Regional Growing Guide: Northern & Central Midwest
Harsh winters and humid summers are the greatest challenges to growing roses in our nation's midsection. Preventive measures in the northern states are extreme. In fall, the "Minnesota tip" involves loosening the roots, digging a trench, then tipping over the rose and burying it beneath leaves, branches and straw. In southern states, gardeners who can't rely on snow to insulate their roses wrap them in rings of newspaper filled with mulch. Planting cold-hardy roses helps ensure success, as does selecting new hybrid teas, floribundas and shrub roses that bear thick, waxy leaves and have been bred to resist disease.
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Long-Lasting Arrangements
The rose is far and away America's favorite flower. We spend more money and time on the cultivation of this particular plant than most others combined. There are those who enjoy their roses on the bush and those who would bring them into their homes as cut flowers. The following information is for the latter category of gardeners. If you like to display your roses, here are some tips for getting the most from your efforts.
When to Cut
Roses should be cut early in the morning before the dew has dried from the leaves. In the dry summer months, that means getting up before the chickens. By cutting early in the day, the flowers are full of moisture after having had all night to pull water up from the roots. If you cut in the afternoon, the flowers will have lost most of their moisture through transpiration. If you want your cut roses to last a long time, cut them early in the day.
Choosing the Best Flowers to Cut
Select buds that have the sepals turned down. The sepals are the green part at the base of the flower that join it to the stem. Even if you buy roses, select flowers with turned-down sepals. If the sepals are still clinging to the bud, the rose may not open.
Cutting Long Stems
Cut the stems as long as possible. Don't butcher your plants, but do cut down to where the stems are sturdy and will support the new growth that follows. The rule of thumb is to cut down to the second set of five lobed leaves, but cut longer if possible.
Conditioning the Flowers
As soon as you cut your roses, plunge them into a deep bucket filled with hot water. The hot water forces its way up the stem, hydrating the cells. Roses should have as much of the stem underwater as possible during the conditioning process. Now, allow your cut flowers to rest in a dark, cool area for 6 hours, or overnight. The garage or a spare room is a good place to condition your roses prior to arranging them in a vase.
Arranging Flowers
Once the flowers have been conditioned, you can plan your arrangement. To begin, fill a deep vase with cool water. Some people swear by the following homemade floral preservative: To the water in the vase, add 2 tablespoons of lemon/lime soda, 1/2 teaspoon of bleach, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon sugar. This mixture keep the water clean and free from bacteria, while feeding the flowers at the same time.
Fetch the roses from their resting place when you have prepared the vase. As you remove the flower from the bucket, make a slanted cut a few inches above the original cut while the stem is still under water. Yes, this means getting your clippers wet, but this step is vital if you want your cut roses to last up to a week or more. The underwater cut will release any air trapped in the stem. A drop of water will hang on the cut surface preventing air from entering the stem as you transfer the flower from the bucket to the vase.
Remove any leaves that will be under water in the vase to prevent bacteria growth. Leave the thorns.
This may seem like a lot of work, but I think of it as life insurance for cut roses. And after all, you have invested so much of your time already, why not spend a few more minutes to guarantee a long and lovely life indoors?
Shrub Roses: An Exciting Addition to the Home Landscape
Picture a flowering shrub that, depending on the way it's pruned and trained, may sprawl over the ground, climb a trellis, or be a tidy mound. This shrub is covered with glossy foliage with no black spots, and hundreds of often sweet-smelling blossoms. Best of all, it is unassuming enough not to need any maintenance except for occasional aesthetic pruning and once-a-season fertilizing.
Virtues of Shrub Roses
We're taking about a shrub rose, also called a landscape rose or a modern rose. This relatively new category of roses has been developed over the past couple of decades, and it's causing gardeners to reconsider what a rose really is.
These roses have an unlimited variety of uses in the landscape. They make great bedding plants, hedges, ground covers, container plants, trailers along a wall, or climbers on trellises. They can softly drape a window or fence, edge a sidewalk or driveway, frame a deck, or simply add color to a perennial border.
Roses With a Carefree Attitude
Shrub roses are, by nature, bred to be resistant to black spot and powdery mildew, two common rose diseases, although they are not necessarily immune to all pest problems. Best of all, landscape roses are also by nature hardy enough not to need winter protection. Most are now grown on their own roots, so even if a particularly severe winter kills back branches, the plant that resprouts in spring is the same plant, not an unattractive rootstock.
So, next time you ponder just what to plant as a ground cover or to edge your garden walkway, consider a shrub rose!