All for Roses: Are "experts" the reason for....

the negative perception of rose growing? There is a lot of information that people are given to grow roses. Some good, some not so much, and quite a bit that could be confusing. Sometimes, I wonder if roses "experts" do more harm than good giving advice.

I was reading a local gardening publication that comes out during the growing season. There is an article on roses each month by a former "rosarian with … botanical garden" (from the bio in the publication, with the name of botanical garden removed by me) and is a member of the rose society, as well as at one point having a rose nursery. So I feel that it is believed that this person is considered an "expert" on roses. The March article was about things to do in the rose garden in the spring. There were several things in it that I would like to address here.

"My first thought is don't uncover your roses until April 15."

I get covering to try to protect roses from the cold, and in some zones this may be necessary. However I question using a date to use as the uncover time. Granted in this area April 15th is generally considered the last frost date, but it has snowed in the 3 years I have been here after the 15th. I think that people should use their eyes, and look at the forecast when it comes to uncovering roses. If there is a ton of growth happening and you wait too long, you run the risk of damaging new growth when uncovering, and other issues may arise as well.

"Start by cleaning up any climbers … by cutting the lateral canes back to 4 bud-eyes and removing any dead or diseased canes. This will encourage more bloom along the main canes, by trimming the lateral canes you will get blooms at the ends of the lateral canes."

My first thought was "what?". The more I reread the paragraph I realized that she was saying that you should shorten the lateral canes. which are those canes that are coming off the main canes. I think that how long you lateral canes should be reduced to is dependent on what you are trying to do. If you are trying to have a rose run along a long fence, then you are probably goring to what as long as you can lateral canes. Ideally if you have a long fence you probably would find it easier to cover with more than one rose, but that may not always be possible. Also if you are training you laterals more horizontally than vertically, then the plant is more likely to have the bud eyes grow, allowing for more blooms from the laterals without you having to get into the plant and prune it. I do agree with cleaning up the cleaning up dead and diseased canes.

"Next job is to clean up your shrub roses. All roses appreciate a good pruning and that includes the 'Knock Out' family of roses. Thin out center of the plants by removing crossing canes … as well as any spindly, broken or diseased canes. Trim about 1/3 of the plant's growth."

No!!! Not all roses appreciate pruning. If you have Old Garden Roses that are once blooming, or even once blooming climbers, pruning in the spring makes it where you are removing that years' blooms. For the size I wouldn't remove more than a third of the plant if needed, but that is the max, not the required. I have found that roses, as well as many other plants, are actually happier and quite of healthier with less pruning. Do prune out dead and diseased canes. Crossing canes can come out as well, but not every roses needs pruning, wants pruning, or appreciates pruning. Adding extra work to growing roses doesn't make it an enjoyable task of growing roses. I would also say that David Austin roses (English roses) are happier with lighter pruning than a remove a certain amount of growth every year.

"Check with local nurseries to see what they have. As consumers we must make it known that we are interested in the hybrid tea, floribunda, and grandiflora roses and support the nurseries that carry them."

While I agree with checking with local nurseries, and not just limiting to big box stores, don't limit yourself to just the "big three" categories of roses. If all the nurseries ever heard was I want the Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, and Grandiflora roses, then eventually the smaller groups of roses will find themselves not in commerce, and yes I am including David Austin roses in the out of commerce category with that strategy. Go to local nurseries, find out who it is that purchases plants/roses for them and contact that person. Let them know what you want and try to get them to order those roses. The "big three" roses knocked other classes of roses out of commerce at least once before, it is our responsibility to not let it happen again.

"There are many mail-order sites that sell roses. … If you order bare-root roses through a catalog, be sure they ship no later than ... (the date that is best for your area, added by me, article gave specific location) When the roses are potted the timing is not as critical. A potted rose can be planted any time. Usually the potted roses are own-root and very tiny. The rose will need to be babied for the first year but I have heard they usually do well. I do not recommend mail-order simply because you do not know what you are getting and the price is very high."

Wow. There are several things in that. I do agree that if you go the mail order route for bare-root roses you should have them shipped so you can plant them at the appropriate time for your location.

While you can plant potted roses any time the ground isn't frozen, there are better times than others. Planting roses, or much of anything, bare-root or own-root, in the middle of summer isn't as ideal as in the fall or spring.
I think that you have to be careful in generalizing size and types of what you are receiving. I know of a few mail-order companies that send plants in gallon plus size pots. There may also be a few that sell grafted roses. Also bare-root roses maybe be the size of some own root roses that are potted when you receive them. Own-root roses can be shipped bare-root as well.

My gripe with the last sentence is that over all most mail-order companies do their best to send you what you ordered. There are mistakes made, and some companies have a reputation to be more mistake prone than others, but to say you don't know what you are getting isn't fair to probably 85+% of the mail-order companies out there. However how many times do you walk down the big box stores and see a potted roses labeled something like "cut flower" or "patented rose" and not necessarily a name? I have seen it often. And if you buy a bare-root rose from a big box store, you can't be certain that rose is labeled accurately until it blooms. The part of "the price is very high" isn't always correct. There are many local nurseries that I have gone to in Georgia, Oregon, and Missouri that for the price that they are selling the rose plant, I could have ordered the same rose mail-order for slightly more than half of the price due to shipping. Granted there are some expensive mail-order rose companies out there, but if you know where to look you can find decently priced, mail-order nurseries; often cheaper than buying it in person. Here is a link to a list of a few: https://allforroses.blogspot.com/2021/12/more-affordable-rose-nurseries.html