Which roses grow well in the shade?

Roses are sun-loving plants and need 6-8 hours of sun. A rose planted in the shade will be challenged with fungal issues and it will bloom much less than a rose planted in the sun.

Do roses have to be pruned?

Roses do not NEED to be pruned but they will be healthier and bloom more throughout the growing season. Pruning instigates the growth of new productive canes. Newer canes produce more blooms. The better question is ‘why wouldn’t you prune?’

When I make a pruning cut do I have to slant the cut at a 45-degree angle away from the bud-eye?

Many rose growers prune and deadhead the blooms at a 45-degree angle away from the bud-eye. The theory probably started from the way fruit trees are pruned because of the sap that can ooze over the bud-eye. Roses don’t ooze when cut, so you do not need to make your cuts at a 45-degree angle. You can make your cuts straight across. It is however important not to cut higher than 1/4 inch above the bud eye, otherwise the cane will die back to the bud-eye and will sometimes continue to die back even further down the cane.

What is a bud eye?

The leaves on roses are actually leaflet sets. Leaflet sets on a rose spiral around a rose stem. At every leaflet set there is a bud eye. When we are pruning or deadheading, we are told to cut above a bud eye (or leaflet set) that is outward facing. This is because the rose directs its new growth in the direction of the bud eye. When we pick an outward-facing bud eye to make our cut, we direct growth away from the center of the plant. This achieves our pruning aim of ventilating the center of the bush.

I am seeing red growth on my roses. I am worried that it might be rose rosette disease.

New foliage on many cultivars is red and is not a sign of disease.  Red growth coming from the bud union are known as basal breaks. They are extremely desirable new growth which become the plant’s new vigorous canes. Basal breaks look very different to Rose Rosette Disease which is a viral disease of roses that is devastating. The growth is reddish, but it is also deformed, stunted and very thorny.

Should I add epsom salts to my roses to prompt new growth?

Many rosarians add epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to promote new basal breaks on bushes, but researchers have found no benefit to this practice in controlled and replicated trials.

My rose is supposed to have white blooms, but I am now seeing dark red blooms. I am really confused.

Check to see if the cane with the red blooms is coming from the bud union of your rose. If it is not coming from the bud union but is growing at a slight distance from the bud union, it is a sucker growing from the rootstock of your rose. Many grafted roses are grafted on Dr. Huey root stock. Dr. Huey has a dark red bloom. You must forcibly wrench the sucker out or it will take over.

My rose is supposed to be white but now some of the blooms are pink. The cane with the pink blooms is growing from the bud union of the rose.

You probably have a sport which is a spontaneous mutation from the bloom of the parent plant. When propagated a sport retains the different color and gives rise to a new variety of rose. A sport can revert back to the same growth as its parent.

What is the bud union?

On a grafted rose, the bud union is the swollen junction between the roots and the canes where the bud of the desired variety was inserted into the bark of the rootstock plant.

What is deadheading?

Deadheading is the action of cutting off spent blooms. We do this to keep the garden tidy and also to encourage repeat flowering.

What is a blind shoot?

A blind shoot is a stem that does not produce a bloom but instead terminates in leafy growth. It should be cut above one of the leaves so that the rose can try again to set a bloom. It is not clear why blind shoots develop but experts believe that weather fluctuations can be a contributing factor. Blind shoots may also occur when the rose is putting out more stems than it can support with corresponding blooms.

What is an own root rose?

This is a rose propagated from a cutting so that both roots and stems belong to one and the same rose.

There are leaves growing out of the center of my rose bloom!

This is known as phyllody or vegetative center. Some cultivars are susceptible to occasional leaf-like structures emerging from the center of rose bloom. They can be caused by environmental conditions such as hot weather, water stress or insect damage. It is nothing to worry about. Enjoy the anomaly.