Growing Roses - Western Mountains & High Plains
Growing Roses - Western Mountains & High Plains
All-America Rose Selections
Regional Growing Guide:
From the eastern slopes of the Cascade and Sierra ranges through the High Plains, this generally arid region battles bitterly cold winters, blustery spring winds, little rain and sometimes brutal summer heat. The soil presents challenges, too, be it alkaline, sandy, clay or infused with salt and boron. Fortunately, the severe climate poses few insect or disease problems. But the roses that thrive here must be cold hardy and survive wild swings in temperature. They often bear strong, leathery leaves to resist desiccation. They also appreciate regular irrigation, heavily amended soil, a thick layer of mulch and protection from the wind.
Season - Fall
Overview
Ready, Set, Prune!
Fall is the time to prune roses back to knee high. The rule of green thumb is that when roses have seen three consecutive hard freezes in a row, they're dormant. A hard freeze is defined as at least 28 degrees. If, by Thanksgiving or so, you haven't had temperatures that cold, you can prune anyway.
Why knee high? And whose knees, anyway? That's just a general way of saying you can lop off the rose canes at about 2 feet high - all the same height, nothing fancy right now. Then strip off all remaining leaves. If your weather has been really frosty, the leaves should snap off cleanly. If not, snip them off with a pair of small pruners.
Why Prune in the Fall?
Fall pruning is preventive medicine for roses. When we remove that lanky top growth, we take away the wind's ability to rock the roses loose from their moorings.
When we remove all the leaves, we ensure that the roses will go into dormancy even if they haven't seen those days with hard freezes. And we eliminate a lot of hiding places for fungi and insect eggs.
Put everything you removed into a trash bag, then rake up all the rose debris underneath the plants and add that to the bag. Don't compost it. The insects and diseases on that rose debris can survive composting.
Bring in the Fresh Mulch
You want to make sure there is at least 3 inches of protective mulch covering the soil over the entire root zone. That's in addition to the 6 to 12 inches or so of mulch (bark chips, straw, or a mixture of compost and soil) you're going to pile up over the graft and as high on the canes as you can. That will protect the roses from winter's fluctuating temperatures by keeping them cold. You don't want the ground to thaw in mid-January and have the rose get the idea that it's time to start growing!
Quick tips
Trim Spent Blooms
Continue to remove or deadhead spent blooms on roses. For hybrid tea roses, trim back to a five-leaflet leaf on the stem. Trim floribundas, grandifloras, climbers, miniatures, and shrub types just under the bloom head or spray. Allow rose hips to form on rugosa and old garden varieties.
Don't Retire the Hose, Yet
Continue to water roses deeply, particularly those planted in full exposure or on slopes. You can get by with watering once every week to 10 days. Set a frog-eye sprinkler around the root zone and allow to run for 20 minutes or until the soil is watered to a depth of 4 inches or more.
Plant More Roses
Take advantage of fall savings and purchase container-grown rose bushes. Get them planted before the end of October to allow them to become settled in before the ground freezes solid. Water monthly during dry spells of fall and winter.
Condition the Soil
Fall is a good time to add some compost or sphagnum peat moss to the rose garden. Spread a few inches over the soil and lightly cultivate in so as not to damage the roots.
Plan a New Rose Garden
Want more roses in your landscape? Now is good time to walk around your garden and plan a spot for a new rose bed. Locate it where it can be viewed from the house. This will give you a head start in spring so you can order early and get your top choices before they sell out.
© 2009 All-America Rose Selections.
