Simple Rose Care: Get Excited About Your Roses Again

If you had told me when I was an adolescent growing up in rural Iowa that I would one day love to grow roses I would not have believed you.  I took a job one summer for this elderly woman in town that involved removing all the weeds. I removed weeds from around her rose bushes which, was not the highpoint of my summer.  This elderly woman was known around town for her elegant rot iron black fence. The fence lined the permitter of her yard. Along the fence every couple of feet there was a red rose bush.  I think I only went a couple of times, and I was over that job. I had decided that there was nothing simple about rose care.

About 10 plus years ago I started growing Knock Out Red Roses.  I had inherited the Knock Out roses and did not do much to care for them back then. While they were pretty, I don’t remember them being overly spectacular.  When I moved into my south Chicago suburb house in 2018, I decided I wanted more out of my roses.  More color and more spectacular. However, I needed simple rose care, not hours of weeding. 

Simple Rose Care: Roses are and are not particular. 

Are Not Particular About Soil:

The Chicago Suburbs has clay soil. It has been a painful process to grow lots of things without having to pull out the clay and replace it with fresh dirt or grow things in raised garden beds.  One thing I like about roses is that since they have been planted, they don’t care about the clay soil. Roses can thrive in hard dry soil, and they seem to enjoy it and thrive in it. 

Are Drought Tolerant:

Of all the things I do water which is my lawn and vegetable garden.  I don’t ever seem to have to worry about watering my roses.  The roses catch some of the over spray of my lawn sprinklers. The roses also get rainwater when we get in the area which seems to be limited.  I don’t ever make a point to water my roses unless they are newly planted.  

Simple Rose Care: Roses are Resilient: 

I had one of my white roes that I counted for dead. Therefore, I chopped it all the way down to 2 inches from the ground in the fall in preparation to pull it in the spring to replace it.  By the time spring came this stump started to grow new green growth.  I decided to give it a chance and to my surprise it started to flourish.  It is now one of my largest and best blooming rose bushes. 

Roses are Beautiful:

With a little love roses add boundless months of beauty to your landscape.  A fully blooming rose bush has more flowers than a dozen roses. One rose bush makes a flower bouquet from the florist, pale in comparison. A rose bush also lives longer than vase roses.

Roses are multi-seasonal:

My roses start to green up and bloom in spring, tolerate the heat of summer and last through the late fall even into November and December for me. 

Simple Rose Care: Roses are not 100% carefree:

Well, if you don’t care about what your roses look like they will need some degree of care.  I have been to businesses that use red rock roses to adorn their landscape. Since they do nothing to care for them, and they look sad.  In the spring they may bloom a nice red, but then they end up looking all scraggly due to lack of care. 

Roses are not disease or insect tolerant:

Roses tend to be more susceptible to insects such as Japanese beetles, aphids, etc.  They can also develop black spots, powdery mildew, rust, etc.  I usually buy liquid fertilizer, insect, and disease treatment that is rose specific and apply to my roses when they start to green up for the spring and every 6 weeks during the growing season. 

Roses are not maintenance free:

To allow for months of beautiful blooms all year round I usually prune the spent rose flowers from the plant throughout the season.  My pruners I wipe the blades with rubbing alcohol prior to trimming to prevent transfer of diseases from other plants.  I use an angle cut when trimming but the perfect 45 percent angle I don’t think makes any difference when pruning.  I also prune branches that have leaves that have holes in them.

Overall, for the value and reward roses are one of my favorites to grow in my landscaping.  I have never regretted planting any of them and enjoy them from spring to late fall.  Top on my list of landscaping plants to use.  Happy gardening.