’Growing and tending roses really isn’t very hard to do!’

If you make it your business to follow the most basic rules,  your roses can and will be healthy and beautiful for a very long time.

Importantly, be sure you’ve chosen a variety that is suitable for your zone. Rose types that are not suited to,  or are not hardy enough for your zone may not survive.

1. Roses are ardent sun lovers.  So go on, and give em plenty of it -  at least six hours of direct sunlight every day.

2. Roses are greedy eaters. They love to take large amounts of nutrients from the soil. However you will need to exercise some control by feeding them very often, but lightly each time.  Then stop feeding them about two months before the first expected fall frost.

3. Feed your roses with nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium.  Hybrid tea roses, climbing roses, grandifloras, floribundas and poluanthas all need about ½ cup of 10-20-20 or 10-20-10 on each bush about three times per year.  Miniature roses should receive about a tablespoon of 10-20-20 or 10-20-10.

4. Roses love getting a soluble fertilizer (20-20-20) in early summer.  About 1 cup should be poured around the base of each plant.

5. Shrub roses and standard garden roses don’t generally need much fertilizer.  You only need to give them a good application of general purposes 20-20-20 fertilizer once per year, sometime in early spring.

6. For repeat-blooming roses, apply another dose of fertilizer after the first round of blooming is done.

7. Give large rose bushes about a gallon of Alfalfa Tea (see Recipe below), and mini roses about 1/3 of a gallon  -  it is generally applied in fall, and releases a special growth hormone in your roses.

8. Water your roses deeply.  Give them at least an inch of water every week.  As long as you have given your roses plenty of rich organic material in their soil, you shouldn’t need to give them more than one inch per week.

9. Do NOT water lightly and frequently, this will encourage shallow roots that can cause your plants to die during droughts!  Always water in the mornings so leaves are dry before dusk, otherwise your roses may get diseases or mold.

10. Groom your roses regularly. Remove faded flowers, trim away dead or damaged branches, and prune away brown leaves.  For the first two months after you plant your roses, you should remove all buds to help establish the plant and encourage it to grow.

Your Roses will also appreciate it if you remember:

• To leave as much foliage on the plant as you can when you cut your first blossoms
• Any branches showing symptoms of disease need to be cut back to the healthy part of the plant
• To dispose of the affected part by placing in the trash – keeping well away from your garden and NOT putting them in the compost pile!

Alfalfa Tea

The American Rose Society developed this special Alfalfa Tea recipe for roses.

• Fill a 32-gallon plastic trash can with 10 cups of alfalfa pellets and water.
• Steep this for about five days, stirring it daily.
• Add in 2 cups of Epsom salts, ½ cup of  Sequestrene, and a trace element elixir of your choice.

After about three days, this mixture will start to smell, so keep the lid on it.

Note:

After you use all of the water, you can add more water to the pellets in the bottom to make a second batch!  After the second batch, discard the pellets.

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