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Tips on Growing Roses (for the 'Newbie')

by LeAnn R Ralph

I certainly cannot claim to be an expert on roses -- and I cannot claim to have a green thumb -- but I've got a couple of rose bushes that have been growing in my yard for quite a few years. And here's what I have learned about roses and how I take care of mine:

1. I have discovered that the inexpensive rose bushes you can buy at Wal-Mart or K-Mart
or other discount stores (for $2.59 or $3.59 each) do just as well if not better than the
more expensive roses you can buy at a greenhouse. I've had one particular rose bush for nine years now. It was a "Wal-mart special," and each year, it grows bigger and taller and has more blooms. It starts getting flowers in the middle of the summer, and then it blooms again in
September.

2. Other types of roses, depending upon where you live, will do quite well also. I have a
couple of rosa rugosa (the "old-fashioned" ones with the single row of petals in the
flowers). These are growing in what is essentially sand, and every year they spread out
more and get more vermillion-colored blooms.

3. I have also transplanted wild rose bushes that I found growing in the ditches around
my house. Wild rose bushes require virtually no care at all. A couple of them have been
growing in my flower beds for almost 30 years. One of the things I like about the wild
rose bushes and the rosa rugosa is that they spread out on their own. I have
transplanted wild rose bushes early in the spring and also during the summer. They don't
seem to care when they are transplanted. As is true of transplanting any plant, be sure
to water regularly after you have moved the plant to your yard.

4. Rose bushes of any kind are voracious feeders. They absolutely love fertilizer. I have a
horse, so I put "horse manure tea" on my rose bushes (1/3 of a five-gallon pail of fresh
manure; fill with water and dump around the base of the plants). I fertilize my rose
bushes three times during the season--in the spring, in early summer and in mid-summer.
Commercial rose bush fertilizers also are available. Follow the directions on the
label. The wild rose bushes and rosa rugosa don't necessarily need fertilizer, but they
love it when they get it.

5. Roses want plenty of sun, 6 or 8 hours a day. The rosa rugosa will tolerate a
certain amount of shade. The wild rose bushes will tolerate more shade than either of
the other two.

6. Roses need plenty of water, especially in drought conditions. The rosa rugosa
and wild roses will tolerate a certain amount of drought, but as is true of all plants, they
do better when they get enough water. If it doesn't rain, be sure to water your rose
bushes several times a week.

7. Roses do not want to be crowded by other roses or by other plants. One of my
rose bushes wasn't doing as well one year. It shares a flower bed with a variety of irises
(the rose bush is on the end). The irises had grown and spread so much that they were
crowding the rose bush and growing all around it. I dug out the irises right next to the
rose bush (and planted them elsewhere), and once it wasn't crowded, it started doing
much better. The next year, it was back to its former glory. My wild rose bushes, and
the rosa rugosa to some extent, don't care if they are crowded.

8. If you live where it gets very cold in the winter, as it does here in Wisconsin (sometimes 35 degrees below zero with windchills around 40 to 60 degrees below zero), be sure to cover your rose bushes in the fall. I trim my rose bushes back so there's only about a third of the plant left. Then I use hay to cover the bushes (about a half a bale of hay each). You can also buy those rose cones to cover your rose bushes. One of my roses that is doing the best is by the basement wall where it is somewhat protected from the weather. I do not cover the rosa rugosa or the wild rose bushes. They do fine without being covered. I also do not trim the rosa rugosa or the wild rose bushes.

9. In the spring when there is no longer any danger of below zero air temperatures (or
windchills), I uncover my roses. Then I keep my fingers crossed that they made it
through another winter. One year, my absolutely favorite rose (it had yellow/pink/cream
colored flowers), winter killed. I was certain I had done something wrong and hadn't
covered it well enough, but then the host of a local garden show on television said that
many people in the area had lost different types of plants over the winter because we'd
had a particularly harsh winter. So, sometimes in spite of your best efforts, you're going
to lose a rose bush.

10. Miniature roses are another alternative. I have one miniature rose bush that I bought four years ago. I planted it in a large clay pot. When all danger of frost is past in the spring, I set the pot out in the backyard where it will get plenty of sun. I water it regularly and fertilize it several times during the summer. The miniature rose bush blooms profusely and is covered with tiny pink blossoms that are positively adorable.

In the fall, before the first frost, I move the pot into our walkout basement and set it by the south window. The reason I don't bring it upstairs is because my kitty cats would more than likely chew it to pieces. They love to chew on plants. If you don't have cats, or if your cats don't chew on plants, you could, of course, set the rose bush by a window in your living room or another room where there is plenty of light (a southern exposure in the winter would probably work best).

Over the winter, I water the miniature rose bush when the soil becomes dry to the touch. In the spring, I cut the rose bush back by about a third, and then I set it out in the backyard again, where once it again, it blooms profusely with a multitude of tiny pink blossoms.

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