Get Ready for Roses

 It may be the dead of the winter, but now is the time to think about the most beautiful blooms of spring, roses!  
  January and February are known as the ‘bare-root’ season for roses. During the cool winter months, rose bushes go dormant. Since they are not actively growing, roses can be planted or transplanted without causing any trauma to the plant. These dormant roses are sold by some nurseries with the soil removed from the roots, hence the name ‘bare-root’. California, with its mild winters, can make for a tricky bare-root season. Our warmer winters can make roses root and leaf out early. The roots cannot be bare for long or they dry out. The safest way to insure a healthy rose purchase is to buy a rose already potted up with moist soil around the roots. This tried and true method of gardening is easy and rewarding if a few simple thoughts are kept in mind.

  Beware of roses that are packaged in small, quart-sized bags. These bags are too small to contain a rose with a large, healthy root system.

  When selecting a bare-root rose to take home, there are some several things to look for. The branches of a rose are called ‘canes’. Look for a rose that has at least three sturdy canes. A rose with fewer than three canes will be small and misshapen. On the other hand, a rose with more than five canes tends to be spindly. The canes should not cross over each other, but instead reach upward creating a vast shape. Avoid a rose that looks dried out or has excessive dead and damaged canes.

  In addition to looking at the shape and health of a rose, it is important to consider what purpose you want your rose to serve in your garden. If you want a rose bush to cut flowers from to bring indoors, a hybrid tea rose would be a good choice. The hybrid tea holds one rose per stem. For the best colorful show in the landscape, a floribunda or grandiflora rose would really catch the eye. Both of these types carry many flowers per stem. There are also roses that make great hedges, ground covers, vines or small patio trees. Choose a rose to best fit you situation.

  There are thousands of rose varieties to choose from, but few nurseries carry more than several hundred types of roses. Through the years, many nurseries have learned that not all rose varieties do well in any given area. Through this experience, your local nursery will probably carry the most vigorous varieties for the area. Ask your nursery person for advice about the best roses in the colors you are looking for and get a jump start on Spring!