When to Plant Roses

Bare-root roses: plant while dormant

Bare-root roses are sold leafless, with their roots packed in damp material. They have a narrow planting window: they must be in the ground while still dormant, before the buds break and shoots start (Purdue). The dates for your zone above show the window, from about the average last frost to two weeks after, the cautious end of the range.

Purdue, Iowa State and Oregon State lean earlier: they plant in early spring while the roses are still dormant, which can be a few weeks before the last frost. Purdue mounds soil about 10 inches over the canes after planting to protect them from drying out and from late frosts, and removes it only after the buds swell and frost danger has passed. In practice:

• Zones 3-4: mid-April to early May (Oregon State)
• Zones 5-6: early to mid-April (Oregon State); late March or April in Iowa (Iowa State)
• Zones 7-8: mid-February to March (Oregon State); in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon State calls March ideal
• Florida: December or January (UF/IFAS)

Oregon State waits for soil above about 40°F, the temperature roots need to start growing. UC IPM notes that bare-root roses become harder to establish as days climb above 70°F in late spring; for May or June plantings it suggests misting the canes once or twice a day and mulching around the base.

If your roses arrive before you can plant, keep the roots damp and the plants cool, around 35 to 40°F (Purdue), or heel them into a shallow trench. Don’t leave them out overnight in a freeze: Alabama warns that freezing temperatures plus drying wind are especially deadly to bare roots.

Container roses: spring through early fall

Potted roses have already started growing, so they can be planted throughout the growing season (Purdue, UF/IFAS). Purdue suggests them for gardeners who don’t plant until warm weather arrives. UC IPM prefers current-season stock to plants that have sat in nursery pots for more than a year.

Spring and summer plantings both work. Alabama notes new plantings need more water than established roses, so keep up deep watering at the base through the first summer.

Early fall gives roots time to grow in warm soil before winter. Illinois Extension recommends planting shrubs about six weeks before the first frost and no closer, which is the fall window shown above. In cold climates, Purdue warns that fall-planted roses need good winter protection: after a hard frost, once plants are dormant, mound about 12 inches of soil over the base. Stop fertilizing new and established roses by midsummer, July 15 to 31 in Indiana (Purdue), so growth hardens before frost.

Timing in warm-winter regions

Where frost is rare, rose planting shifts to winter. In Florida, plant dormant bare-root roses in December or January and do the main pruning in January or February (UF/IFAS); container roses can go in at any time. Texas A&M AgriLife notes that February, the usual time to prune roses in Texas, is also a good time to plant container roses. Alabama prunes bush roses when the buds swell after the last frost, with mid-February as a rule of thumb.

Planting time and pruning time

New bare-root roses are pruned at planting: Purdue trims the canes to 12 to 18 inches. Established bush roses are pruned in early spring, when the buds begin to swell, which is also the time to remove winter protection once lows stay above about 20°F (Penn State). See how to grow roses for pruning and care.