Hi Sara! I’m not sure what variety of rose you have, but I think it is a hybrid tea. It sure is pretty! Your rose is still young, but as it grows it will produce more and more flowers. Roses have a big bloom in spring, then bloom intermittently throughout the summer, and then have another smaller bloom in fall, then bloom intermittently throughout the rest of the growing season until frost. Your rose will go dormant during the fall or winter. Just before it begins to wake up and leaf out (in California this is in January or early February, but it may be different depending on where you live) you should prune your rose. Jacksons Nurseries has a good explanation of how to do this:

“First, remove any crossing, dead, diseased or damaged stems - cut back at the base if necessary to eliminate over-crowding and create an open, goblet shape. Next, prune the remaining stems back hard to 10-15cm (4-6 inches) above the base.” (I would prune them back to a foot or a foot and a half above the base) “Any less vigorous (older) shoots can be shortened about 5cm further. Finally, clear any fallen leaves and debris from around the base of the plant to keep things tidy and reduce the risk of disease and fertilize using rose feed.”

People have different methods for fertilizing their roses. I like to fertilize my roses a couple weeks before I prune them. I use Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower Care fertilizer. Right after I prune them, I mix some compost and manure in the soil around the roses. Around three months later, I mix in additional compost and manure, and then let them do their thing. This helps them get a good start to the growing season. During the growing season you don’t really need to do much. Just water your rose 2 or 3 times a week, and cut back any spent flowers above the fifth leaflet.

There is a lot of good information on the Rose forum, and if you have any questions I will try my best to answer them.

I hope this helps!

damask_rose : )

Chicago peace?