With so many questions about roses being asked we have gathered your inquires and created a full guide answering all your rose questions.
How Hard Is It To Grow Roses?
Roses are easy to grow but you need to make sure your selecting the right variety for what you are trying to achieve. Generally roses need the three basics to be happy sun, water and fertilizer.
- Sun: Roses are sun loving plants you can place them in part shade along the edge of tree line. However less sun they receive the less likely they are to produce blooms.
- Water: These plants need a good amount of water this will vary greatly by your location. But a good rule of thumb is 1″ of rain water per week. If you have a sandy soil more may be needed.
- Fertilizer: A good rose fertilizers mid spring followed by additional treatments once a month is best. Try to use a slow release fertilizer (paid link) to avoid plant burn.
Following these three guidelines will greatly improve your rose growing successes.
When roses bloom?
Roses bloom at varying times of spring to early summer and will continue to bloom into early fall. You will want to look at your rose variety for more detailed times. Climbing roses often push growth before blooms where as a bush variety my start to produce blooms earlier.
How long do roses take to grow?
Roses are quick growing plants. The typical rose will reach its full mature height in 3-4 years and will reach that size every season after even if heavily pruned. Learn more about pruning roses in this post. As for mature size this is determined by the variety chosen and can range from 8 inches tall up to 18 feet tall.
Why are my garden roses drooping?
In most cases the main culprits for drooping roses are lack of water. The plant pulls water from the tips of stems to survive droughts this causes a drooping effect. Severe weather with fast wind speeds will also cause some taller roses to droop. To resolve this try adding a plant support around the base of the rose or plant more robust plants next to the rose to act as a wind break.
Difference between standard rose and garden rose
The difference between a standard and garden rose is more of a florist definition. Basically a garden rose has a softer more ruffled petal where a standard rose petal is pointed.
Garden rose vs peony
Are garden roses and peonies the same? I short answer is no although roses and peonies share similar traits, they are not the same. Some key differences to note are
- Plant life: Peonies have been known to live to be 100 years old where most roses have a life of 10-15 years.
- Blooms: are the biggest difference Peonies bloom early spring into early summer. Roses are just starting to bloom when the peonies are finishing which makes them a great option to pair together for full season blooms.
- Shade tolerance: Peonies will tolerate more shade than roses this is especially true in warming climates.
How To Get Rid Of Aphids And Spider mites On Roses?
What causes Aphid and spider mite infestation?
Aphids and mites are attracted to stressed plants. When you transplant an new plant it shocks the plant which causes a lot of stress as the new planting try’s to establish roots and mineral needs. Insects like aphids and mites can sense the stress and will attack the plant. Make sure new plants have a good fertilizing and water system to reduce this problem.
Second cause of infestation is disease. There are many diseases in the rose family you may even buy a new plant with these problems. Unfortunately in most circumstances removal of the plant is the best option. Remember to never compost a diseased plant. The 5 most common rose diseases are:
- Black Spot: black spots covering the leaf surface Often caused by wet warm or humid periods.
- Powdery Mildew: A greyish-white powder that covers the whole plant. Cool shaded cover can be a leading cause to this problem.
- Crown Rot: The base of the crown rots away often from being planted below the soil level
- Rose Mosaic: A yellowing of the leaves from pour watering and low temps
- Stem Canker: A fungus that enters the rose canes through opens in the stems usually from poor pruning or winter damage.
Three ways to get rid of spider mites on roses naturally are:
- Physically remove them: Use your hands to scope them into a bucket of water or a garden hose works well to wash them off the plant.
- Neem Oil: Neem Oil is seen as a organic and safe way to repel spider mites. It can be purchased in concentrate or per mixed. Neem Oil works best when treatment is started before mite sightings but after a few weeks of application will reduce the number of spider mites.
- Insecticidal soap: This is a harmless way to treat plants but is only affective if the mite count is small.
Treatment of aphids on roses
For a natural treatment of aphids on roses, the same treatment used for spider mites apply here.
Although we encourage gardeners to use organic methods which help in the preservation of good insects we understand that not all are readers prefer to garden or can garden in that way so here are some non organic options to remove aphids and mites from your roses.
- Ortho Rose Pride Insect Killer
- Bio Advanced Rose and Flower Insect Killer
- Bonide Rose RX ( Bonide does have a organic option as well ) paid link
Non organic treatments should be done in early morning or late afternoon to minimize the effect on good insects such as ladybugs and bees. You can also swap treatment cycles from non organic to organic to lesson the impact of the treatments while still getting the results you want. For more organic options to get rid of bugs in the garden, check out this post.
We hope all your rose questions where answered. We will address other rose care in future guides until than enjoy a bountiful bloom of roses.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may receive compensation at no additional cost to you.
