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There are a lot of right ways to grow roses. General tips are easy to find and create, but to get good information, it's very helpful to know where your are growing your roses. If you have to deal with high temperatures, you nurture your plants differently than when you have roses growing in ares of lower temps. Then, if you live in areas where cold protection is a requirement, you just have to adjust your growing techniques. Here are some of my general tips:
1) Start with a healthy plant. Buying roses where the roots have been hacked off and have dried out canes, means you are starting out with a plant that is already stressed. It just makes everything harder.
2) Choose roses that will most likely do well in your climate. For example, if you live near the coast, mildew resistance will be high on your list of priorities. Also, when you are choosing which roses you want to grow, don't decide just by the the bloom form or color, look for a rose that is a good plant. You may have to do some research, but it's worth it.
3. Water and drainage: Roses need water to carry the nutrients up through the canes and insufficient water will stress the plant. However, it's very important to insure good drainage. The rose will take up all of the water it needs, but it doesn't do well if left in standing water.
4. Site the rose well. Most roses will try to grow wherever you place them because they are genetically programmed to grow, but you will have a better plant, producing more blooms if you give the plant what it wants, sunshine. If you live in an area of high temps, you may want to site the rose where it gets afternoon shade.
5. Feed it. Some roses are absolute hogs, while others are dainty eaters ... if you overfeed them nitrogen, they will let you know by proliferation. I have some roses I feed every other time because they perform better with less feeding. Others get an extra meal. Let the rose be your teacher. It will let you know what it needs.
5. Don't crowd them too closely to make sure they have good air circulation and when you prune, keep this concept in mind.
6. If you are working too hard to keep a rose healthy in your garden, get rid of it. We grow roses for the joy they give us. A plant that is not happy in your garden, ie. you climate, isn't worth the hard work. There are too many fine roses you haven't tried that will thrive in your garden with your style of care.
7. Continue to read everything you can about roses. Even tho' you make think you have the basics down, roses are so interesting that you never stop learning. As you grow in experience, go back and read the same books again. You will find that you are learning at a different level.
8. and this is my last one for tonight .... enjoy your roses! It's too easy to make things seem hard in the garden by trying to achieve a level of perfection that takes the joy of out gardening, especially with roses. Remember why you decided to grow roses and enjoy the process of gardening and the display of the blooms in your home or office, or just on the plants in your garden.
Smiles,
Lyn
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