How can I get the best results from my rose bushes?

Question

Please give me any tips you can about growing healthy bushes with lots & lots of flowers. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

I've been growing roses for 20 years now and I have found that they are among the easiest plants to grow and the most rewarding. There are 3 things you need to keep in mind to have a beautiful and lush rose garden and that is Selection, Water/feeding, and Pruning.

Selection is important in that there are roses that are very disease prone and there are roses that are not. Hybrid Teas are an example of disease prone roses that give the grower nothing but trouble when it come to fungus not to mention the fact that they have been grafted and can lose their graft easily. They also tend to be short lived. Then there are the Old roses, Hybrid musks, English, Hardy, and Heirloom roses that have been bred to resist disease and have been grown from their own roots which means no graft to fall off. They are also very long lived. Here are two of my favorite web sites for these roses:
http://www.heirloomroses.com/cgi/browse.cgi?page=item&cat=13&item=248
http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/
Also, I just learned about a selection of roses from another Yahoo answerer called "Earthkind". Supposedly you don't have to do anything to these roses. No fertilizer, no chemical pesticides or fungicides and they flourish. Here is that site:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/EKroses/EKbrigaderoses.html

Watering/Feeding:
The most important thing to remember here is that roses hate to get wet so remember to water early in the morning and only at the base. Newly planted roses need water every day for the first 2 weeks and then you can cut back to once a week, but make it a nice big drink. Feeding is also important, but stay away from Miricle-Gro for roses and any other perennial. It's only good for annuals. Roses really love manure mixed into the top layers of their soil and they also love fish emulsion. They just explode with that stuff.

Pruning:
There are two types of pruning and both are necessary to beautiful roses. Here are detailed instructions for pruning:

General Pruning: You do this to remove any dead or dying canes or spent flowers.
It is true that you need to pick a set of five leaves, but not necessarily the first set. Pick a set of five that are pointing outward because that will be the direction of a new cane and flowers. If you choose one pointing inward then your canes can cross and will cause other problems. Cut the cane at an angle like this (/) about 1/4" above the five leaf set. It is okay to do this with each cane and especially if the cane is dying. It is also okay to do this throughout the growing season because it promotes new growth.

Autumn Pruning: Any time between the first freeze of Autumn and the last freeze of winter you can seriously prune your rose down to about 2 feet. This will create a fuller, lusher plant for the new season. Once again you will want to cut at an angle. However, instead of cutting above a five leaf set, this time you will want to cut right above a node which will resemble a small, reddish, slightly pointed bump on the cane. Like the five leaf set, make sure the node is pointing outward.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Repeat flowering roses use a lot of nutrients from the soil so should be fed with a slow release organic with a ratio like 2-3-1.
I fertilize three times a year near Valentine's Day, Memorial Day & Labor Day, in my zone 7b garden, to support the plant's blooming periods.
A near neutral pH ensures the greatest number of micronutrients is released from the soil. Roses in particular like pH 6.0- 7.0. As a general rule, plants that have low drought tolerance will have low salinity tolerance. This is very true for Roses, they are not salt tolerant nor drought tolerant.
Water generously, at least 1 inch/week, preferably 2 inches/week during growing season if very hot. Water every 4-7 days during the summer when needed. Each bush needs about 4-5 gallons/week during the hot summer. Infrequent deep watering is preferred to frequent, light watering that causes roots to form very near the soil surface, making the plant more susceptible to summer 'baking' and winter freezes.
Roses get all their food either through their leaves (foliar feeding) or through their roots. The only medium they have for transporting food is water. One of the best ways of supporting their root system is to support the soil's mycorrhizae. These are root symbionts that effectively extend the root zone of perennial plants improving nutrient uptake from the soil in exchange for carbohydrate exudates from the plant. . It is to encourage healthy soil that aerated compost tea has become so popular. Another way is to inoculate the soil. A number of firms throughout the country are marketing mycorrhizae inoculants. Monrovia sell all plants preinoculated. There is even fertilizer enhanced with mycorrhizae inoculants.
http://www.tandjenterprises.com sells BioVam
http://www.whitneyfarms.com/
http://drearth.net/index1.php?page=qa

Last I will suggest alfalfa either worked into the soil or as a spray on the foliage.
http://www.nurserysite.com/clubs/peninsular/tea.html
http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/recipes/alfalfa.htm
http://www.regannursery.com/news/archive/2003/05_01_2003.htm
I will comment on the use and abuse of Epsom salts. This salt is very soluble and moves rapidly into the water table. In areas with heavy rain or irrigation Epsom salts move into the water very quickly adding significantly to the water’s mineral content. It is useful if you have done a soil test but to many people are beginning to add ingredients their soil does not need just because they are organic. www.puyallup.wsu.edu~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Epsom%Salts%20references.html

Answer 3

Bare root roses usually need to be soak for several hours. If you do not have a large container, just use your bath tub.

http://www.gardenguides.com/articles/plantrose.htm

http://www.rosemagazine.com/pages/planting.asp

Answer 4

feed with a low nitrogen fertilizer, keep pruned, remove all spent blooms, water as needed.