I am in a frost-free (usually 0 chill hours) strip on the Southern California coast. We are in sandy, sterile soil and alkaline water. I grow mostly Teas, Chinas, and Noisettes, as these best-tolerate my very temperate climate.

Jeri

I grew roses in central and southeast Florida for 30+ years before retiring and moving to the mountains of northeast GA back in the fall of 08.

My garden is frost free in the mountains of northern California. Of course we do get snow, but there is no frost.

I think you would probably get better information if you were a bit more specific about your own climate.

Smiles,
Lyn

I'm in Karachi and the average chill hours we get is from 0 to 100 depending on how cold it gets. Winters are generally warmer now ..

Jeri I will look into teas chinas and noisettes. Would it be possible for you to share your pruning/fertilizing calender?

And generally how well do your roses grow in terms of vigour and flower size? What are the peak blooming periods?

Ken what roses did you grow?

And lyn if you get snow, i think your climate is still cold to my standards!! haha

Best

H

FYI Chill hours for fruit tree growers are hours below 7c or 45f not sure if roses count differently.

Up the coast an hour from Jeri, I can plant and grow fruit tree with low chill requirements (I prefer 200-300 but have luck with 400 hours as well)

With such a long growing season, I think the type of plants, amount of rain, and day time temperatures are also important to consider.

I looked up weather in Karachi, and it said that it is a humid warm weather climate (monsoon rains in the Summer, etc), whereas here in California we are more of a dry warm weather climate (no rain at all from March/April until Nov). So, you might do better if some folks in Florida like ken could give you some pointers.

Jackie

Here in Galveston we have limited frost hours. The warm climate basically allows most of my roses to flower year around as long as I take care of them in the heat. My wife's birthday is January 31 and last year several of my roses allowed me to cut flowers for a boquet on her Bday.

The non frost aspect though is less of a concern than factors such as humidity, blackspot, rust, etc.

Also, with roses growing almost year around, you have to be more aware of watering them if you have a dry winter.

I'm in my first season growing roses here in Pasadena but I can tell you that HT's, grandiflores and floribundas grow like weeds here and bloom endlessly if you feed and water a lot in the dry season. The best time to plant would seem to be December through March. Naturally they get larger the better you care for them so you eventually have to do severe pruning. I'm not sure if it is possible to stimulate basal growth but burying the graft and keeping it moist during the wet season is probably the best bet, Also starting cuttings seems to be quite easy here so I'm going to do a lot of that this winter.

On planting that would depend on if the rose in question is own root or grafted. If it is own root, plant it in the fall and it will bloom bunches in the spring.

Hi Dragoonsers
I live in Sydney and have 13 roses, including 3 very tough climbers. I don't know how easily you can get hold of the roses you want.

There are some easy roses for this warm climate. Do you have access to Australian bred roses? My (Alister Clark) Nancy Hayward climber is still young but starting to be the perpetual bloomer it's famous for being. I'd recommend you get it for your climate. I feed it with slow release rose food twice a year, and give it diluted weed tea now and then. I just snap off dead flowers and chop off any canes that make any moves to invade my neighbours' place. I'm a relatively new gardener but find this rose my easiest.

Jeri I'll see if I can get my hands on that book. Problem is tea roses I think will be hard to find. We have all sorts of Modern Roses but I don't think Teas (they have such weird proper gentlemen names) which I have never heard of locally. I do have this rose, I'll see if I can find a picture. Its own root and has been grown really well. I just attached a picture. What class do you think it belongs to? I like the shape. Its unlike the austins, and the modern ones.

Jackie you're right about the weather. Humid summers, dry winters and spring

KingCobb we don't get rust or blackspot (even though its so humid at times). Spider mites do attack often.. And most roses are grafted on centifolia.

Henry why not share some names?!

And Ross I don't think Australian roses are available. Most roses are modern, "wild ramblers" and austins are available too. I'll see what I can find though. Thank you for your suggestion!

I'm in SoCal, zone 10. The roses have a very long growing season, almost the entire year. They bloom throughout the year except for 2 1/2 months during the Winter. (The bushes still grow in the Winter, just more slowly, and without blooms, or the blooms are very rare) The Summer half of the year can be hot and almost never rains. But if you just keep the bushes watered, they will continue to send out abundant blooms over and over again. It's just the blooms do not last very long in the heat and dryness, each bloom may only last 3 to 5 days (in the middle of Summer).

If you don't mind watering the bushes every 3 days, consistently, it can be an easy place to grow roses. If you don't water, after 2 or 3 years of that the roses will get baked, and may eventually suffer permanently stunted growth that will never really come back.

I do have a Persian Yellow that grows very well in this climate, doesn't demand too much water in the Summer (although it only blooms once a year, sometimes a lesser flush later in the year too).