How to Grow Roses

Choose a rose that fits your climate and your patience

Rose classes differ more in how much work they need than in how they look, so pick the class before the color.

• Hybrid teas are the classic long-stemmed cut-flower rose, 2½ to 6 feet tall, blooming from spring to frost. They need the most care: regular feeding, careful pruning, disease control and, in the North, winter protection. Purdue notes they are not fully hardy in Indiana’s coldest winters without protection.
• Grandifloras (a cross of hybrid teas and floribundas) grow up to 6 feet and carry small clusters of large flowers. ‘Queen Elizabeth’ is the classic example.
• Floribundas bear clusters of smaller flowers, rarely top 4 feet, and, as Alabama Extension puts it, tolerate more neglect than any rose except shrub roses.
• Polyanthas bear large clusters of small flowers and are hardier than hybrid teas (Purdue).
• Miniatures grow 10 to 24 inches tall, are usually on their own roots and suit containers and edging.
• Shrub and landscape roses are the low-maintenance group. UC IPM describes landscape roses bred for disease and insect resistance and light pruning, such as ‘Bonica’, Knock Out, the Drift series, ‘The Fairy’ and the Meidiland roses. Knock Out doesn’t need deadheading to look tidy (Alabama).
• Climbers and ramblers produce long canes that must be tied to a trellis, fence or arbor. Ramblers bloom once on last year’s wood; many climbers repeat.
• Old garden roses are classes that existed before 1867. Many are fragrant, tough and long-lived, and Alabama notes that Noisettes, bred in South Carolina about 200 years ago, have proven themselves in Southern conditions.

Regional picks from extension services:

• Florida: UF/IFAS recommends “Florida-Friendly” roses such as the old garden roses ‘Louis Philippe’, ‘Mutabilis’ and ‘Mrs. B.R. Cant’, plus Knock Out and Drift. Grafted roses there should be on Fortuniana rootstock.
• Texas: Texas A&M AgriLife has named 21 Earth-Kind roses after field trials showed strong pest tolerance and landscape performance with little fertilizer, water or spraying. Alabama lists ‘Carefree Beauty’, ‘Caldwell Pink’ and ‘Cecile Brunner’ among Earth-Kind roses.
• California: UC IPM favors floribundas, polyanthas and landscape roses over hybrid teas for landscape use, because of their heavier bloom and better disease resistance.
• Cold North: Buy roses rated for your zone. Penn State notes a rose bred for zone 4 needs little or no protection in a milder garden, while grafted hybrid teas need winter protection.

Buy healthy stock: plump green canes, no shriveled or discolored wood, no signs of insects or disease. Purdue notes that No. 1 grade plants have more and better-developed roots and canes than No. 1½ or No. 2, usually for little more money. Alabama also advises against waxed canes, which don’t suit Alabama’s heat.

Where to plant roses

Give roses at least six hours of direct sun. Morning sun matters most: it dries dew off the leaves early, and damp leaves breed disease (Purdue). Choose a spot with good air movement, and keep roses away from trees and big shrubs that compete for light, water and nutrients. Purdue sets roses at least 18 to 24 inches from walls (climbers excepted), and suggests using a wall to shelter them from north and west winter winds.

Drainage is non-negotiable; Alabama warns that roses won’t survive wet feet. In heavy clay, Purdue mixes 1 part organic matter with 2 parts soil, or builds a raised bed. Most sources put the ideal pH slightly acid: 6.0 to 6.5 (Purdue) or 6.2 to 6.8 (Oregon State). UC IPM notes many California soils above pH 7.0 still grow roses, with more risk of micronutrient deficiencies above 7.5. Test the soil a few weeks before planting.

Spacing depends on the class. Purdue spaces hybrid teas, grandifloras and polyanthas 24 to 30 inches apart, floribundas 18 to 24, hybrid perpetuals 3 to 5 feet and climbers 8 to 10 feet. Alabama, where disease pressure is high, spaces all roses at least 3 feet apart for air flow.

When to plant

Bare-root roses must go in while dormant, before the buds break. In Iowa that is late March or April. Oregon State gives mid-February to March in zones 7 to 8, early to mid-April in zones 5 to 6 and mid-April to early May in zones 3 to 4, once soil is above about 40°F. UC IPM notes bare-root roses are harder to establish once days rise above 70°F. In Florida, plant them in December or January.

Container roses can be planted any time during the growing season (Purdue, UF/IFAS), and in early fall about six to eight weeks before your first frost so roots settle before winter. Purdue cautions that fall planting in cold climates succeeds only with good winter protection. The dates for your zone above show both windows.

How to plant a bare-root rose

1. Rehydrate. Soak the roots in water for a few hours; Oregon State and Alabama allow up to 24 hours. If you can’t plant right away, keep the roots damp and cool, around 35 to 40°F, or heel the plants into a trench.
2. Trim. Cut off broken or damaged roots and canes. Purdue cuts the tops to 12 to 18 inches.
3. Dig a generous hole, about 12 inches deep and 18 inches wide (Purdue) or 18 to 24 inches across and 18 to 20 inches deep (Oregon State), and build a cone of soil in the center.
4. Set the depth. Spread the roots over the cone. For grafted roses in cold climates, the bud union (the knob where the variety joins the rootstock) goes below ground: 1 to 2 inches in Indiana (Purdue), 2 to 4 inches in Iowa and Oregon State’s zones 3 to 6. In zones 7 and warmer, keep the bud union at soil level (Oregon State). Alabama sets the topmost root just below the surface.
5. Backfill and water. Fill halfway, water to settle the soil, then finish filling. Iowa State backfills with the original soil only, with no amendments in the hole.
6. Mound. Pile loose soil 4 to 10 inches high over the canes to keep them from drying out while the roots start, then wash it away gradually as new shoots appear.

Container roses go in at the depth they grew in the pot, in a hole about twice as wide as the root ball (Iowa State). If roots circle the ball, shave off the outer half inch.

New growth usually shows two to four weeks after planting a bare-root rose, and first flowers come eight to twelve weeks later (Oregon State).

Watering and mulch

Roses use a lot of water. Give them about an inch a week (Alabama) or every 7 to 10 days (Purdue), applied slowly at the base so it soaks 8 to 10 inches deep. Water in the morning and keep the leaves dry; soaker hoses and drip lines are ideal. In California, UC IPM finds twice-weekly irrigation usually enough for landscape roses, and lets about half the available soil moisture be used between waterings. New plantings and roses in summer heat need more.

Mulch 2 to 3 inches (Purdue) or about 3 inches (Alabama) of pine straw, shredded bark or compost, keeping it away from the base of the canes. Roses are shallow-rooted, so cultivate only the surface.

Feeding roses

Base fertilizer on a soil test. Purdue’s routine is a complete fertilizer such as 5-10-5 once new growth is about 6 inches long, at about 3 pounds per 100 square feet or a heaping teaspoon per plant, with a second feeding later if the leaves show deficiency. Alabama notes that nitrogen and potassium are the nutrients most often short in established rose beds, and warns against excess phosphorus. In Florida, UF/IFAS feeds monthly with a rose fertilizer from mid-February through November in North and Central Florida and year-round in South Florida, using smaller doses every two weeks in summer rains.

Stop feeding in midsummer where winters are cold: by July 15 in northern Indiana and July 31 in the south (Purdue), or in August in Pennsylvania (Penn State). Late growth doesn’t harden before frost.

How to prune roses

Prune bush roses (hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas) in early spring when the buds begin to swell. Alabama uses mid-February as a rule of thumb; Florida prunes in January or February, and South Florida may need a second pruning in the year.

1. Remove dead, damaged and diseased canes first. Winter-killed canes are dark, with a brown center.
2. Remove suckers coming from below the bud union; they are rootstock, not your rose.
3. Take out weak, twiggy canes and any that cross or grow into the center.
4. Keep 3 to 5 strong canes (Alabama) or 4 to 8 (Purdue) spaced around the plant like a vase, and shorten them, to 15 to 18 inches for hybrid teas in Alabama. Leave them longer if you want more, smaller flowers.
5. Cut about 1/4 inch above an outward-facing bud, at a 45° angle.

Shrub roses need only a light overall trim in early spring and removal of dead wood. Repeat-blooming climbers need little pruning for the first two or three years; after that, remove the oldest unproductive canes and cut side shoots back to 2 or 3 buds. Ramblers and once-blooming climbers flower on last year’s canes, so prune them right after they bloom (Purdue).

During the season, cut spent flowers or cut roses for the vase just above a leaf with five leaflets. Purdue lets the last flowers of the season form hips, which helps the plant settle into dormancy.

Winter protection in cold climates

In cold-winter areas such as Indiana and Pennsylvania, low temperatures and drying wind can kill canes, and on grafted roses that can mean losing the variety and keeping only the rootstock (Purdue).

1. Keep plants healthy all season and water them well in late fall, after the first frost but before the ground freezes (Penn State).
2. Wait until after several hard freezes, when the plants are fully dormant, then clean up all fallen leaves and debris.
3. Tie the canes loosely together and mound about 12 inches of soil, compost or well-drained mix over the base, taking the soil from elsewhere in the garden rather than from around the roots.
4. Once the mound freezes, add a few inches of leaves, boughs or bark on top.
5. In early spring, once lows no longer dip below about 20°F (Penn State), remove the covering gradually; lower layers may need to thaw first.

Tree (standard) roses carry the graft high on the stem; Purdue loosens the roots on one side, bends the whole plant to the ground and buries it. Penn State wraps the top in bubble wrap and insulates the stem. Containers are easiest moved into an unheated garage or shed.

Roses in containers

Miniature and other compact roses grow well in pots; UF/IFAS suggests rich, well-drained potting mix and a sunny spot for miniatures, which grow 8 to 24 inches tall. In cold climates, move potted roses into an unheated garage or shed for winter, or wrap the pot and mound the base (Penn State).

Common problems

• Black spot: round black spots with fringed edges, often with a yellow halo, and leaves that yellow and drop. It spreads by splashing water and is worst in hot, humid summers, especially in the Southeast. Alabama’s controls: resistant cultivars first, then sanitation. Remove infected leaves on and under the plant all season, replace the mulch under diseased plants, and use fungicides on a regular schedule if needed.
• Powdery mildew: white powder on young leaves, shoots and buds in spring and fall. Frequent rain and temperatures above 80°F suppress it. Give plants sun and air movement.
• Rose rosette disease: red, broom-like clusters of shoots, extremely thorny canes and distorted growth, caused by a virus spread by microscopic wind-blown mites. There is no cure. Alabama advises removing the whole plant, roots included, bagging all debris and not replanting roses in the same spot.
• Aphids: on new buds and shoots in spring and fall. A strong spray of water knocks many off (Purdue).
• Spider mites: yellow stippled leaves and fine webbing in hot, dry weather. Spray insecticidal soap under the leaves in the cool of the day (Alabama).
• Thrips: brown-flecked petals and buds that don’t open; remove old blossoms.
• Japanese beetles: hand-pick them (Purdue).
• Few flowers: check for less than six hours of sun, and for once-blooming climbers or ramblers pruned in spring, which removes the canes that would have flowered.

A bit of rose history

Penn State notes fossil evidence of roses dating back 30 million years, and that the Chinese began cultivating them more than 2,500 years ago. Most modern roses descend from eight European and Asian species, and in 1986 Congress named the rose the national floral emblem of the United States (Purdue). The famous hybrid tea ‘Peace’ was bred by the French Meilland nursery in the late 1930s, and cuttings were shipped out of France before the country was occupied (Alabama).