A Rose by any Other Name

Queens of the garden, and with good reason.
By Marisa Gillen

Rose blooms are synonymous with summer, when their sweet intoxicating aroma mingles with the warm summer air. Unlike in Victorian times when large rose gardens were in vogue, most home gardens rarely plant them nowadays. Citing the need for pruning, spraying, fertilizing and thorns, many homeowners have backed away from roses to plant easier shrubs, annuals and perennials. Roses are prone to attacks of bugs like Japanese beetles, spider mites and aphids. It is also true that they can get funguses like black spot and powdery mildew and viruses like rose mosaic virus.

Why bother growing them, then?  There are few flowers that offer such stupefying beauty when in bloom, gorgeous flowers by the armful for picking and displaying in vases. If for no other reason, they should be grown for their fascinating names—Imperial Tipsy Concubine and Queen Elizabeth grow happily together as do  Bashful, Happy and Snow White.

Rose hybridizers are constantly working with varieties to increase their vigor, and their resistance to insect damage and disease. In the past decade or so, a whole new class of roses designated, “landscape roses” have flooded the market. These roses include the enormously popular Knockout Rose Series. Knockouts come in several colors, from the original single flowered fuschia, light pink, coral, and rainbow colors, to the newer double flowered Knockouts. Though they have little pronounced scent, their sheer exuberance and disease resistance have made them hugely successful. Miniature roses have become easy to find and easier to grow as has the class of roses called floribundas which are generally lower growing shrubby roses with several little bouquets on a branch.

For those who long for the antique roses they might have seen and smelled in their grandmother’s backyard, the line of David Austin roses give modern gardeners the look, and the scent of antique roses, with generally better resistance to disease, insects, and funguses. The English roses are, for the most part, large bushes, better suited to specimen planting than for use in mixed beds. Many have a large bloom season at the end of June and sporadic or no blooming through the dog days of summer, finally climaxing in a grand crescendo of bloom in September.

When planting a rose, a larger hole is better than a small one. Place a dirt mound at the bottom of the hole and spread the roots over the mound. In our area, plant to a depth that covers that bud union by about two inches. If your rose is grown on its own root such care need not be taken and rose may be planted at same level it was grown in the pot. The label on the container will tell you whether or not your rose was grown on its own root. Fill slowly, with a good soil mixture, combined with your own garden soil if it isn’t too heavy with clay. Roses don’t like their feet wet and clay holds in the water at the roots. Tamp the soil taking care that you don’t leave large air pockets. Water when you have filled the hole halfway, and then water thoroughly when the rose is planted. Mulch to prevent weeds and to help retain moisture.

Do not fertilize after Labor Day because new growth may be too tender to winter over. Unless plants become too unruly, pruning should generally be done in early spring.  Winter-killed branches are generally all that need pruning on shrubs, floribundas and miniatures, while hybrid teas and climbers will require shaping.

Marisa Gillen is a freelance writer who lives in Jamison, PA.