Heirloom Roses' Blog for Rose Growing and Gardening

ROSES IN SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA? YES, IT IS POSSIBLE HERE
By Francis Walcott

(submitted in 1994)

First, physical and climatic conditions where I grow them. Altitude is just over 4000 feet. Climate is extremely variable. Most winters, but not all, temperatures drop to -40 ° or below, but usually for only a few nights, then sometimes, especially with a good Chinook wind, it can rise dramatically, up to +50 ° or 60 °. That doesn’t last long either. Generally nights are between -10 ° and +25 °. Usually there is not much snow, and it doesn’t last long enough to provide a good plant covering. Here it is flat, and the cold air can settle. The last freeze in spring is generally no later than early May, but sometimes in June. The first autumn frost is usually mid to late September, but in 1992 in hit on August 25th. In spring and early autumn the temperature spread routinely exceeds 50 ° or even 60 °. In summer afternoon high temperatures are usually in the 80′s but can top degrees. Lows are generally in the 40′s. This is a semi-arid area without much rain but ample water available from the snow runoff from the Bentooth Mountains just to the south. All in all it is not a benign climate, but a good mixing of the roses grow well for me. Specifically, what roses grow well here? I am, of course, listing only those I grow in my garden. No doubt there are others, but these I know about.

• The Albas: most, but not all of them. ‘Köenigin von Dänmark (‘Queen of Denmark’), ‘Alba Maxima’, ‘Great Maidens Blush’ and R. alba suaveolens do well.
• Centafolias, mostly. I have ‘Fantin Latour’, ‘Paul Ricault’ and Rosa Centifolia’.
• Damasks: The most successful is R. damascena trigintipetala now call ‘Kazanlik’ by the American Rose Society. Also fine and vigorous are ‘Madame Hardy’, ‘Celsiana’, ‘Gloire de Chambord’ is outstanding. ‘Marbree’ is fine.
• A few Bourbons do very well with some winter protection including ‘Madame Isaac Pereire’ and ‘Gruss an Teplitz’, maybe ‘Louise Odier’.
• Most of the Moss roses do well. I grow ‘Alfred de Dalmas, ‘Madame Louis Leveque’, ‘Communis’, ‘Comtesse de Murinais’, ‘White Bath, ‘Henri Martin’, ‘William Lobb’, ‘Soupert et Notting’, ‘Marie de Blois’, ‘Duchesse de Verneuil’, ‘Salet’ and ‘Gloire des Mousseux’.
• Many Kordesii are fine here, but not all of them. I have ‘Heidelberg’, Morgengrüss’, ‘Leverkusen’ and ‘Goldstern’.
• The species rugosas, of course, are sturdy. At least some the hybrids are too, especially ‘Will Alderman’, ‘Blanc Double de Coubert’, ‘F. J. Grootendorst’, ‘Belle Poitevine’, ‘Moje Hammarberg’, and my candidate for the most inaccurately named ever, ‘Delicata’. It is not the least bit delicate but extremely tough and vigorous.
• A good many Gallicas do very well here including ‘R. gallica officinalis’ (now ‘Apothecary’s Rose’), ‘Rosa Mundi’, ‘Hippolyte’, ‘Complicata’ and ‘Duc de Guiche’.
• Some Hybrid Perpetuals get by here with care. These include ‘Paul Neyron’, ‘Henry Nevard’, ‘Cardeur Lyonnaise’, ‘Marchionesse of Lorne’, ‘Souvenir du Dr. Jamain’, ‘Baronne Prevost’ and George Arends’, General Jacqueminiot’ seems the hardiest of the lot.
• Two Griffith Buck roses that do well are ‘Carefree Beauty’ and ‘Summer Wind’.
• All four Hybrid Spinosissima I have planted here have done very well: ‘Frülingsgold’, ‘Karl Förester’, ‘Stanwell Perpetaul’ and especially ‘Suzanne’.
• That’s also true for the Moyessi group. All three I have are excellent and hardy: ‘Marguerite Hilling’, R. moyessi superba and ‘Nevada’.
• The Eglantine ‘Magnifica’ and R. rubrifolia grow well here.

Lastly, and sturdiest of all, are the Canadians. All the Explorer series I have planted are excellent. Best has been ‘John Cabot’, the earliest in my garden, most vigorous and constantly in bloom. Also fine are ‘Martin Frobisher’, ‘John Davis’, ‘William Baffin’ and ‘Henry Kelsey’. I have not yet had enough experience with the Morden series but they should be fine. An earlier introduction from Morden, ‘Prairie Dawn’, does very well.

These roses do well for me under my sometimes difficult conditions. There is no guarantee as to how well they might do in any other garden.

By Miriam Wilkins (Lecturer and Active Member of Master Gardeners), El Cerrito, California

Fifteen years ago Miriam Wilkins founded the Heritage Rose movement, which has now spread to England, France, Australia, and New Zealand. She is renowned for her knowledge of roses and her work to make the old roses popular. Her garden in El Cerrito, on San Francisco Bay in California, has been visited by about every famous rosarian in the world. Now seventy-five, she lectures frequently, writes a semi-annual Roser’s Digest and travels, visiting rose gardens of the world. She most recently visited rose gardens in France and Germany with special interest in the largest rose collection in the world at Sangerhausen.

The mosses are the most romantic of all classes. Victorian gentlemen thought so and sent their loves greeting cards imprinted with these extravagantly fringed roses. If your plants are not producing equally beautiful blossoms, perhaps you have not met the simple requirements. Do not crowd the bushes, for they do need good air circulation.

The first mosses sported on centifolias. Later, hybridizers crossed them with damask varieties hoping to achieve repeat bloom. Not all damask mosses will rebloom after the initial period. Your catalogs will tell you which do. Centifolia moss is soft to the touch, damask moss, stiff.
Start with the loveliest of all, Rosa centifolia muscosa, the ‘Common Moss’ or ‘Old Pink Moss’. You will have a typical cabbage shape framed by the mossy cabbage sepals. ‘General Kleber’ comes the closest to it. For a repeat pink try ‘Salet’ or ‘Soupert et Notting’ but they will not equal the original charmer.

If you desire a cheery accent, ‘Henri Martin’ can’t be outdone, a bright red, fairly double bloom on a bush that can go to eight feet or more. On his own roots, he is definitely a traveling man, so give him space. Once established, this rose is not easy to prune, but doesn’t suffer if neglected.
The more contained mosses, if repeat blooming, may be pruned during dormant season, as you’d prune hybrid teas. Rose show judges will be impressed by the larger blooms. Perhaps the loveliest roses result from this treatment. Cut back the once-bloomers right after they bloom in summer. Take off straggly growth and shape to suit yourself, some preferring balanced bushes and a neat effect. One of the most deeply toned is ‘Nuits de Young’, a dark red-purple, classy. ‘William Lobb’ is lighter, purple-lavender and vigorous. I enjoy ‘Goethe’, two-inch red, single roses in clusters. This bush may reach five feet.

I can’t grow ‘Deuil de Paul Fontaine’ which probably needs a hotter climate. When its happy, it is gorgeous – purple red and repeat blooming. Other repeaters are: ‘Alfred de Dalmas’, blush; medium-red ‘Eugenie Guinnoisseau’; deep-red ‘Mine de la Roche Lambert’; pink ‘Salet’; the ‘Perpetual White Moss’ which blooms in mossy clusters.

Everyone knows and grows Rosa centifolia cristata, ‘Crested Moss’ or ‘Napolean’s Hat’. The intricately folded sepals form a three-cornered effect and enhance the cabbage style rose of deep pink. If you order ‘Gloire des Mousseux’ from the U.S., you will have a pink rose with an unusually large hypanthium and good mossing. If you order it from abroad, you will receive a rose similar to ‘Mine Louis Leveque’ except that it won’t mildew.

Our ‘Mine Louis Leveque’, if well grown, is a delight, excellent in arrangements, indeed the focal point. ‘The Striped Moss’ is not large, but sweet. ‘Muscosa Japonica’, the Japanese moss, has unique velvety mossing, a somewhat awkward look to the stem and bloom. You couldn’t be disappointed in ‘Comtesse de Murinais’, ‘Duchess de Verneuil’, ‘Jeanne de Montfort’, ‘Marie de Blois’, or ‘Marechal Davoust’.

Peruse the moss section and add some to your order. They will lend enchantment to your garden.

Growing Roses in Minnesota (Zone 3A) 

By Patti Gates Gardener (Lecturer and Active Member of Master Gardeners)

I live in zone 3A in Minnesota where the average frost dates are May lst and the 2nd of October. We have had frost into the first week of June and seen its return on the 3rd of September. Minnesota’s weather is always a challenge to gardeners.

Last winter was unusually long and hard in Minnesota. There was record cold and snow in winter. Spring had record cold and flooding, and now June is hot and dry with below average rain. The majority of winter damage we saw in our rural setting was vole and rabbit damage as high up as 4 feet on the roses. A number of us have maintained the Rose Research Garden in Bunk Hills Park in Andover for the past seven years. The mainstays of our garden are the hardy shrub roses, while nibbled quite a bit, are on their own roots and have come back. We add 10-10-10 fertilizer in the spring and again after the first flush of bloom on the hardy roses. We stop dead-heading (removing spent blooms) on the 1 2nd of August. Since we want to harden off the rose canes, we do not add any Nitrogen fertilizer to any of our roses after this date. We do not spray our roses. We try to keep the garden friendly for beneficial insects including ladybug nymphs, lacewings, and adult ladybugs, bees and soldier beetles that pollinate. Research has shown that planting alyssum as a border around the beds will aid in the control of aphids on the roses.

Once Rugosa roses have leaves in the spring, they hate being sprayed for insects or fungi. The sunlight shines on tiny droplets of water on leaves and acts as a tiny lens and bums the foliage and the blooms die. Rugosas also are hardy under difficult conditions: high winds, salt sprays, and dry gardens. They do not need as much water as other roses and are resistant to black spot. ‘Hansa’ has clove scent and is the hardiest cultivar in the violet-red colored roses with double blooms that appear in June. ‘Jens Munk’ tends to attract aphids but they do not bother the bush. It has at least 50 buds and 50 flowers at one time. It continues to bloom into October, until the snow flies. ‘Therese Bugnet’ is another rose I enjoy. I like the red, nearly thomless canes and the fragrant, double soft pink repeat blooms.

Our Canadian Roses include ‘Champlain’, ‘Charles Albanel’, ‘David Thompson’, ‘John Franklin’, ‘Henry Hudson’, ‘Jens Munk’ ‘Martin Frobisher’, ‘William Baffm’, ‘Adelaide Hoodless’, ‘Cuthbert Grant’, and ‘Morden Centennial’.

Some other winter hardy roses in our gardens include ‘Agnes’, ‘Austrian Copper’, ‘Belle Poitivine’, ‘Carefree Beauty’, ‘F.J. Grootendorst’, ‘Hunter’, ‘Pink Grootendorst’, ‘Magnifica’ and ‘Sir Thomas Lipton’, ‘Pink Meidiland’ and ‘Pompon de Bourgogne’. ‘Nearly Wild’ is our hardy modem shrub rose, and Rosa Glauca (Rosa Rubrtfolia) our Species rose. The following also weathered the winter unscathed: ‘William Baffm’, ‘William Lobb’, ‘Elveshom’, ‘Topaz Jewel’, ‘Salet’, ‘Reine des Violettes’, ‘Mary Rose’, and ‘Abraham Darby’, which is my favorite English Rose with its full blooms and fruity fragrance that will perfume your whole house. Makes nice potpourri too!

Always buy roses on their own roots, as they will be more resistant to disease. You will find them to be hardier and will not lose them to cold weather or animal munching. Considering my knowledge of their performance here, I don’t recommend ‘Simplicity’ or ‘Flower Carpet’. They do not do well in our area. ‘Flower Carpet’ must be covered or protected to survive. We plan to add new roses to the gardens: ‘Hanson’s Yellow’, ‘Henri Martin’, ‘Ballerina’ and ‘Mossman’ are some we are considering.

By D. W. Ruston of Renmark Roses in Renmark, Australia

David Ruston is the former President of the World Federation of Rose Societies and travels extensively, giving talks and demonstrating with great humor and finese the art of flower arranging.

I have been growing cut-flower roses for 30 years in the open on the River Murray at Renmark in South Australia. Our climate has cool winters and hot, dry summers very much like Southern California There is very little blackspot, next to no rust and mildew occurs mainly in early autumn. Our average rainfall is below 10″ but we water about 60″ to 80″ per year with irrigation from the river.

Several years ago, I was asked for Austin Roses for churches and wedding bouquets with that old-fashioned look when brides wanted quartered full blooms rather than tight glasshouse grown buds. They also wanted perfumed roses. This has led me to put in 5 acres of Austin Roses and made me realize what lovely roses many of them are for cutting. In our climate I can pick them for 9 or 10 months per year.

Some varieties grow much larger here than in cooler climates and I class such varieties as ‘Charles Austin’, ‘Yellow Charles Austin’, ‘Leander’, ‘Graham Thomas’, ‘Claire Rose’, and ‘Swan’ as Pillar Roses, perfect where a height of 10 feet or so is required.
My most popular Austins for cutting are mainly pale colors, so ideal for weddings and almost all these roses reach full beauty at the freshly blown stage and need to be picked further out than other cut-flower varieties.

My selection is Swan – my favorite! Lovely foliage, very long stems up to 3 feet, buds of creamy yellow opening to a very full flat flower of creamy white that last well. The petals spottle in the wet, so ‘Swan’ is not for wet climates.

‘Clair Rose’ - An enormous grower with glorious foliage and tightly packed rosettes of palest pink reminiscent of ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’. ‘Claire Rose’ will outlast any other variety in the vase – 14 days is quite normal. It too spots in the wet. Stems to 3 feet.

‘St. Cecilia’ – Very soft pink cupped flowers like a Peony, flowering later than other varieties and repeating well. Good stems of 2 feet.

‘Sharifa Asma’ – A shorter grower with flowers of great delicacy in a very lovely soft pink color shading to yellow at the base.

‘Dove’ – The nearest Austin to a Tea Rose of the palest pink imaginable on a small bush that repeats well. Buds are Hybrid Tea-like but open flowers are of Camellia-like perfection. A most refined roses.

‘Troilus’ – Another that will spot in the rain but here the pale honey-buff Peony-like flowers are lovely when used in bouquets against old lace wedding gowns. A shorter grower with good repeat.

‘Country Living’ – Another soft pink on a stocky plant that repeat very well. The many petaled rosette-shaped flowers last well.

‘The Reeve’ – A deep dusky pink of very full globular form on a spreading bush is the nearest shaped flower I have to Rosa Centifolia of the old masters which enables me to create Flemish rose arrangements for most of the year. I could not do this before the advent of the Austin Roses.

‘The Pilgrim’ – A newer variety with many petaled flat flowers of softest yellow – The color of Yellow Banksia and McGrady’s Yellow on a tall upright plant with good stem length. Most appealing in mixed flower groups.

‘Graham Thomas’ – Rich yellow long stemmed flowers that open a bit quickly and shatter sooner than I would like, but excellent for church arrangements and tall cascading table arrangements where the guests talk under the flowers. Peak bloom in the spring but continuity is good.

‘Abraham Darby’ – Tall bushes with lovely full-petaled flowers of apricot peachy-pink can be very apricot in warm weather and very pink in cold weather but is always attractive and holds well. Production is excellent.

‘Heritage’ – One of my favorites with good stems of delicate looking flowers of palest rose pink that last well on an almost thornless plant. Repeat is good and ‘Heritage’ performs well in all seasons.

‘Jayne Austin’ – A good grower with flowers of a unique soft apricot color that last well. Beautiful when used with ‘Charles Austin’, ‘Ellen’, ‘Sweet Juliet’, ‘Abraham Darby’ all in shades of apricot mixed with cream roses and brown ‘Julia’s Rose’. The addition of rose hips with these tonings can be most effective.

‘Perdita’ - A shortish grower with flowers of cream suffused with palest peach that is very useful for delicate color schemes. Good repeat.

By John & Louise Clements 

The purpose of pruning is to keep the bush fresh and open so that old growth is removed and thinned which helps to prevent disease and encourage better flowering. Good air circulation is important for a healthy bush. It also helps to keep the rose bush in proper proportion to the rest of your garden plan.

WHEN TO PRUNE?
There are often differing opinions about when to prune roses. Some people say to prune in the fall, some say in the spring. Heirloom says: BOTH. (Note: do not prune once blooming roses in the fall or spring. See specific instructions below.)

In the Fall: Prune to prevent wind whipping and scarring by long canes. Pruning long canes will also prevent the possibility of the roots being loosened as a result of strong winds. Winds also pulls the moisture out of a plant. Light pruning would be a good winter protection measure. Shorten long canes to 3-4 feet.

In the Spring: Prune to shape the bush, clean out dead wood and worn out or weak, spent canes. Prune in early February west of the Cascades or just as new growth starts.
East of the Cascades prune in March or April, as you would do in other cold weather areas across the United States. If you get a damaging freeze below 25 degrees after early spring pruning, you may have to re-prune shorter but this shouldn’t happen very often. Wait until damage is visible before re-pruning (usually about two weeks). Sprinkle a handful of Epsom sales around the base of the bush. This adds magnesium. When the soil warms as the weather improves, magnesium will be available naturally. Adding it now gives the plant an early boost.
Prune in January in California and other warm weather areas.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

For repeat blooming Shrub Roses and David Austin’s English Roses and Hybrid Tea Roses.
In the spring remove dead wood and canes that cross over each other. Thin so that the bush is open and ready to accommodate the new growth. Prune to an outside facing bud and cut the cane at a 45-degree slant about ¼ – ½ inch above the bud eye with the lowest end of the slant being on the opposite side of the cane from the bud eye. The slant is to keep water from collecting on the end of the cane. If you have only a few bushes, you may want to seal the ends of the pruned canes with Elmer’s Glue. We don’t do it and it’s not really necessary unless you have trouble with rose cane borers. Generally prune to two to three feet. Prune to healthy growth, which shows a pure white or light green center. Brown centers are a result of winter damage and the cane may die before completing the season. The shorter you prune—the fewer the blooms. The taller you leave the canes the more blooms will be produced but they will be smaller. Hybrid Tea roses may be pruned as short as 8 inches or least at 15 inches with flower production in proportion to the height to which the bush is pruned. Shorten long canes in the fall to 3-4 feet.

ONCE BLOOMING ROSES
Old garden roses that bloom just once a year MUST RETAIN their old wood for the following years blooms. This is growth that appears the year previous to any bloom it produces. These once bloomers should only be pruned immediately after their blooming period is finished, which is generally around July 15th. They can be pruned to 15 inches every other year with no damage. This keeps a large bush within bounds and provides shaping. This is the way we prune many once bloomers at Heirloom Roses. If you do not mind the size of the bush then only clean out the dead canes or growth which in undesirable to you.

REPEAT BLOOMING CLIMBING ROSES
Deadheading (removing spent blooms) may be done If possible to reach them. This encourages more blooms. Long unsupported canes or canes you do not want should be pruned in the fall. In the spring prune to the desired number of canes (generally no more than four to six) remove dead growth and tie to the supports. Do not prune or shorten the canes or you will be cutting off next year’s blooms. After the plant is fours years old, prune out one or two of the oldest canes each year to renew the growth.