They are usually grown in shade houses or glass houses to minimize stress and temperature swings, and they are watered and fertilized heavily. They may get fungicide and insecticide treatments to maintain perfect foliage and produce flawless flowers.

Then they get out into the real world of a garden and must adjust.

I have photos of Otto's Rose fields.

Mostly over head rainbirds, no shade or glass house, plenty of heat. And guessing a lot of fertilizer and specialized planting mix. (One of the last roses I got from them had so much peat and grit that the root ball fell apart as I took it out of the pot....only one I have had that issue with-guess most of my picks are not that popular)

And they only pull the best looking plants from the back stock.

What and where are Otto's rose fields?

I find that the best way to get them to bloom next week is to tell them to bloom in 2 weeks for the rose show. :

Otto & Sons is a primarily wholesale, with some retail, nursery in Fillmore, CA. They are in the right mix of coastal fog and inland valley heat where the roses suffer from the extreme heat and sun for a short period late in the year, and benefit from the moister, less intense heat the rest of it. In that climate, overhead watering IS the way to really push the plants. They're fed timed released fertilizer in a very well draining planting mix that is heavily sand and wood shavings. I'm sure they have to spray some pesticides and fungicides, but the climate is arid and hot enough to put down many outbreaks much of the year. Overhead watering helps knock down many issues with that heat and sun and keeps the plants cooled off during the worst of it. It also keeps them well hydrated, pushing lush growth and large foliage. When I had my old garden in Newhall, forty miles east and more inland from Otto, overhead watering with oscillating sprinklers produced amazing results. Enormous foliage, masses of flowers and very little disease and insect issues.

Hoovb is right, to push that kind of growth from all over the plant, they are fed, fed, fed and more fed, and pushed with regular water. Most of the feeding is through timed released fertilizers so each watering releases some food so they are on "life support". Constant, low dose nutrients always available with sufficient water to use them with. In more extreme conditions, shade houses are frequently used. Otto has them and uses them for special needs. Shade plants are grown in them. Late season bare roots have also been brought out of dormancy in them. Large special orders for specific stages of bud and bloom can also be accomplished using shade houses to either slow down development in milder conditions or push it during extreme heat.

Otto and Green Thumb/Arrow Growing Grounds in Canoga Park are the two primary large canned, bud and bloom rose sources in this area. But, even their selections have been severely reduced due to the loss of the large growers. They traditionally have offered budded stock from J&P, Week's, Star-Meilland and any other local sources who produce things they can sell and not obtain from the "majors". As the industry evolves, I'm sure things will change dramatically.

It was precisely this need to push bud and bloom when I managed Limberlost Roses OGR nursery in Van Nuys that led me to the "TPN disbudding" I've promoted here and elsewhere. Heavy feeding, regular water and not permitting the plants to set and mature flower buds, pushing greatly accelerated growth and development from slow to mature roses. On the large, commercial scale the former works perfectly, but they usually don't deal with the slow to mature types. Limberlost was a niche nursery, specializing in OGRs, both own root as well as budded. When you get the call a large (15 gal), mature, flowering specimen of a climbing Tea or yellow Tea-Noisette is required for a special function in two to three months, letting them do their own thing just does NOT work. Heavy feeding and disbudding worked every time. Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Otto & Sons

We are talking about bare-root roses that have been potted up, right? Growth buds popping all up and down the canes is normal for bare-roots, because the canes have been pruned down short. That's how bare-roots should grow out in the home garden as well.

(Not knocking O&S, maybe they do an extra good job.)

I prefer to think in terms of available nitrogen, not fertilizer. A potted plant typically has less competition from weeds and tree roots, which increases the available nitrogen compared to that of a typical rose garden. We have large vigorous plants and few weeds. A benefit of pulling weeds is that it helps to aerate the soil.

Roses roots not only need water, but they need air as well--it may be easier to achieve this balance with potted plants--or you may need to experiment to see what works best in your yard.

I quit buying from one of our best local nurseries because they feed their roses with sulfate of ammonia. They pot the roses in 5gal cans, and feed the heck out of them. They look gorgeous and full of buds and blooms. But the last several ones I bought from them, and paid a LOT for them, died shortly after they finished the blooming. Sulfate of ammonia is for LAWNS!! Not for roses.

Henry,
Are roses that much like humans?......That was great!

Michael,
I am NOT talking about bare root roses. But now that I've read what you all had to say about 'un-natural' handling of roses, I am going to watch my new ones very closely.

Roseseek,
What a great storehouse of knowledge you must have.

And Beth in NorCA,
I hope you are not talking about my favorite nursery. Which just happens to be where I got the last 7...Oh, I hope not.

Thanks to all,

andrea

Oh, Henry, I so agree! And my show is next weekend so of course they're all going to bloom this weekend, lol!

I've had a couple of experiences like Beth's too. I brought home this gorgeous blooming expensive rose only to have it grow backwards the rest of the season and die. Very disappointing.

I've noticed that too--a newly planted rose potted will show signs of heat stress on just the new growth--I attributed that to transplant shock but it may be the result of an inadequate root system as well. In either case, my solution doesn't change--I cut off the flower buds and distressed foliage so that the plant can work on its root system. I keep the leaves that don't show any signs of heat stress.

This post was edited by zack_lau on Fri, Jun 7, 13 at 8:59

Andrea, if you are talking about garden center roses in 2-, 3-, or 5-gallon pots, these were grown in fields, dug up as bare-roots, refrigerated, and then "canned" or potted up. So they started out as bare-roots with canes pruned to 12" or so, and that's why growth buds come all along the canes. Roses in the garden develop bare legs after a while because they are not pruned severely (which is OK).

Michael,

I didn't know that about the nursery process of potting roses. (along with about a million other bits of information about roses)

My new babies will go into the ground today. Any last minute cautions will be gladly accepted.

andrea

Michael,

Sorry, one last question...(what lie)

You said in another posting that it was ok to do a hard pruning on a rose if the lower canes were very long and VERY bare. My Pristine has canes the size of my thumb and bare up to about 2 1/2 to 3 ft. Can I prune this back to about 18"? And if it's ok, when can I do this?
andrea

Andrea, I prune my mature HTs to around 18" every spring when growth starts. For tall-growing varieties like Frederic Mistral and Elina, I may spring-prune to 12" once they have developed a whole lot of basal canes. However, I understand most California growers prune to 24" or 30", so I guess they find they get more flowers that way.

Understand that I don't have experience in California--but, If you think Pristine's bare knees are unsightly, I think you could cut her back to 18" at the end of spring or summer flush, but then she'll be bare for three weeks. The caveats that occur to me are that green bark could sunburn if it is very hot, and, if you don't irrigate much during summer drought, that could interfere with refoliation. Of course early next spring would be fine.

My experience is that the worst time to prune a rose is after the big spring flush--roses work very hard to put out flowers--they may sulk if you remove all the leaves by hard pruning after they have just bloomed.