Rose    

• Ensure that your roses have good air circulation and get around 6 hours of sunlight a day. If possible, morning sun is better than afternoon sun – the colours tend to last longer if they are sheltered from the afternoon sun.
• Apply mulch to roses in the summer months as it helps to conserve moisture and keep plants cool, but avoid using bark.
• Roses need regular feeding for best results: if you have clay soil, fertilise twice a year, once after pruning and apply another feed just after the last blooms are dying down. If you have sandy or chalky soil, try to feed at least a small amount of fertiliser at least once a month.
• Never spray rugosa roses with anything.

Roses can be grown from seed, however they will not grow “true to type”. Rose seeds are produced inside the “hips” (fruit) of the rose – collect those that have ripened at the end of the season, cut them open and extract the creamy white seeds inside. These seeds will need stratification (a period of moist, cold storage) so rinse and store wrapped a paper towel in a plastic bag inside your refrigerator for 4 – 5 weeks. At this point, small little root tips should start to appear – carefully transfer these to pots of soil and cover with 1/4 inch of soil. Water them in well and keep at room temperature – they should start to appear in a couple of days.

By our calculations*, you should look at sowing Rose about 35 days before your last frost date .

To plant bare-root roses: firstly make sure the soil is relatively dry. Digging in wet soil can destroy the soil structure and make it compact. Set the plants in a bucket of water so that the roots don’t dry out during the planting process. Prune any dead or damaged roots and canes, then dig a hole large enough for the roots to spread. Make a mound at the bottom of the hole and carefully set the rose on the mound, spreading out it’s roots around it. Completely cover the roots with soil, tamp gently, and then water in well. Allow the soil to settle, and then finish filling the hole with soil.

Harvesting rose blooms
Try to harvest roses in the early morning. Cut the stem using the “5 -leaflet rule”. Look down the stem and locate the second, third or fourth leaf that has five leaflets. Cut just above this growth at a 45 degree angle and place the rose stem immediately in water.

Harvesting rose hips
Allow the roses to die off on the bush, and you will see the hips start to form. Initially, they will appear green and then ripen to a yellow, red colour. They are best picked immediately after a frost, and should be soft to the touch.

Displaying rose blooms
Stripping thorns and leaves from the stem before displaying will help the longevity of the bloom – change the water every 4 days. If you wish to postpone the blooming of a rose, refrigeration can slow down this process for a couple of days.

These plants have been known to grow well alongside Rose so consider planting:

As rose bushes often become a little leggy at the base, good companion plants are often ones that can grow at the base of the rose to camouflage this. They often have a secondary role in keeping heat away and act as a type of living mulch. Companion plants should be selected that enjoy the same growing conditions and don’t compete for nutrients too aggressively. In addition, many companion plants attract parasitic wasps and hoverflies which keep aphids in check.

• Rose loves Lavender

  Grow at the base of the rose bush, and thus can help camouflage blemishes. Can also create quite nice contrasting colours depending on the variety grown.

• Rose loves Catmint

  Catmint can help to disguise bare rose "legs" by growing around the base of the plant.

• Rose likes Verbena

  Enjoys the same growing conditions as rose and doesn't tend to compete for nutrients and space.

• Rose likes Thyme

  The aromatic nature of Thyme can help to keep Japanese beetles and aphids at bay.

• Rose loves Scented geranium

  Good aromatic companion for keeping pests away from Roses.

• Rose likes French marigold

  Marigolds help deter pests and can also help encourage growth.

• Rose likes Common yarrow

  Yarrow helps to attract ladybugs, which can be helpful in keeping aphids away.

• Rose loves Chives

  deters funguses

• Rose loves Hardy geranium

  attracts beneficial insects and camoflages bare rose legs

• Rose likes Hellebore

  provides winter and early spring interest and groundcover

• Rose loves Common rue

  deters japanese beetle

• Rose loves Anise hyssop

  attracts beneficial insects to keep aphids in check

• Rose loves Curly leaf parsley

  attracts hoverflies and parasitic wasps which kill aphids

• Rose loves Sweet alyssum

  attracts and feeds hoverflies whose larvae eat aphids

• Rose loves Drumstick allium

  Flowering Alliums attract beneficial insects, deter aphids, help reduce blackspot, and look good in a rose garden.

• Rose loves Tomato

  helps prevent blackspot

These plants will not grow well with Rose so avoid planting these within close proximity:

These problems, diseases and pests are known to affect Rose plants:

In general, ensuring you purchase good quality rootstock from a reputable company will go a long way to ensuring your roses remain disease free, although ensuring that your roses have good air circulation, and are free of weeds and dead material will also help in reducing problems down the track.

Ahids like to hang around the buds and tender growth of roses.

• Blackspot

  Leaves get black spots then turn yellow and fall off. You may also see black ...

• Powdery Mildew

  White powdery spot disease that affects a large variety of plants.

• Aphids

  Also known as greenfly and blackfly, Aphids are a common sap-sucking garden p...

• Bristly Rose Slug

  Small green caterpillar-looking bugs that eat leaves.

• Rose Slug

  Small green caterpillar looking bugs that attack leaves. Are similar in appea...

• Rose Can Borer

  The larvae of several species of fly or bee.

The name Rose is french and comes directly from the latin botanical name Rosa.

• Roses are an ancient symbol of love and beauty.
• Rose means “red or pink” in a variety of different languages.
• The rose is the emblem of Islamabad Capital Territory in Pakistan, and is also the national flower of england and the floral emblem of the US.

Rose, Rose grandiflora, Rosa , Roses, Kordesii rose

Rosa L., Rosa sp.

Misspellings: Rose, Roses, Garden Rose, Common Rose

Our when to plant Rose estimates are relative to your last frost date. Enter your frost dates and we'll calculate your sowing and planting dates for you!

¹ Oil Spray is beast bet for combating rose slug

² Pest Patrol: Rose Slugs