Rose Plant Care

 

Roses have been discovered in three hundred and sixty species and they are classified as blooming plants of the genus Rosa. Rose plants are woody perennial flowering plants of the Rosa genus and Rosaceae family. Actually Rose plants main features are erect shrubs, climbing with the help of stems. The botanical name of Rose plants is Rosa Rubiginosa. Rose plants actually has a wide range of color variations like yellow, red, white, blue and many more. Growing the plant in the garden is one of the great joys of gardening. This wonderful plant will bring beauty to your home and garden for many years. One of the truly unique characteristics of rose plants is that the plants are amazingly versatile. Actually there are rose plants for almost any landscape application: beautiful hybrid teas, groundcovers for a carpet of color and climbers for architectural interest; elegant tree roses for color around a patio or deck and shrub roses for a striking hedge. Most of the species of Rose plants originated from Asia, Europe, and North America. The Rose plants will adapt to your personal gardening style whether you prefer a formal setting or a casual cottage garden. The Rose plants are hardy plants and the plant flourish in a wide range of conditions, but the plant do have a few basic requirements that you should consider before planting them indoor or in your garden. Each of the species of Rose plants is easily hybridized and due to this reason, the development of a garden is very easy for rose plants. 

Different types of Roses

There are different types of Roses you can grow in your garden. The following are the different types of Roses;

-         The Rosa 'About Face': The Rosa 'About Face' is an orange grandiflora rose that has bicolor petals with long stems and rich green leaves. The Rosa 'About Face' is a good disease-resistant rose with a fragrance that is said to smell like fresh apples. Blooms can be as much as five inches across; The Rosa 'About Face' has a good re-bloom pattern.

-        The USDA hardiness zones: six to eleven

-        The mature size: five to six feet

-        Light requirement: Full sun

-        Soil requirement: a well-drained, enriched soil.

 

-         The Bonica rose: The Bonica' is actually a shrub rose that bears light-pink flowers on a plant with the typical bushy growth habit. The plant flowers repeatedly from spring to fall, with fragrant blooms that are about two to three inches across. The Bonica rose is a very dependable plant in cooler climates.

- The USDA hardiness zones: four to eleven

- The mature size: three to five feet

- Light requirement: Full sun

- Soil requirement: A well-drained, rich soil soil

 

-         The Cherry Parfait Rose: This particular type of Rose is a floribunda rose that has a 2 tone petal color scheme with white petals edged with red (red is actually the dominant color from a distance). The Cherry Parfait Rose has dark green leaves. This particular type of rose has a relatively bushy habit. The blooms are two to three inches across.

-        The USDA hardiness zones: six to eleven

-        The mature size: three to four feet

-        Light requirement: Full sun

-        Soil requirement: A well-drained, fertile soil

 

-         The Teasing Georgia Rose: The Teasing Georgia Rose is a repeat bloomer with small clusters of large cupped flowers that stretch four to five inches across. The Teasing Georgia Rose has good resistance to disease and a strong fragrance.

-        The USDA hardiness zones: five to eleven

-        The mature size: four to five feet; the plant can grow taller in warm climates

-        Light requirement: Full sun

-        Soil requirement: A well-draining, rich soil

 

-         The Easy Does It Rose: The Easy Does It Rose is a medium-size floribunda rose that has large four to five inch blooms that blend orange, pink, and apricot hues. The flowers of the plants are double, ruffled petals, and they have a mildly fruity aroma. The Easy Does It Rose has a bushy growth habit and is fairly disease-resistant.

-        The USDA hardiness zones: six to eleven

-        The mature size: three to five feet

-        Light requirement: Full sun

-        Soil requirement: A well-drained, humus, rich soil

 

-         The 'Falstaff' Rose: The 'Falstaff' is actually a David Austin English shrub rose featuring large four to five inch dark crimson-red flowers that bloom continually. The 'Falstaff' Rose is regarded as one of David Austin's best rose types. The 'Falstaff' Rose has the typical strong fragrance of an English shrub rose and a good re-bloom cycle.

- The USDA hardiness zones: five to eleven

- The mature size: four feet

- Light requirement: Full sun

- Soil requirement: A well-draining, rich soil

 

-         The 'Tahitian Sunset' Rose: This particular type of rose is a hybrid tea rose with magnificent apricot-pink bi-color flowers that are up to six inches across and they bear a faint anise smell. The 'Tahitian Sunset' Rose is a good disease-resistant hybrid, with semi-glossy, dark-green leaves. The plant blooms repeatedly from spring to fall.

- The USDA hardiness zones: six to eleven

- The mature size: five to six feet

- Light requirement: Full sun

- Soil requirement: A well-drained, enriched soil

 

-         The 'Rainbow Knockout' Rose: Actually this is a shrub rose with the classic single flowers that are common to species shrub types of roses. Unlike many shrub roses the 'Rainbow Knockout' Rose has an excellent re-bloom cycle. The flowers of the plant which appear in clusters, are coral with yellow centers.

- The USDA hardiness zones: four to nine

- The mature size: three to four feet

- Light requirement: Full sun

- Soil requirement: A well-drained, fertile soil

 

-  The Julia Child' Rose: This particular Rose was personally chosen by the award-winning chef with coloration she described as "butter gold." The Julia Child' Rose has very shiny leaves, with full flowers up to three and half inches across, smelling of sweet licorice. The Julia Child' Rose is a disease-resistant shrub with a full, bushy growth habit. The plant flowers appear in small clusters; The Julia Child' Rose has a good re-bloom pattern.

- The USDA hardiness zones: six to eleven

- The mature size: two to three feet

- Light requirement: Full sun

- Soil requirement: Wide range, a well-drained soil

How to grow Roses

The following are the steps on how to grow Roses;

Site selection for planting 

Make sure you select a site that gets a minimum of four hours of sunlight (for miniatures) and six hours (for a large rose). The Rose plants that actually get less sunlight will grow canes of smaller diameter and will not flower as often. Make sure your Rose bush is planted in a well-drained site.

Keep in mind that excess moisture will increase risk of low oxygen to the plant roots and fungal disease.

Planting Rose

If you want to plant your Rose bush use 1/3 good soil, 1/3 sphagnum peat moss and 1/3 sand, some bone meal at the bottom of the hole, and then a good shovel. Try and also make sure your hole for planting is deep and wide enough. Don’t plant a twenty dollar Rose bush in a five dollar hole! If your rose bush has a bud union, in cold climate regions plant bud union one to two inches below the ground on a mound of soil mix. If you don’t plant your bud union below ground, you will actually need to winter protect that bud union before winter. Roses should be in your garden for years. Failure to plant the Rose bush properly can result in an annual and not a perennial. Don’t fertilize your rose bush when planting them.

Spacing of Rose plants

Make sure you plant the Rose bush with a maximum space between bushes to provide maximum air flow. You can space hybrid teas thirty to thirty-six, floribundas twenty-eight and miniatures twenty between plants. This will greatly improve air flow around the Rose plant and also reduce fungal infections.

Pruning Rose plant

All Rose types (except the climbers) can be prune in early spring. The pruning can actually be done when the forsythia bush blooms. You can use a pruning shears, just cut back the dead wood (the canes or stems) until the pith (which is the centers of the canes) are white. The shrubs are pruned only for shaping and the need not to see the white pith. The Rose climbers are actually pruned after their first bloom to remove the dead wood and to shape the plant. Pruning the Rose climbers in the spring will help to remove the flush of bloom.

Watering Rose plant

The Rose plants actually enjoy about 1-2” of water per week. You can invest in a rain gauge. If Mother Nature falls short you can easily water your roses. It is actually better to deep water once in other to promote a stronger, deeper root system than watering daily. Light watering can actually results in shallow roots. Make sure you water your rose plants early in the day in other to help prevent diseases like black spot. You can use two to three layer of mulch to conserve water.

Mulching Roses

Actually mulching is very useful for growing healthy rose plants. Mulching helps to eliminate the need to cultivate around the rose plants; it also aids in water retention and it also keep the roots cool in hot summer months and discourages the growth of weeds around the plants.

Fertilizer requirement

Once the Rose plant is established, the rose plants love to eat. The old adage of “weakly weekly” can actually be applied to the rose plants. You can easily use water soluble or slow-release fertilizers. The rose plants don’t know the difference between chemical or organic fertilizers. Don’t ever over-feed the rose plants more than the recommended dosage. More is not better. Don’t feed the rose plants after the end of August as that can easily encourage growth before the onset of winter when the rose plants should be going into dormancy.

 

 

Pest and disease control

Rose plants also face some pest and disease challenges. The following are the steps on how to control pest and disease on Rose plants.

- Make sure you choose disease-resistant Rose plants.

- Make sure you provide good air circulation through the proper pruning of the plants.

- Make sure you keep the rose beds clean by removing all diseased leaves from the plant and the ground.

- You can easily apply a dormant spray for diseases or pest eggs that might be over-wintering on the canes.

Black Spot disease: A circular black spots will appear on the Rose plant leaves; the Rose plant leaves will turn yellow and begin to drop prematurely.

All you need to do is to remove and destroy the fallen leaves; don’t wet the foliage when watering. Prior to an outbreak of black spot disease you can spray the plant with Benomyl or other systemic fungicide every ten to fifteen days. You can also add one tablespoon of white vinegar to the gallon of spray water, this will actually enhance the effectiveness of the fungicide.