Roses are easy: Don't make it hard on yourself

Roses come in a plethora of shapes and sizes: Arching, rambling, dense, open, upright, climbing, suckering, groundcover, spreading, and in every bloom style imaginable. Pick the right style for your space, and choose roses hardy in Zones 3-4-5 with 4 probably the safest choice. This means (generally) no Teas or English- or French-style roses but leaves a wide selection of Grandifloras (large flowering), Floribundas (lots of blooms), Shrub (can include many types), Polyantha (many-flowered – the “bouquet” roses), Climbers and Minis.

As usual, you will want to prepare planting areas with compost or aged manure in readiness for your purchased selections. Then consider what those selections will be.

Following is some basic information for successful rose selection, planting and follow-up care.

All roses need at least four hours of full sun a day, preferably six and even more; some will tolerate dappled shade, so choose your site accordingly. Read the descriptions carefully and don’t get hooked into buying a Zone 6 just because it’s pretty. There are myriad choices and many area nurseries and greenhouses which offer them. Buy from them, please, since they order for our zone and can give you valuable information. Some brand names to look for: Morden; Bucks; Weeks; Carefree; Iceberg; or connotations of Arctic, Canadian Explorer, etc. Remember that “Rugosa” is a native/wild rose and the hardiest one growing. If the family name includes Rugosa in its heritage, it’s just about a sure thing!

Roses demand a BIG hole and that’s your first and probably most important rule. Own-root roses (the best choice) demand a deep-dug, wide hole that gives plenty of expansion room for roots to spread and take hold.

When planting own-roots or your own transplants, line the bottom with well-rotted manure or rich compost, and make a little hill of soil over which to spread the roots.

Cover lightly, water well, then fill in the remaining soil. Potted roses also need a big hole, with plenty of loose soil for their root ball to be planted in.

Loosen the compact soil a bit when taking the plant from its pot, and make sure there are no roots circling up and/or around.

If there are, cut them away, and make sure the bottom of the root ball is loose enough to enable good contact and merging with the ground soil.

You can give a shot of fish emulsion or your favorite (natural) fertilizer, especially if you haven’t used compost in the planting hole. Mulch lightly around the root base and keep watered until nicely established. Twice or three-times a week watering is plenty, and a soaker hose is ideal since overhead watering can cause black-spot and other leaf-spotting problems.

Once you’ve planted new roses, do NOT (as some instructions will tell you) cut them back! That rule is not for our cold climate!

Trim damage of course then let them grow. Too, don’t prune new plants for three years other than for for winter-damage, and then only in the spring! All perennial shrubs need that time to get established.

Fall planting of roses is a critical operation for one reason. They must get established – necessitating the use of a good fertilizer at planting time — like the afore-mentioned fish emulsion.

Give fertilizer to them through the summer every six weeks or so till mid-September and then quit till next Spring.

There is one caveat with roses: Don’t use pesticides anywhere around them! They are sensitive to all of them, including some of the once-popular fungicides. Use natural repellants. Water sprays off aphids; if it’s slow to work, use Safer’s. Ponderay Nursery sells a fabulous Organic Rose Spray that I wouldn’t be without. Perhaps other nurseries carry it as well.

Herewith, some tips for new rose growers:

* Heavy rains (and overhead sprinklers) can cause blackspot. If your roses are marred with it, pick off all affected foliage and get rid of it. Do NOT put it in the compost pile! Always water roses from the base.

* Tidy climbing roses as their blooming slows. Take out old wood (grey rather than brown or green), as well as damaged and/or diseased wood. Re-tie canes to support for wind/storm protection. Snip out crossing canes that have finished blooming, and get rid of yellow or diseased-looking leaves. Too, be sure to clean up any that have fallen on the ground under the plants.

*If you deadhead your roses after blooming, consider the type of rose and whether or not it creates large hips. You may want to keep them for winter color, bird food, and a healthy tea. In this case, simply rub away the dead petals with your fingers (into a bag for the compost pile.)

Too, don’t forget that your (unsprayed) rose-petals are a fragrant and lovely edible topping for cakes and in punchbowls and are wonderful for potpourri.

* All hardy Rugosa species need nothing other than the planting-time shot of fish emulsion but thrive in our acidic soil as do all native plants. Reminder: Don’t fertilize natives!

Valle Novak writes the Country Chef and Weekend Gardener columns for the Daily Bee. She can be reached at bcdailybee@bonnercountydailybee.com or by phone at 208-265-4688.