Garden rose

Garden rose: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Upright to spreading shrub 60 cm to 1 m tall, with thorny stems.

Leaves

Compound, usually with five to seven toothed leaflets; often glossy, sometimes tinged red on young shoots.

Flowers

Single, semi-double or fully double; in hybrid teas one large bloom per stem, in floribundas clusters.

Colour

White, cream, yellow, orange, pink, red and bicoloured; true blue does not exist.

Scent

From barely any to very strong, depending on the variety. Many English roses and older varieties are strongly scented.

Fruit

After the last flowers, sometimes hips, especially on single-flowered varieties.

Flowering: June–October · Harvest and fruit: June–September · Plants: March–April and October–November · Pruning: March

Why grow it?

• Flowers from June into October if you deadhead regularly.
• Many varieties are beautifully scented: plant them near a patio, path or bench.
• A classic cut flower: a few bushes provide flowers for the vase all summer.
• Varieties with single or semi-double flowers are valuable for bees; very double flowers much less so.
• There is a rose for every sunny spot: in a border, a bed, a large pot or as a low hedge.

Garden rose: where does it grow best?

• Full sun, at least six hours a day: in shade it flowers less and is more prone to disease.
• Rich, well-drained soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky. Improve heavy clay and poor sand with compost.
• An airy spot where the leaves dry quickly after rain, but not fully exposed to wind.
• Do not plant where roses grew before (rose replant disease), or replace the soil first.
• Allow 40–60 cm between bushes; in a bed that is about four to six roses per m².

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

1 m tall, 0.8 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -20 °C)

Goes well with

• Lavender: A fragrant blue edging for a sunny rose bed.
• Catmint: Long blue flowering that hides the bare base of the roses.
• Hardy geranium: Loose, flowering ground cover between the bushes.
• Lady’s mantle: Fresh green leaves and yellow sprays as a soft front edging.
• Woodland sage: Violet-blue spikes, a classic pairing with pink and white roses.

Garden rose: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and October–November.

1. Plant bare-root roses in October–November or March–April; potted roses can go in later too, but these months are best.
2. Soak bare roots in a bucket of water for a few hours and trim any damaged roots.
3. Dig a hole about 40 cm wide and deep and mix compost into the soil you dug out.
4. Set the rose so that the graft union, the swelling at the base of the stems, sits about 5 cm below the soil.
5. Backfill, firm the soil well and water in thoroughly, even if it is raining.
6. Mulch the soil around the rose with compost or well-rotted manure.

Care

Water

In dry spells, once a week deeply at the base, not over the leaves. Young roses and roses in pots need water more often.

Feeding

Rose fertiliser or organic feed in April and after the first flush in June. No feeding after July, so the wood can ripen.

Faded flowers

Cut them back to just above the first full leaf with five leaflets: it will flower again.

Mulching

A layer of compost or rotted manure in spring keeps the soil moist and feeds soil life.

Suckers

Shoots from below the graft union come from the rootstock and have different leaves: pull or cut them off at the base.

Tip: Prune back to 3–5 buds in late March, give rose fertiliser in April and June, and deadhead regularly: that way it keeps flowering into October.

Garden rose: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March.

When: Late March, when the forsythia is in flower and hard frosts are over. In summer, only deadhead.

How:

• First remove all dead, weak, diseased and crossing wood completely.
• Cut hybrid teas and floribundas back to 3–5 buds, about 15–25 cm above the ground.
• Cut at a slant, half a centimetre above an outward-facing bud, to keep the centre of the bush open.
• Prune English roses less hard: shorten them by a third to a half.

Caution: Don’t prune too early: after pruning in February, the young shoots can still be frosted.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings

In September–October, take 20 cm cuttings from sturdy shoots of this year, remove the lower leaves and push them two-thirds into the soil in a sheltered corner. Transplant after a year. Not every variety roots equally well.

Budding

In summer, nurseries graft a bud of the variety onto a wild rootstock. It takes some practice, but is easy enough to learn.

Garden rose: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −20 °C.

• Hardy to about −20 °C: no problem in most Belgian winters.
• In November, mound 15–20 cm of compost or garden soil around the base to protect the graft union. Remove it again in March.
• Roses in pots: stand the pot in shelter against a wall and wrap it in hessian.
• In autumn, clear up fallen leaves with black spots, so black spot does not overwinter.

Diseases and pests

• Black spot: Black spots with a yellow edge on the leaves, which then fall. Clear up affected leaves and do not water over the foliage.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on young leaves and buds, especially when the soil is dry and days are warm. Water at the base and allow air to circulate.
• Aphids: Green aphids on young tips and buds in May–June. Blast them off with a strong jet of water; ladybirds and parasitic wasps do the rest.
• Rust: Orange pustules on the undersides of the leaves. Remove affected leaves and choose a resistant variety.
• Few flowers: Usually too much shade, too little food or no deadheading.

Through the year

• March: Late March, prune to 3–5 buds. Remove the mounded soil. Plant.
• April: Give rose fertiliser and mulch with compost. Plant.
• May: Watch out for aphids. Remove suckers.
• June: First flush. Feed again after it.
• July: In flower. Deadhead. Water in dry spells.
• August: In flower. Clear up diseased leaves.
• September: Repeat flowering. Take hardwood cuttings.
• October: Last flowers. Plant bare-root roses.
• November: Plant. Mound up the base. Clear up fallen leaves.

Edible and useful

Flowers (June–September)

Only scented roses are worth it: if you smell nothing, you will taste nothing either. Many English roses and older varieties are strongly scented; dark red and pink roses give the best colour. Pick the flowers from June to September on a dry morning, when they have just fully opened, and shake them to remove insects. Pull off the petals and snip off the white base: it is bitter. Scatter them over a salad or a dessert, crystallise them to decorate a cake, or infuse them in vinegar or sugar. The damask rose recipes, such as rose petal cordial and jelly, also work with scented garden roses.

Storing

Fresh petals keep for a day in a closed box with damp kitchen paper in the fridge. To dry them, spread them in a single layer on a rack or sieve somewhere airy and out of the sun until crisp; in a closed jar away from the light they stay good for six months, for tea, bath salts or pot-pourri.

Caution: Only use roses that have not been sprayed: many garden roses are treated against black spot, mildew or aphids, on the leaves or in the soil. Do not eat the flowers of such bushes. Florists’ roses and newly bought plants from the garden centre are often treated: let new plants grow for a season first. If you are allergic to roses or have hay fever, you may react to the pollen: only use the petals. Watch out for the thorns when picking.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Crystallised rose petals (Other · ± 30 petals · 30 min + 1 to 2 days drying)
• Rose petal vinegar (Vinegar · ± 500 ml · 15 min + 2 weeks infusing)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• The hybrid tea ‘La France’ from 1867 is regarded as the first modern rose; roses from before then are called old garden roses.
• Truly blue roses do not occur naturally: roses lack the genes for the blue pigment delphinidin.
• Roses are related to apples, pears, cherries and strawberries: they all belong to the rose family.