Rose Gardening Basics
by Mike Chute (From May 2001 issue of Rhode Island Rose Review)

Many home gardeners feel that roses require special expertise and that you need to be a mystic or an alchemist to successfully grow backyard roses. Not so. Most rose failures can be traced back to basic mistakes that are preventable once you know what they are. Roses have fundamental requirements and by following these six basic steps, success-ful rose gardening is not only possible, but also easy, enjoyable, and highly satisfying. 1. Buy Good Plants. Buy roses from highly regarded local sources that specialize in roses and other plants. These nurseries and garden centers are in the plant business and sell quality roses. They will render advice on plant care and will be able to assist you if there is a problem. Roses from these sources are usually graded “number 1,” which is the highest grade in their industry, and come from reputable growers. Plan to spend more on these plants but their size and overall quality more than off set the difference in price. It is true that cheaper roses are available in discount stores, but they are smaller and generally receive no care once they are placed on the sales table. You will find yourself spending the first season nursing an inferior plant along and at the end of the summer, when all is said and done, you have gained nothing. Superior roses are available by mail order, also. The RI Rose Review published a list of mail order sources in the February 2001 issue. Buying mail order greatly increases your choices and the plants arrive in excellent condition ready for planting. 2. Start with Good Soil. Everything begins with the soil. The native soil in Rhode Island is “sandy loam” which is almost perfect for roses. Sandy loam drains very well but doesn’t have enough of the organics that roses need to be ideal soil. This is not a problem; we can build our own by simply adding organics. These amendments are necessary, not so much for nutrition, but for soil conditioning. They hold water, buffer the soil against wide swings in pH, promote the growth of important microorganisms, and generally improve the tilth of the soil. Amend sandy loam with compost, horse manure, peat moss, etc, all of which are available locally. Ideal pH for roses is a slightly acidic 6.5 to 6.9. Roses will tolerate pH down into the low 5’s, but beyond that, they become malnourished even with nutrients present in the soil. This is due to the extreme acidity which prevents the rose from absorbing these nutrients. Our New England soil is naturally acidic, but this can be overcome with pH monitoring and adding lime to the soil if necessary, particularly in the fall as it takes several months for any change in pH to take place. 3. Six Hours of Sun (Minimum). Shrubs that flower heavily need sun. Roses require a minimum of six consecutive hours of daily sunshine to optimize their flowering capabilities. However, it is useful to know that varieties that have fewer petals in the bloom will tolerate the shade more than heavily petalled roses which need ample amounts of heat and light to open properly. The color of the bloom is also affected by the amount of sun…the more sun, the brighter the color. Tip. Try growing roses in containers. This way they can be moved from place to place in a shady yard, thus gaining additional sun exposure. top of page 4. Roses Love to Drink. Roses require water and plenty of it. It is difficult to over-water roses planted in amended sandy loam. How much is enough? Don’t let the soil dry out completely at the base of the plant. In cooler weather, water a couple of times per week. In the heat of the summer, everyday is not too much. Tip. It is much better to give the plant a deep soaking, 4-5 gallons, twice per week than to lightly water everyday. 5. Roses Love to Eat. Flowering shrubs like roses need regular feeding all season. Commence fertilizing when new spring growth reaches an inch or more, usually around the first of May. Feed large roses 1 cup of 10-10-10 monthly through August, then stop. For miniature roses cut the regimen in half. Triple 10 is a balanced fertilizer that provides the essential elements of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium that roses need for robust health. It is inexpensive and available everywhere. Augment this with water-soluble fertilizers applied at the recommended rates. Specialty fertilizers with trace elements are good, but not essential. Roses can’t read and they eat anything. Tip. Cutting the dosages in half and feeding twice as often is a superior method of fertilizing if you have the time. top of page 6. Insect and Disease Control. Insects can be controlled as they appear with a variety of methods. Control of fungi, on the other hand, needs to be preemptive as blackspot spores, for instance, are present on the foliage 30 days before the spots occur. There are spray products available in garden centers that effectively control all the common fungi in the home rose garden. Follow the instructions and apply at the recommended rates. An alternative to this is to plant varieties that have a demonstrated resistance to disease and maintain a clean garden with ample air circulation. Disease resistance has become a primary objective of modern rose hybridizing and resistant varieties are introduced every year. Check the RIRS Rose Buyers Guide, recently updated, for the latest scoop on dozens of varieties including the most disease resistant. Tip. Attack Japanese beetles in the larva stage in the soil with milky spore disease or lawn care treatments. This takes time but has long lasting positive results. The only thing left are the simple mechanics of planting the rose properly, which is easy enough once you see how. The RI Rose Society teaches basic rose care, including planting and pruning, in the spring as well as other times of the year. The next time you buy roses, put away your ouija boards and tarot cards and send Merlin back to Camelot. If you follow these six basic steps to successful rose gardening then you can grow good, no, make that very good, roses right here in southern New England. Mike Chute lives in East Providence. He is a certified American Rose Society (ARS) horticultural judge, an ARS Consulting Rosarian, and past president of the RI Rose Society.

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Winter Protection: Everything You Need to Know
By Angie Chute (From November 2005 Rhode Island Rose Review, a Quarterly Publication
of the Rhode Island Rose Society)

Summer is over, November is here and it’s time to protect your roses for the
winter. To insure that your roses successfully survive the winter, first consider
the following factors: the hardiness of your rose varieties, the microclimate of
your particular garden and the condition of your roses going into winter.

Most important is to have planted varieties appropriate to our area – Zone 6.
Generally shrub roses are more winter hardy than hybrid tea roses, but hardiness
also varies within classes. Check with other members and your Rhode Island Rose Society Grower’s Guide to see which varieties do well in our area. The second
factor to consider is the location of your rose garden. For example, roses planted
in the middle of a yard prone to heavy winds require more protection than roses
planted in a sunny location up against a wall or side of the house. Finally, the major factor affecting a rose’s success of surviving our New England winters is its overall health. Roses that were well hydrated, fertilized throughout the growing season
and free from disease and insect damage will weather our winters more successfully than those that were not well tended. Neglected roses that barely survived the
summer do not have much of a chance of making it through the winter no matter
how much winter protection they receive.

So what should you do to protect your roses for winter? Here are the answers to
ten of the most frequently asked questions about winter protection.

1.    Why do I need to add winter protection for my roses?
Roses generally need winter protection in areas where the temperature goes below
25 degrees F. The biggest misconception is that we add winter protection to keep
roses warm through the cold winter months. That is not the case. Roses need to be kept cold and dormant as well as protected from the winter thaws so common in
New England. It is important to keep roses insulated, in a “cooler” of sorts, in order
for them to stay dormant. Winterkill most often results from the freeze/thaw cycle experienced during our winters.

2.    When should I apply winter protection?
The traditional answer is right after the first frost. Since that varies year to year,
and even area by area, depending on the microclimate of your garden, target mid
to late November as the time to add winter protection. Don’t winterize your garden
too soon. If you add winter protection too early it will keep the soil warm and delay roses from becoming dormant. Mike and I winterize our rose garden over the Thanksgiving weekend.

3.    Is it true I should prune my roses down to 12 inches in the fall?
No. Pruning roses in the fall only encourages the plant to develop new growth which
is subject to winter damage. The only pruning we do in the fall is to prune out dead, diseased and damaged canes as well as long canes that may break by whipping
winter winds. All other heavy pruning should be done in the spring.
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4.    When should I stop feeding my roses?
Stop fertilizing sixty days before the first frost. In our area that means the last
feeding should be given around the beginning of September. There are enough
nutrients stored in the canes to sustain the roses until the end of the season.

5.    How do I protect roses for winter?
Since diseases can winter over on the leaves, some rose gardeners recommend removing all the foliage from the canes. However, if you have a large number of
roses to winterize, as we do, and time is a factor, just pick up the fallen foliage
in the rose beds and discard it in the trash. Also, before adding winter protection,
water your roses. Then hill up the base of each plant to a height of 12 to 15 inches. We use horse manure but other materials can be used such as mulch, shredded
oak leaves, compost, or even seaweed. In the spring we push the mounds away from the base of each plant and spread the manure into the rose bed, enriching the soil. This method protects the canes inside the mound and the bud union that is planted two inches below the soil.

An alternative method is to build rose collars by using wire screen, tar paper, or
plastic, 12 to 18 inches high, to encircle the base of each bush. The collar is then backfilled with shredded oak leaves, mulch, manure, or compost to protect the bud union and canes.

6.    Is snow bad for my roses?
No, snow is an excellent insulator for roses. In addition to keeping the temperature underneath from falling to far below freezing, the snow also prevents it from rising
too high above freezing so quickly that the plants break dormancy and start growing. Snow also acts as a protection from the winds that can desiccate the rose canes.
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7.    I followed all the steps to protect my roses and they still died. Why?
If you followed all the basic steps of applying winter protection and your rose
bushes still did not survive the winter it could be that they were not healthy going
into winter. Ask yourself the following questions: Did you water and feed them well enough and often enough during the growing season? Were they diseased or damaged by insects? Were your varieties appropriate for the zone in which they were planted? Also, make certain that the bud union was planted two inches below the soil line.

8.    How do I protect climbers?
If the climbers you planted are hardy for Zone 6 then they will probably survive

with the normal amount of protection that your bushes get. Make sure to mound
up the base of the climber with 12 to 15 inches of compost, manure, or mulch.
Tie the canes to the structure, such as a trellis, or tie them together vertically to protect them from being broken by the4 wind. If you want to add more protection
you can wrap the canes with burlap, tying them securely.

9.    Do I have to take mini roses inside?
No. Miniature roses grow on their own roots and are quite hardy. You can protect
them using one of the methods discussed in Question 5 or just rake leaves over them.

10.   What do I do with roses planted in containers?
First make sure your roses are planted in plastic pots since terra cotta and ceramic pots will crack if frozen. Bury the containers in mulch, wood chips, leaves, or
whatever material you have available, to protect the plants roots as well as the
bud union. We successfully winter over numerous container roses this way. If you
have a garage or shed, you can winter your container roses there, but remember to water them periodically to keep the roots moist.
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