Hi,

You should go to the rose forum. There are a lot of very knowledgable people there who have helped me learn, over the last 5 years, all about growing them.

Your question is pretty broad once you get into the field of rose growing, but I have a couple questions to start you with.

One, do you know what kind of rose you bought? There are a great number of types: Hybrid teas, teas, floribundas, grandifloras, shrubs, species, rugosas, burbons, chinas, ramblers, the list is long but that covers most of it I think. If you are in a cold winter zone, and 5 can get pretty cold, you will have to baby most hybrid teas, you will be unable to grows teas and most bourbons and chinas, etc. The first thing you need to do is learn which roses do best in your climate. Reputable rose vendors will list the zone hardiness for each rose. In your zone (I used to live in zone 5 also) you might want to look into Buck roses, shrubs, species and "old roses," and rugosas if you want something that will survive your winters with ease. This is not to say that you can not grow other kinds of roses, but they will require greater effort.

The next thing to look into is disease resistance. Roses are subject to a great number of sicknesses such as blackspot, mildew, rust, etc. Usually these can be prevented with chemicals, but if you don't want to mess with that, choose varieties that are less prone to disease. A lot of pests like to feast on them as well--like Japanese Beetles, which have just finished running their course in my garden.

How did you plant this rose? And in what kind of location? In what kind of soil? With how many hours of sun per day? How much water did it get? Did it get exposed to any chemicals and/or vegieation killers? All these can be factors as well.

Rose growing, in all, isn't as complicated as this may make it sound. I don't really spend that much time working on mine at all. But the key is to get the right rose for your climate in the right location with the proper planting. It needs to stay watered well for the first season, and after that it will not need as much.

I recommend that you get a book or two about roses from the library and flip through them before you make any more decisions.

Good luck!

Jennifer

Also, I forgot to ask--where did you buy the rose and in what condition was it? Because the health of the rose when you put it in the ground is a major, major factor in its future health and survival.

It was my wife who bought it. I wasn't into gardening during those times. It was around 2004.

Thanks for all the advice folks! I really appreciate it.

Are roses high in maintenance?

Yes. In the grand scheme of gardening, roses are generally considered high maintenance :-) Scorpio has pointed out several reasons - most tend to be prone to at least a few insect and disease problems, often quite disfiguring. And they need regular fertilizing, watering and pruning to look their best. A lot of attention = high maintenance.

However in recent years, a number of rose hybridizers have focused on developing a number of "landscape" roses, sometimes referred to as groundcover roses. These tend to be lower growing, profuse blooming and usually, more disease resistant than the hybrid teas, etc. and do not require the same degree of fussing as do most other rose types. Look for ones tagged "flowercarpet", the "carefree" or "drift" series or any of the 'Knockout' roses.

However, if properly planted and given sufficient water, it is unusual for any rose to just up and die after a single season, unless it was not adequately winter hardy. Even with a nearly complete lack of attention, roses tend to be tough plants and can survive in gardens for many, many years, although they generally do not look their best without some care. I'd investigate planting location and techniques carefully before trying again.

Are roses high in maintenance?

roses are all the girlfriends you did NOT marry .... prior to your wife ... the insane ones that we all about... ME..ME ...ME .....

--------->>>>

you need highly amended water retaining soil .... and they need to be deeply watered almost everyday .... or they will die

you need to feed them at least 3 times per year.. ending soon enough that they harden off for winter in your zone .... or they will die

and you need to spray them for bugs and disease about every 4 weeks.. starting before the buds burst in spring.. and ending when you cover them with rose cones around thankgiving in zone 5 .... or they will die

then and even if you do everything perfect... you will lose about 1/4 of them per season .... i was up to a collection of about 100 ... pshaw ... one left ...

your presumption that the rose you had being zone appropriate.. is tentative ...

research out some of the more carefree ... z3 or 4 plants.. the re-blooming shrub roses.. i dont know the names ... and you should be in better shape than foo foo carp plants ...

good luck

ken

ps: go figure.. they are called carefree roses.. lol.. link below ....

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Rose species will vary a lot in their resistance to the diseases which prey on roses. Local knowledge will help you make good choices and save some of the anguish. Most communities have active local rose societies, go to their meetings and you will get lots of good suggestions. Al

I am growing some Knock Out roses for the first time in ground this year. One I got, Blushing KO, was a buy one, get one free deal last fall, and it bloomed all winter on my unheated, sunny front porch! I've moved it three times, now it's finally found a spot it likes and is blooming again. I haven't had too many Japanese Beetles, but they were present, hopefully they've run their course. I also have three Pink KO, they've bloomed continuously since June. I love these plants! They also come in Red and Rainbow (pink & yellow), plus double flowered varieties.

Choosing roses are just like choosing wives:) Go for low maintenance.
Love that comparison, Ken!

I'm with prairiegirl. The knockouts are exactly that. I tried the Double KNockout this year. It's the best one yet, in my opinion, because of its beautiful foliage and form.
I also recently added the new OSO Easy Paprika Rose, and it looks like a real winner too. The plants are very small, but arrived in the box blooming and haven't stopped a month later. This, in mid to high nineties ever since they were unpacked. They are just the loveliest shade of orange with a yellow throat, fading to a pretty coral before they neatly fall away. Good looking foliage too.

Yes. In the grand scheme of gardening, roses are generally considered high maintenance :-) [...] most tend to be prone to at least a few insect and disease problems, often quite disfiguring. And they need regular fertilizing, watering and pruning to look their best. A lot of attention = high maintenance.

I somewhat disagree - but everything depends on choosing the right rose and on the recognition that almost every rose is a compromise.

The Knockout series is a perfect example: Healthy and clean, no need for pruning, no need for any more fertilizing, soil prep or water than you would give any perennial. So what's the downside? They're not especially fragrant and most are singles (and lots of people won't tolerate either). I'm also not sure they're completely hardy in zone 5.

Darlow's Enigma is another. Healthy, hardy, fragrant. Doesn't need pruning, spraying or anything more complex than a shovelful of compost oonce a year. Downside? The flowers are presented as large clusters of small, single flowers.

Harison's Yellow is another. Healthy, hardy to Antarctica, fragrant, double flowers. A zero-care rose. What's wrong with it? It "only" blooms for about 5 or maybe 6 weeks in the spring.

If once-blooming isn't a deal killer for you, Ispahan, Charles de Mills, Armide and rosa glauca are all lovely roses, requiring no more care than your ordinary viburnum. Rosa glauca has the added advantages of nice foliage and bright red hips.

If single flowers aren't a deal killer, most of the rugosas have everything most rose lovers want - heady, carrying fragrance, repeat bloom, excellent cold tolerance, pleasant foliage, bright fruit and little or no disease (you can't spray them anyhow).

You just have to decide what features mean the most to you and choose the roses that can deliver.

I would also mention that if you're in an area where Japanese beetles are present, repeat blooming roses are often nothing but heartache. You get a great spring flush and a great autumn bloom cycle, but everything in between is Beetle Chow. Once-bloomers usually finish before the JBs arrive.

I live in northern Vermont and love roses, especially the hybrid teas. I want fragrance and beautiful form, so I was willing to treat them as annuals and watch them die after a year. However, my husband and I have figured out how to successfully overwinter roses, and almost all are the hybrid teas. In November, we trim them back to about 18" and place trash bags filled with chopped oak leaves all around and on top of them. Maybe 8 bags per plant. It helps that we have lots of oak trees! Hubby also mounds lots of soil and leaves over the rose stumps. I don't remove the bags of leaves until mid to late March. Most survive, although some might lose a cane or two. Another trick I seem to have figured out is to grow the hybrid teas in a very large pot! Last year was my first time doing this and the rose (a yellow grandiflora type) grew quite tall and produced many flowers. In November, I rolled the pot on its dolly into our garage. I didn't cut it back at all and only watered it about once a month. By March, it was already growing new leaves and is now a very tall specimen! Blooms its head off. Now I've added a "Chicago Peace" to my potted rose collection, along with a tree rose. All will stay in the garage this winter. These potted up roses have far fewer problems than the ones I grow in soil. Almost no black spot or Japanese beetles. Can't figure that out.

note that leslies .. in z7 ... makes claims about hardiness ...

trust me.. zone 5 is no z7 in winter ...

i would tend to vtandrea winter protection scheme in regard to growing in z5 ....

THE WORST THING IN Z5 ... in winter.. is the freeze/thaw cycles in winter... if the plant remains frozen ... it will live.. hence rose cones... or garbage bags .. etc ...

on a sunny 30 degree day .. the half of the cane/stalk facing the sun.. can thaw.. and refreeze at night... keeping in mind that the roots are fully inactive in the permafrost ... hence ... pumping no water for the thawwing canes ....

i came up with this to sum it up.. many years ago:

the first time it happens.. the rose will roll with it ...
the second time it happens.. the rose will be hurt ... and damaged ..
the third time.. the rose says the heck with you and dies ...

like all plants in z5 ... get it dormant ... keep it dormant... and you will succeed ... any coming out of dormancy in mid winter spells death ...

the biggest problem being.. the unpredictability of snow cover.... bury under two feet of snow.. ALL WINTER .... and they will live, but the parts above the snow will die off ...

then rolls along that winter with barely no snow cover and they die all the way to the root zone.. because the lack of permafrost.. ground freeze .. kills them down below the graft ...

go with the simple shrub roses.. noted above....ken

PS: i knew a guy in royal oak MI z5 ... who had 900 roses or so .. potted on his driveway ... and put them all in the garage every winter ... and still lost 100 per year ...

note that leslies .. in z7 ... makes claims about hardiness ...
trust me.. zone 5 is no z7 in winter ...

Ken, I saw where the poster was posting from and I myself gardened in zone 5, an honestogod zone 5 with long spells of -10 nights, for many years. Indeed, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the roses I now grow were moved here from my zone 5 garden. The ones I left behind had all been there for four or more years and were large and lush. I did lose roses to cold in z5, but I did not suggest any of those roses to the OP.

Many of the old garden roses and rugosas, grafted and ownroot, are cane hardy in zone 5, with or without snow, with or without midwinter thaw, rain, ice or wind. No rose cones, no tipping, no mounding, no nuthin'. Of course, this kind of hardiness is rarer among repeat bloomers and almost absent in the hybrid teas.

Even on the very hardy roses, you lose the occasional tip, but you trim off the dead stuff in spring exactly the same way you would do for any other plant that got a little frostbit.

It all comes down to planting the right rose.

There is an enormous variation in roses, just like perennials. If somebody would ask 'What is the proper maintenance for perennials?', the reply would have to start with asking for a lot more information. Roses are the same way. There isn't a single blanket statement I've ever heard about roses that I couldn't come up with a counter example to refute it.

If you want hardy roses, just make sure you plant hardy roses. The same for disease resistance. The hardest thing is to find reliable sources of information. The best is if you can find people in roughly your part of the world that actually grow the roses in roughly the same fashion you intend to. If you don't want to spray, try to listen only to people who also don't spray. They will give you the best information

no offense meant leslies ....

just warning peeps [newew to gardening] that info can vary by zone ....

anyway.. you must have had one special little microclimate in your zone 5 .... that i surely did NOT have in my zone 5 ...

ken

Ken, if you are managing to damage the really hardy roses in a mere zone 5, you really need to explain to the rest of us exactly what you are doing because that isn't an easy trick.

Now understand that we aren't talking about the roses the garden centers say are hardy to zone 5, but roses that are truly hardy to zone 5. The ones that can easily handle multiple winters that flirt with -20°F, and yawn at -30°F. However, usually to find out which ones those are you have to ask the people who have done it. You've probably never heard of any of these roses.

Did you know that there are roses that fall under the category of 'Native Plants'?

I have been growing Rugosas (I have a Blanc de Couthbert, Hansa and Species Rugosa). They have done very fine, except that the Species rugosa has mysteriously having its leaves turn yellow and then "dry-up" after flowering. However new leaves do appear. Since they have been flowering pretty consistently for 3 years, I did do the unthinkable - put in fertilizer. I hope I have not killed them, but so far they dont look too bad.

The rugosa's do develop blacksopt, do need watering, and do required mulching. They multi-bloom, very fragrant, do get destroyed by Japanese beetles (though this year I actually had some grub-ex and the beetles were much fewer). Also, the other roses I have 2 English Tea and a Cookies and Cream got attacked by some caterpillars - but not the rugosa's. Finally the Cookies and Cream seems to be a JP beetle and blackspot magnet.

I would recommend rugosa's to anyone. I wonder how the other's will do. I did apply the fertilizer in September, hope that it does not kill them..

Sigh..

I live in zone 5 and haven't lost any roses. Buy from a reputable nursery around your area so they'll sell you hardy enough roses, and you'll be good. I do mulch my roses after the first frost, but I never cut them down, or do anything special to them.
It matters where your roses are located, too. I water my roses three times a week and they're located on the west side of my house. Please don't give up on roses! :)

I'm in Wisconsin and I've got over 50 roses. I didn't do any winter protection last year either. Roses do require more care than other plants if you don't pick the right rose for your climate. If you want roses that look like the ones from the florist then you have to do some more work.

First, decide whether or not you are willing to spray. If you are then it opens up a lot more options. If you aren't, then you'll have to do a lot of research on what is disease resistant in your area. There are many different fungus that roses can get and each climate is different as far as what fungus is around and what roses are resistant.

Second, buy from a good nursery. Cheap bareroots from a discount store often won't make it because they're dried out and stored improperly. You want to spend some money here on a plant that starts out in good shape.

Third, plant deep. Most roses are grafted on a rootstock and that bud union where the two parts are joined is very sensitive. Plant it at least 4 inches down and that will protect it.

Fourth, keep it healthy. If you are spraying then set up a regular spray program. If you aren't, then keep it watered. Roses like an inch of water a week. Be sure to plant it in a spot that gets good sunlight and isn't too crowded.

Fifth, let it rest before winter. Don't fertilize a month before the first freeze and stop deadheading. Don't prune it. You want the rose to know that it can rest.

Lastly, clean it up in the spring. Do a dormant spray of lime sulfur if you aren't doing other spraying. When it starts to warm up cut off all the dead canes and keep an eye on it. My roses often get canker in the spring (dark areas on the canes) and that must be cut out quickly to save the rose.

By following these rules I've been able to grow almost any rose. Last year I lost two roses in the spring out of about 30 or so. One rose I don't know what happened to it and the other died of canker and won't be replaced as I think that spot is just too wet for roses. I've even got a florist rose out there that does fine. I spray, so if you aren't spraying then you have to be a lot more picky about what you plant as you need the rose to be healthy in order for it to survive the winter and grow well in the spring.

Hi,
I didn't see this post earlier in the year and I'm sad I didn't. I don't spray, hardly ever fertilize, never water my roses(except new plantings of course,) and don't winter protect. No one is going to say I don't have amazing roses. You can say I have a lot of other things wrong gardenwise, but not that. : )
I do take care when originally planting them by digging good sized holes amending with compost, peat moss, and a bit of bone meal. I mulch them well. I don't fertilize again until at least a month and definitely not until I see new growth. I don't fertilize except adding compost after Sept. starts. I'm more generous with the fertilizer until the roses mature, and then I don't fertilize unless the plant seem to be doing poorly.
I get some foliage disease on a few of my roses by the end of the year, but nothing to worrisome and most look as good as they did early in the year. I used to use the Cornell Formula when I did spray for black spot. I've tried to make a well rounded garden with a variety of plants, and I think it seems to have helped a lot in the over all health of everything.
Remy
PS There are some very similar photos on the album since I haven't decided which ones I like best. That is a winter task : )

Here is a link that might be useful: This Year's Rose Photos

Sorry to bump up an old post but I grow aruond 400 rose bushes in Northern Illinois so maybe I could help. The first thing I did was to pour thru hundreds of rose forum posts trying to learn all I could. I've learned a lot over the years but always more to learn. Most important in our area is roots (own root or grafted). I much prefer own root, any rose bought at say a walmart store is grafted on to another root stock if graft freezes your rose will die. The root stock may come back but it will be a different rose than you bought. The graft must be placed underground, I bury mine 4 to 6 inches under. They have done so much with diease resistant and northern hardy roses lately I'm trilled. Some great roses for us are Bailies Roses hybridized by Ping Lim. Can find these at quality local nurseries. Flower carpet roses came out with new colors this year can't wait to get amber, looks gorgeous. Another relitively new rose series is the oso easy line. Have not found a good place for them yet. These are a good start for easy to grow yet pretty roses. A good place to begin another obbession. Keep in mind that even roses with great diease resistance can have problems in their first year. They begin to grow with abandon but their roots are very small it takes a couple years to grow a good root system. Gosh theres so much more but read old posts at rose forum you will learn a lot. Sorry this was so long. Good Luck, Pat Oh, with these roses dont worry when the plant dies back in the winter just cut off whats dead,shape up whats left even if nothings left it well come back.