Fall for Roses?

Are you looking for some late season color or something to fill a gap in a shrub or perennial border where a plant was lost or under performing due to last winter? It is time to consider roses.  Yes, ROSES!  Roses are traditionally promoted as spring items, especially as gifts for Mother’s Day, but the late summer/fall season, from August 15 until September 15, is actually perhaps the best season to plant new roses, or to transplant existing ones. As we …

Grafted vs. Own-Root Roses, So What’s the Big Deal?

Most roses grown for sale to homeowners are produced by grafting the desired rose variety onto a rooted understock of a different rose variety, often Dr. Huey or Multiflora for northern climates, or fortuniana in southern or western climates. There are several reasons this is done: Growers are able to obtain many more propagation materials by taking bud eyes to graft versus cuttings to root, which can be especially important when there is high demand for a new variety. It …

Winterizing your Roses

A message from Larry “The Rose Guy” about winterizing your roses. It’s getting colder and the days are getting shorter, so it’s time to think about preparing your roses for winter. Don’t stop watering. This is very important as the die back you see on your roses in the spring is caused by cold winter winds which take out the moisture from the canes. Do not prune now because the die back will start from the point you made your …

Planting Roses

May is the time to purchase & plant new roses. To plan the best location of your new roses, you need to know how many hours of sunlight will be in that spot. Most roses need at least 6 hours to thrive. You will want to plant at the end of the 2nd week of May. Dig a hole about twice the size of the container & a little deeper. Put a shovel full of composted cow manure into the hole. …

Larry’s Recommended Rose Feeding Schedule

Learn All About Roses from Larry Hill. Larry loves talking about roses and sharing his knowledge and love of roses with others. Hopefully, you have your new roses planted and are seeing some growth. It is important to remember that, like every living thing, roses need to be fed. Here is my recommended feeding schedule for your roses: Two weeks after planting, you should water with a mixture of Atlantis Fish Emulsion, mixed at the rate of two tablespoons per gallon of water. …

Larry’s Rose Care Product Recommendations

Learn All About Roses from Larry Hill. Larry loves talking about roses and sharing his knowledge and love of roses with others. Sometimes it seems there are as many kinds of rose care products as there are roses! Choosing between them can be a daunting task, especially for those who are new to rose gardening. To help ensure your success with roses, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite rose care products: Composted cow manure: It’s cost effective and won’t burn the roots of …

Using Rose Petals to Make Potpourri

The next time your roses start to wilt, instead of tossing those pretty petals in the trash, make potpourri. It’s so easy andwill make your home smell amazing. Potpourri also makes a memorable homemade gift. After dead heading your roses, you can use them to make potpourri: Pull the petals off the roses. Spread the petals out on a screen and let them dry in a warm and dry place (approximately 2 – 3 days). Separately, dry some whole rose …

Preparing your Roses for Winter

It’s not something that you want to think about, but winter will be here a lot sooner than we would like and now is the time to start thinking about getting your roses ready for winter. Do not prune your roses now. That should be done in the spring. Do not fertilize past the first week of September. You want the plant to put most of its energy into the roots, not producing flowers.  You need to protect the graft, …

What’s in a Name? How Roses Get Their Names

Have you ever wondered how roses get their names? The process of having a rose named is actually very simple. The real difficulty is in hybridizing a rose that’s worthy of naming! A very popular older Hybrid tea, the ‘Peace’ rose was introduced right after the end of World War 2. It was actually sheer coincidence that Berlin fell and a truce was declared on the same day as the naming of the ‘Peace’ rose. In naming the rose, this …

Rose Care Tips from Larry “The Rose Guy”

I would like to share a few tips I have learned along the way as well as some products I strongly recommend for growing good, healthy roses. Gardening Tips: When I am in the growing season I keep a garden calendar. I keep a record of fertilizing, spraying and watering. When I do my spring pruning around tax time, I use Elmer’s wood glue to seal the end of the canes to prevent cane borers. I add some food coloring …