Got rose problems? Over 20 common pests and diseases plague roses, threatening the beauty of many a rose-filled yard and garden. But, rose growers can take heart. You can have the beauty of roses without the burden of doing constant battle with pests and diseases. It all comes down to choosing resistant varieties and giving them the right care. Here are the three key steps to growing great roses without the fuss.
1) Pick a winner.
This is the most important step! Old roses are often the most fragrant and beautiful, but they are more often maintenance nightmares. Classic Hybrid Tea and Grandiflora (and other) rose varieties were bred for their voluptuous, iconic flowers, with little consideration for the plants’ overall vigor and disease resistance. Consequently, they’re susceptible to a slew of diseases including blackspot, powdery mildew, and stem cankers. They’re also easy marks for rose chafers, Japanese beetles, rose slugs, and a host of other insects that prey on roses.
In recent years, breeders have developed and introduced new hybrids that resist diseases and pests. Most familiar of these are a number of “landscape” roses (such as the Knockout series) noted for their tough shrubby growth and abundant, relatively small, typically scentless flowers. Rose fanciers who are looking for something with taller stems and larger, more fragrant blooms will also find plenty of low-maintenance roses to choose from, however – including several Hybrid Tea and Grandiflora cultivars that rival anything in their class. Notable sources – and cultivars – include:
The German firm Kordes: Their Grandiflora rose ‘Eliza’ produces a succession of lightly fragrant, double pink blooms on tall stems. The repeat-blooming climber ‘Moonlight’ carries nicely scented peachy-yellow flowers. ‘Yankee Doodle’ is a tall, vigorously growing Hybrid Tea with intensely fragrant, double, apricot-pink roses.
The Explorers Hybrids from Canada: This collection of rock-hardy roses includes the Rosa rugosa hybrid ‘Jens Munk’, which bears 2.5-inch, double, medium-pink flowers on shrubby plants. It also includes several outstanding, repeat-blooming climbers. ‘William Baffin’ produces several flushes of dark pink flowers beginning in late June, and ‘John Cabot’ covers itself with double, fuchsia-red flowers from early summer to fall. Both can grow to 10 feet or more.
The Iowa breeder Griffith Buck: Among his many outstanding introductions are the pink-flowered Hybrid Tea ‘Earth Song’, and the shrub rose ‘Carefree Beauty’, with large pink flowers.
Weeks Roses: Many Weeks introductions are graced with fine fragrance, good looks, and remarkable disease resistance. The introduction Strike it Rich®, bred by Tom Carruth, is a testament to their rose-breeding prowess.
Anything of Rosa rugosa parentage: These rough and tough roses include the bright pink ‘Hansa’, dark red ‘Linda Campbell’, bright yellow ‘Topaz Jewel’, and the intensely fragrant, white-flowered ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’.
The French rose breeder Meilland: ‘Francis Meilland’ is a Hybrid Tea with double, silvery pink roses on tall stems. The similarly hued double flowers of the Grandiflora ‘Mother of Pearl’ have a light, sprightly scent. Dark red, heavy-scented, fully double flowers crown the 4- to 5-foot stems of the Hybrid Tea rose‘Traviata’.
2) Choose the right soil and the site.
Roses thrive in full sun and rich, healthy, humus-rich soil. Before you plant your rose, amend the soil with Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost. It adds rich organic matter for increased water-holding capacity and porosity. Follow up by adding fertilizer formulated for roses. This will encourage strong growth and flowering.
Ample air circulation helps too. Plant your prize rose in a hole that’s at least twice as wide as its root ball, and amend the backfill and surrounding soil with compost and organic fertilizer. Then apply a 1- to 2-inch layer of mulch to keep the roots moist and cool (and keep the soil microorganisms happy!). Plants should be well spaced to allow air flow.
3) Maintain!
Prune out all diseased growth in spring and throughout the growing season (dip pruners in a 10% bleach solution to reduce the chance of accidentally spreading disease from rose to rose). Be on particular lookout for the red “witches brooms” that signal the presence of rose rosette disease, a destructive disease for which there is no cure. Roses that have contracted rose rosette disease should be quickly removed from the garden.
Thin stems in spring and summer to encourage air circulation and discourage diseases. Tolerate modest insect damage, but treat plants with the appropriate OMRI Listed® insecticide if insects reach high levels. Rake and remove fallen vegetation, which may harbor disease-causing fungal spores. Apply rose fertilizer and a layer of compost each spring. Plant “companion” perennials (such as members of the parsley and daisy families) that harbor beneficial insects. And remember to water during dry spells!
The right rose in the right place (with the right maintenance) will provide years of beauty with a minimum of grief. It will also astonish your acquaintances who think that beautiful roses require lots of care for great looks.
