible to a range of pests and diseases. It is a fact of life that if you grow roses, you must spray to keep them pest and disease free.
How to Treat Rose Powdery Mildew.
How to Treat Rose Powdery Mildew.
Make sure your roses never go short of water and start spraying as soon as the foliage first appears in the spring.
Use a systemic fungicide recommended for use on roses.
Apply as soon as the leaves have appeared in the spring and again during early May and again during early June.
If the symptoms appear later in the summer, spray fortnightly till symptoms abate.
Yellow H.Ts
There is something truly magical about yellow hybrid teas. Here are some of the best of both old and modern yellows.
Grandpa Dickson (Irish Gold) :
This rose has stood the test of time and was introduced in 1966. The exquisite palest lemon blooms sometimes have a tinge of pink in cool weather. Rain resistance is very good for such a light colour. Growth is upright , foliage glossy dark green and reasonably healthy. Scent is however faint at best.3- 4 ft tall.
Peace:
Another oldie pale primrose pink edged blooms of enormous proportions. Introduced to a waiting world after the second world war.Lately I have found Peace to be loosing it's reputation for good health. A tall six footer with a slight fragrance.
Freedom:
A lovely pure deep yellow. Flowers are medium sized but a big plus is the fragrance. A strong bushy grower with healthy, glossy, dark green foliage. One of the best for bedding. Introduced 1984. 3ft tall.
Peaudouce(Elina):
Perfect large sweet smelling blooms of primrose/ ivory Very healthy. 3-4ft tall.
Pot O' Gold :
Healthy bushy growth . Blooms are antique gold and strongly perfumed. 3-4ft tall. Introduced 1985.
Poetry In Motion:
Creamy gold is an apt description for this near perfect rose. Large strongly scented blooms atop healthy abundant deep green foliage. A new star introduced in 1997 . 3-4ft tall.
Single And Semi-Double Forms.
A few English Roses are single or semi double flowered, opening wide to show their stamens.
The growth pattern is similar to the more popular double bloomers.
The flowers are very natural and delicate looking and fans of species Roses will find these particularly attractive.
Amongst the best are:
"Ann": A broad, robust bush of 3 ft tall. Deep pink semi- double blooms.
"Morning Mist": A tall bush,(5 ft), studded with dainty, salmon pink, single blooms with a yellow centre.
"The Herbalist":Cerise pink semi-double blooms on a bushy shrub, 3ft tall.
Why Prune At All?
Unlike trees, Roses do not develop a permanent framework. Individual stems go into decline and naturally die after several years.
A mature rose bush will have stems of varying ages, and dead wood. Left alone roses become leggy, tangled and choked with dead wood. This leads to lack of vigour and reduced flowering.
How to Identify Rose Blackspot.
How to Identify Rose Blackspot.
Rose Blackspot starts at the base of the bush. The first signs are yellowing of the leaves and the appearance of the tell-tale black spots. They are large, a definite black and have a fringed edge.
As the disease progresses all of the leaves become infected, turn yellow and fall prematurely.
Rose blackspot can appear at any time and is encouraged by warm, wet weather and a close atmosphere.
Survival of the Fittest.
A rule of nature is survival of the fittest. In the rose world, well-fed and watered plants are better able to repel attack by pests and diseases. How often have you seen a spindly, neglected rose covered in mildew or defoliated by blackspot.
A rule of thumb is to make sure that your roses never want for food or water.
Pretty Pastel Pink H.T Roses.
Pale coloured roses can often look the worse for wear after a summer rain storm.Here is my selection of varieties that do well here in the wet west.
Commonwealth Glory:
I did worry that the extremely large palest ivory blush blooms would be destroyed by rain in my garden . Summer 2000 was a wet one and my fears dissappeared as this exquisite new variety laughed at the rain. A well balanced bush and quite short at 21/2 ft tall. Introduced 1999. A special note is the strong fruit-like fragrance.
Elizabeth Harkness:
Palest ivory with blush pink shadings. Amongst the first to bloom , Elizabeth Harkness in a good year has the most perfectly formed blooms . Not a lover of the rain and I find blackspot becoming a real menace. Sweet perfume. 3-4ft tall. Introduced 1969.
Renaissance:
Another new star! The flowers are not overly packed with petals, but perhaps this is why it stands the rain so well.The shade is pearly pink andfragrance is strong and sweet sweet. 3-4ft tall. Introduced 1994.
Admiral Rodney:
From my exhibiting days.The large palest mauve pink blooms are beautifully formed and exceptionally large and strongly perfumed. Grow this one for exhibiting or cutting only as the lanky bushes are not free- flowering . No major health problems. 4 ft tall.Introduced 1973.
New Zealand:
A stunner! Giant blush pink blooms with a strong sweet perfume. Healthy growth 4 ft. Introduced 1991.
The Best Garden Rose Type For Display
The floribunda type of Rose has small to medium sized blooms in large clusters. They are a relatively modern type of rose, unheard of 100 years ago, and were originally the result of crossing hybrid teas and polyantha roses.
Flowers can be single, semi double or fully double. Traditionally the individual blooms were neither as shapely nor as well formed as the hybrid tea type.
Modern floribundas are well shaped and cluster flowered.
Moderate Pruning.
The main stems are cut back by about half their height to an outward facing bud. Any thin growth can be cut back harder and all diseased, crossing and dead wood totally removed.
Generally agreed to be the best method for all established floribundas and hybrid tea bush and standard roses. This method gives good quality blooms and lots of them. If you grow roses mainly for the garden display and the odd vase full, this is the method for you!
Spray Flowered English Roses.
These are perfect for the mixed border due to their short stature and masses of miniature blooms. Large clusters of small flowers cover the bush.
Good sorts are:
"Anne Boleyn": Tiny yellow blooms on a healthy shrub that grows to 3 ft.
"Francine Austin": Small, white, pompon blooms, that are reminiscent of the old polyantha roses. 3 ft tall .
"Mistress Quickly": Beautiful small lilac-pink blooms on an upright shrub. 3ft tall
Where To Plant English Roses.
English Roses have a very informal look , that fits into many styles of garden. The height range varies from bushy gems of 2.5ft to giants of 7 ft plus.
There can be varience in some varieties, which will grow taller in warm climates.
Rose Types That You Don't Deadhead.
Roses that should not be dead headed are any grown specifically for their ornamental rose hips such as Rosa moyesii,Rosa rugosa plus any old fashoined rose that flowers only once.
For example, Rosa gallica "Versicolor" or Rosa mundi flowers in early summer only so removal of the rose hips will not encourage further flushes of bloom.
A Modern Rose For Old-Fashion Appeal
The new 2002 Star® Romantica® Rose, Rouge Royale is the perfect addition to your English Garden. With its rich burgandy to raspberry color and fantastic citrus and berry scent, this is one rose you must consider.
The Rose In Miniature.
Miniatures.
True miniatures are perfect scaled down versions of their larger cousins, the hybrid teas and floribundas.
Most modern miniature roses fit this description as they have tiny leaves, buds and flowers on a low growing plant.
Some older types have the scaled down leaves and flowers but are just as tall as their larger cousins.
General Uses:
(1) Small formal flower beds.
(2) Edging Beds of larger roses.
(3) Rock Gardens.
(4) Patio Pots
(5) Growing Indoors.
Pale, Blush Pink.
The delicate charm and subtlety of colour of these types blend well with other plants of a cottage garden nature. Some of the best are:
"A Shropshire Lad": Large, sweet smelling blooms of palest apricot pink on a very robust shrub.Plant towards the back of a mixed border, alongside baby- blue delphiniums for a stunning effect. 5 ft plus tall.
"Eglantyne": An excellent garden rose. Large, sweetly scented, palest shell- pink blooms.
one of the very best of all English Roses. 4 ft tall.
"Sharifa Asma": Blush pink, shading to white on the outer petals. Fruity fragrance. 3 ft tall.
Summer Pruning : The Correct Way to Deadhead Roses.
Removing the faded blooms on roses is not just for cosmetic purposes,it actively encourages more flowers.
Any plants main aim in life is to reproduce itself and Roses especially , if allowed to set seed will stop flowering.
Cut off the forming seeds,(The rose hips ), and the plant will try again to flower and set seed.
It is not enough to simply pull the rose hip off. As the dormant shoot buds are located where the leaves join to the stem, this is where you should cut.You will notice that the first few leaves, below the faded bloom are in threes, follow the stem down to the first set of five or more leaves.
Using a pair of sharp secatauers, make a cut just above this leaf sloping away from it.
Cluster flowered floribunda roses are slightly different in that you must cut off the entire faded cluster of blooms.
How often should you do it? As often as you need to.Check over the roses once or twice weekly.
Climbing Roses For A North Wall.
A north wall is not the first choice for growing climbing roses , but there are a few very robust types that generally grow and flower well in such an aspect. Some of the best are:
Maigold : BronzeYellow ht. 7ft
Danse de feu: Orange/ Red 6ft.
Leverkusen: Golden yellow. 8ft.
Albertine: Pale pink.15ft
Guinee: Deep crimson. 15ft.
Morning Jewel : Deep pink.7ft.
Pink Perpetue: Rose pink.8ft.
American Pillar: Pink/ white eye single.15ft.
Alberic Barbier: Cream ht. 15ft
Bantry Bay: Pink.9ft.
When To Prune: Areas Which Experience Frost.
A controversial topic for Rose growers! Keen Rose exhibitors here in the UK, swear by hard autumn pruning(ie cut down to 6 inches from the base). In harsh winters, the risk is that you will lose bushes to frost.
This has been a moderately hard winter and my own roses , (which were cut by one third during November), are showing six inches of dead wood from the tips of the stems down, due to frost. Had I hard pruned in Autumn, I would be now be worried that I had lost them completely.
Prune your roses anytime between early March and early April. The exact time for your region is when the dormant buds begin to grow.
Moving A Rose To a New Location.
Moving house and can't bear to leave that anniversary rose behind? Here's how.
To prepare the bush for moving, make sure the soil is not dry,
if it is pour on a couple of gallons of water.
Next, cut all the stems back about half way.This reduces the
risk of your rose dehydrating and also makes it stable until it
has re-established.
To minimise root damage,use a spade, rather than a fork.
Make a vertical slit about 1 foot all round the rose, then gently
lever it out of the ground.
Trim back any damaged and overly long roots and wrap the
rootball in polythene.
Replant as soon as you can. Dig out a new hole big enough for
you to spread out the roots and deep enough,that you can
plant the bush to the level of the old soil mark on the stem.
It's a good idea to scatter a little bonemeal or osmocote
fertilizer on the spoil heap , mix it through then refill the hole
Tread well all round the bush , using the heel of your boot and
water in well.
Try not to replant the rose in a place in the new garden that
has had roses in it before.
Training and Pruning.
This type must be pruned immediatly after the petals fall,and consists of cutting out all stems that have bloomed. New growth at this time must be tied down onto a circular wire framework,(not unlike an upside-down hanging basket) and will bloom the following summer.
Why Cut Out Crossing Stems?
Textbooks always mention the removal of crossing rose stems at pruning time.
The reason for this is simple: wind action causes the stems to rub against each other, which causes a weakness.
The stems may grow and flower, but the weight of flowers and foliage in high summer, coupled with a sudden rainstorm can cause these weakened stems to snap where they have been rubbing. A heartbreak for any rose grower.
To avoid this problem, simply cut out one of the crossing stems.
Cheap And Cheerful Prepack Roses.
Roses sold bare root in those brightly colored pre-packs can be a cheap way of starting a rose garden, indeed many a rose lover began rose growing this way.
Many are of a lesser quality, often two stemmers and the varieties too are normally not the newest.By all means buy some , but follow the following tips for maximum success.
(1) Buy then as soon as they appear in the store.
(2) Reject any that have shrivelled bark.
(3) Reject those showing premature shoot growth i.e. Long thin forced white/ pink growths from the main stems.
(4) Have a good rumble about the store display to make sure that you pick the best.
(5) Choose bushes with at least two strong shoots.
(6) Soak the roots overnight before you plant.
Safety First.
Before you apply any garden chemical,always read the manufacturers label before using the chemical. Stick to the recommended application rate and never add extra chemical "For luck" Always handle and apply chemicals wearing rubber gloves. Always store chemicals in a secure place out of the reach of children and in their original containers
Light Pruning.
Dead, diseased and crossing wood is removed and the rest of the branches just have the tips removed.
This is the way to prune established miniature and patio roses. It is often easier to use scissors for this as these rose-types have very thin growth.
Light pruning is sometimes used for established roses grown in sandy soils or in polluted regions.
Ordinary bush roses pruned in this way will be the first to flower, however they will be of poor quality and all at the top of lanky bushes.
Once Flowering Types.
A few varieties of English Rose are once flowered. This is a characteristic of the old rose parents. Once /summer flowering English Roses give a mass of colourful blooms during late june/ Early July with no further repeats.
Are they worth growing? Some people are "put off" by growing once flowered roses of any description as the display lasts for four or five weeks. If you think of them as large shrubs, the length of display is the same as , for example, Magnolias.
The three once flowered English Roses are:
"Chianti": Beautiful, large, deep crimson, highly perfumed blooms fading to maroon. The plant is 5 ft tall.
"Constance Spry" : The first English Rose.Enormous clear pink myrrh-scented blooms on a very large bush: 6/7 ft tall.
"Shropshire Lass" : An hybrid of the old Alba groupof roses. Pearl-pink fading to white, with a boss of yellow stamens. A very large shrub/ climber growing to 8 ft tall.
Resistance to Disease.
Rose breeders are striving to introduce vigorous, disease resistant varieties and it is true to say that most modern bush roses are fairly disease resistant.
Varieties described as disease resistant usually remain clear of disease, however, all roses will be liable for attack when the conditions for the fungus are perfect or where they are growing near an less resistant rose variety.
Another problem is that resistance to disease often deteriorates with time. A good example is the luminous orange hybrid tea “Superstar” (Syn “Tropicana”). When introduced during the 1950s it was resistant to all the common rose diseases, nowadays it is extremely difficult to grow well as it is prone to all the diseases.
Different strains of fungi develop over a number of years and the result is resistance is lost.
English Roses As Climbers.
A few of the more robust English Roses, when planted against a wall, can be trained as climbers.
They will grow , in cool regions, to about 8 ft tall. In warm areas they can make about 10- 12 ft.
Some of the best are:
"Graham Thomas": The well known yellow award winner, which looks stunning as a climber, particularly against a dark coloured wall.
"Constance Spry": One of the very best and quite tall at 12 ft. In early July, when in full bloom it is a sight to behold. It is once blooming, but to continue the display try growing a late flowering clematis through it. Large peony shaped pink blooms.
"Snow Goose". A healthy climber, with a multitude of small white blooms in flushes all summer.
Which are the best English Roses?
How too Identify Powdery Mildew Of Roses
Mildew is a fungal disease that quite often attacks the youngest growth and flowerbuds before spreading to all the other leaves and stems.
It is thought that mildew is encouraged by dryness at the roots and that is why climbing and rambling Roses are often the first to be infected.
The characteristics of the disease are distorted shoot-tips and more conclusively a white powdery deposit on the foliage, flowerbuds and stems.
In severe cases the rose may look like a grey folige shrub.
The Lowest Growing Miniature Roses.
The true miniature rose should be in proportion: Tiny flowers , leaves , stems and a short bushy growing habit,ideally 12" or less. Some of the older varieties, such as "Baby Masquerade" can grow to 18" , those grown on a rootstock ,(as they invariably are in theUK), are much taller than those on their own roots, (The norm in the US).
Some short varieties are listed below.All are 15" or less.
"Apricot Summer".
"Bush Baby": Salmon pink.
"Claire Raynor": Orange striped yellow.
"Little Artist" : Deep red and white, hand painted type.
"Orange Sunblaze".
Rose links
Autumn/Fall Pruning.
If your roses are growing in an exposed position,it pays to reduce their overall height to prevent wind
breaking the stems and even more crucially wind rock.
During late fall, simply prune your roses down by one third ,not to any specific point on the stem or using any fancy angled cuts.
Wind rock is potentially fatal as, the rocking motion slackens the bushes, water gathers round the base, the water freezes and kills the bush.
Good Rose Fungicides.
The following fungicides are excellent and will control Blackspot, Mildew and Rust.
Roseclear2, Murphy's Tumbleblight, Bio Longlast.
If you cannot easily get hold of these products in your region, look for a Systemic fungicide suitable for roses.
Traditional Methods.
Pruning bush roses has over many years been simplified to three types.
(1) Hard Pruning.
(2) Moderate Pruning
(3) Light Pruning.
Of these , moderate pruning is recommended for most established bush roses.
The Perfect Cut.
When pruning roses by traditional methods, always make a sloping cut a quarter inch above an outward facing bud. The slope should be away from the bud and not towards.
The purpose of cutting to an outward bud is to encourage the developing shoot to grow outwards and not into the centre of the plant.
The sloping cut ensures that rainwater rolls off. Rainwater lying on a cut stem can cause it to rot.
The Tools For The Job.
Buy good quality anvil rose shears/secateurs. The best type are those by Felco: My own pair of Felco no 5 have lasted 23 years and prune hundreds of roses, not to mention shrubs every year. Felcos are expensive, but you get what you pay for!
Long handled loppers/pruners can be useful for particularly thick branches and tough dead wood.
Striped Hybrid Teas.
Striped hybrid teas are beautiful, but not popular. The three best are:
(1) Harry Wheatcroft : A sport of the popular bicolor rose Piccadilly. Bright yellow stripes on a reddish orange base. 2.5 ft tall Unfortunately prone to blackspot and blooms are only slightly scented.
(2) Candy Stripe: A sport of "Pink Peace." Large deep pink blooms with faint thin pale pink stripes.Increasingly hard to find. 4 ft tall. Blooms have a medium perfume.
Shades of Red.
The red shades of English roses are generally deep, rich and subtle. Missing are the garish orangy reds of some red hybrid tea roses, which can be hard to place in the garden. The red English roses vere more towards the crimson and purple shades of the old Centifolia and Gallica roses.
Amongst the best are:
"The Dark Lady": Lovely dark crimson. Fragrance is described as light old rose. 3 ft tall.
"L.d. Braithwaite": Startling bright crimson, that mixes well with other colours. The Old rose perfume develops as the bloom ages. 4ft tall.
"Sophy's Rose" Light red , rosette-shaped tea scented blooms. 4ft tall.
"William Shakespeare 2000": A marvelous new crimson fading to rich purple. Highly scented and resistant to disease. 3ft tall.
"Tess of the D'urbervilles": Fragrant, Cup shaped light crimson blooms. The flower heads hang very like many old roses. 3ft tall.
Rose Slugworm
Another form of sawfly. The larvae eat the underside surface of the leaves giving them a see through appearance. Severe attacks cause premature leaf fall and generally weaken the bush.
Destroy the tiny green caterpillar-like larvae. Spray with a systemic pesticide for severe outbreaks.
Red / Yellow Bicolour H.T.s.
Not everyone's "cup of tea," but I find bicolour roses to be showstoppers that I would not be without.
Piccadilly: Bright scarlet suffused with orange and gold. Always the first rose to bloom with me. Blackspot can be a problem and there is little perfume. 2.5ft tall. Introduced 1959.
Champion: Primrose yelow flushed pink. The blooms are enormous, well shaped and strongly perfumed. A rose of the 1980's that is now becoming prone to blackspot. 2.5ft tall.
The Whites.
Amongst the most beautiful, the following are the best white English Roses:
"Glamis Castle": Pure white flowers in abundance. The silk- ike blooms are amongst the first and last to appear and look authentically old. The perfume is sweet and myrrh-like. Recovers well from wet periods in summer. 3 ft tall.
"Winchester Cathedral": A naturally occuring sport, (or mutant), of that lovely, healthy pink "Mary Rose." All the excellent qualities are there, but the colour is creamy white. 4 f t tall.
Bare- Root Versus Container Grown Roses.
Bare-root.
Most experts will agree that bare root roses bought from a reputable Rose specialist nursery are best. You get the best choice of Rose types, new varieties, rarities and novelties from specialist growers selling bare root.The plants generally establish better too.
Bare-root roses can only be planted when they are dormant usually November until March.
Container Grown
In theory, container grown roses can be planted at any time of the year,including when they are in bloom.
The choice of varieties available increases yearly ,but does not match the extensive range of varieties available bare-root.
It is fair to say that if you are planting between late fall and early spring, go for bare-root roses. Mid Spring to mid fall , container roses are best .
How to Apply Pesticides
Use a sprayer fitted with a fine nozzle. Spray the both sides of the foliage and the stems.
Make sure you apply evenly to the entire plant and spray till the chemical starts to run off the foliage.
Try to make up just enough dilute chemical for your needs. Never store diluted chemicals for later use, use them on the day you mix them.
Easy Care Pruning.
Within the last decade the controversial "Easy Care Pruning" technique has had a lot of press.
The idea is to forget all the textbook methods of pruning bush roses and simply cut the bushes down to half their height using electric hedge shears. No attention is paid to removing dead wood, weak shoots and the cuts are not necessarily in the "right" place.
I have spoken to several Rose companies and even the Royal National Rose Society. All have held trials and universally the results are that this method is at least equal in merit to the traditional methods.
With this in mind I have trialled the technique over a range of hybrid teas, floribundas, patio roses , miniature and new English.
As a control, adjacent bushes of the same varieties were pruned using the laborious traditional
moderate pruning technique.
Without exception, the roses trimmed with hedge shears flowered at least a week earlier, flower and flower size unaffected.
Another major plus is speed. Pruning using electric hedgeshears is at least 10 times faster!
It just goes to prove that you never stop learning.
I wonder what the Victorian and Edwardian would have made of this new innovation?
How to Identify Rose Rust.
How to Identify Rose Rust.
Rose rust is a fungal disease that rapidly causes early defoliation of the plants and sometimes results in the death of the plant.
As the environment becomes cleaner , Rose rust is becoming much more common.
The first signs of the disease are yellow mottling of the lower leaves. On turning a few of the leaves over the bright orange pustules of the fungus can easily be seen.
It is imperative that you treat your roses before these pustules turn black as this is when they are ripe and can spread to neighbouring bushes.
Aphids(Greenfly) How to Identify
Aphids can be pink, black or brown as well as the more well known green.They damage the plant by sucking the sap causing the plant to become weakened. Aphids are also well known
virus carriers and attract ants which farm them for the honeydew they excrete.
Greenfies tend to attack young shoots, leaves and flowerbuds, often congregating on the undersides of the leaves.
Greenfly multiply rapidly and the shoot tips become distorted, the entire plant quickly becomes disfigured by dead greenflies and their sticky excreta.
The Rose Hedge.
There are many suitable types of roses for this purpose.
Tall Hedges :6ft plus.
Plant in a single line, 2.5ft-3ft apart. Some good sorts are;
Rosa rugosa "Scabrosa" : Large magenta single blooms followed by large tomato shaped hips.
Rosa "Chinatown" Yellow fading to cream.
Rosa "Queen Elizabeth" rose pink.
Rosa "Canary Bird" Single , yellow blooms and ferny foliage.
Rosa "Mountbatten" Yellow.
Rosa "Joseph's Coat" : Multi coloured.
Medium Hedge: up to 5ft. Plant two lines, staggered at 18 inches between plants and rows.
Rosa "Iceberg": White.
Rosa "Pink Parfait".: Pale pink.
Rosa "Marjory Fair": Deep pink/white eye single.
Rosa "Ballerina":Appleblossom pink/white eye single.
Rosa "Alexander" : Bright vermillion orange
Rosa "Rob Roy": Deep Red.
Rosa "Southampton" : Apricot.
How to treat Rose Blackspot
Treatment consists of spraying the bushes with a SYSTEMIC fungicide as soon as there are enough leaves to spray . Spray again in early May and again in early Early June as a preventative measure.
If the disease appears later in the summer spray at fortnightly intervals.
The Flowering Fountain
Weeping standards are ramblers grafted onto a tall straight stem . The site of a well grown weeping standard as the centrepiece of a circular rose bed or on it's own as a specimen plant in a lawn is a joy to behold.
The drawback is that most rambler varieties are once blooming so there is no repeat show.
Premier Choice For Pots
A recent introduction , patio roses are really what was once known as dwarf floribundas. Many excellent new varieties are introduced every year.
The premier choice for filling patio containers edging beds of larger roses or for filling small beds.
Big Floribundas
Grandifloras or, to use their once cumbersome , floribundas-H T type, are really floribundas that have clusters of large blooms.
In general the term grandiflora is dying out as most modern floribundas are now fairly large flowering in their own right.
Good Husbandry.
The common Rose diseases; blackspot, mildew and rust overwinter as spores in leaf litter around the base of the bush and also on the branches. Always remove fallen leaves and never leave rose prunings lying around. Such debris would re-infect healthy growth in the spring.
It is also a good idea to remove any old foliage that remains on the bushes during the spring prune.
Leaf Rolling Sawfly
The adult sawfly lays it's eggs on rose leaflets.Very cleverly, it injects a poison into the leaflets causing them to roll up tightly lengthways, thus protecting the eggs and subsequent larvae from attack by predators.
The bush can become weakened during severe attacks.
Picking off and destroying affected leaves during minor attacks is an effective control.
Always remove fallen leaves and spray with a systemic incecticide at fortnightly intervas to control
Repeat Flowering.
The vast majority of English Roses are repeat flowering, which means that you will get three or four flushes of bloom per year plus a few flowers in between. Some varieties , such as the excellent white "Glamis Castle", are rarely out of bloom , during the season.
A Parent Of The Floribundas
Polyantha or polyantha pom- pon roses were the premier cluster- flowered roses of the first half of the twentieth century. They had large clusters of very small blooms and went out of fashion due to the popularity of the floribunda Roses.
They were crossed with hybrid teas to produce the floribundas that superseded them. Their main drawback was that the first blooms did not open till July.
Some of the more compact polyanthas have had a renaissance in recent years as patio roses.
Hard Pruning.
This consists of cutting all the stems down to between four and six inches from the base of the plant, just above a healthy, outward facing bud. All dead, diseased or crossing wood is removed.
Recommended for:
(1) All newly planted, (ie bushes that you have planted over the fall-early spring period), bush roses, except miniatures and patio roses.This encourages the bushes to develop a good , strong root system and aids establishment.
(2) Established Hybrid Teas, where you are growing them for exhibition purposes only.
This produces the largest and best quality blooms. The bushes will bloom later, however and the quantity of blooms is greatly reduced.
(3) As a way of rejuvenating old neglected bushes. Imagine moving to a house where the roses tired lanky specimens, full of dead wood!
Variegated Foliage.
There is a very aptly named rose called "Curiosity". It is a sport of the red and old gold ancient hybrid tea "Cleopatra."
The striking feature is the foliage: Deep red striped pink when young, deep glossy green striped cream when mature.
A fairly healthy rose, growing to around 3 ft. Blooms are faintly scented.
The Tools For The Job.
Buy good quality anvil rose shears/secateurs. The best type are those by Felco: My own pair of Felco no 5 have lasted 23 years and prune hundreds of roses, not to mention shrubs every year. Felcos are expensive, but you get what you pay for!
Long handled loppers/pruners can be useful for particularly thick branches and tough dead wood.
Too Tall For My Garden?
Most English roses are in the 4 ft tall and wide height group, but even the tallest do not look out of place in the small garden. Plant at the back of the border, perhaps against a wall or a fence.
A tall English Rose variety planted in a corner of a small garden can look stunning and in proportion.
Tall types have another advantage the blooms are at nose height.
The Perfect Rose.
Hybrid teas are most peoples' idea of the perfect Rose.They have the perfect scrolled Rose buds and large open blooms.
Flowers are held singly or in small clusters. The colour range is extensive and covers every colour and shade from white through to deepest purple. True Black and blue are the only colours missing, so far. The blooms may be single coloured, bi coloured, striped or colour blends.
Hybrid teas flower generally in distinct flushes, so there will be periods where bushes are without blooms.
The main uses are for:
(1) Formal Rose Beds
(2) Cut flowers.
(3) Exhibition.
The "Good Old Days?"
I recently discovered an old book from the Edwardian Era, entitled "Handbook On Pruning Roses" by the then National Rose Society, (Before the "Royal"was added).
The book is very informative, listing all the popular roses of the day and an astounding 39 methods of rose pruning!
Naturally this gem of a book was aimed at the English Gentry who employed many gardeners .
It is little wonder that a great mystique has surrounded the pruning of roses and exists to this day.
Roses On A Leg.
Standard or tree roses are bush rose varieties grafted onto the top of a straight stem of a species Rose such as Rosa rugosa.
The idea is to bring the Rose blooms up to nose level and to add height to the Rose bed.
Hybrid teas , floribundas, patios and miniature Rose varieties are the most popular to be found as standards.
Species roses and New English types are also available as standards.
Roses grown this way look perfect in formal rose beds. Patio and miniature standards look wonderful in tubs and containers on the patio.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Carma Spence-Pothitt |
