Rose Bushes

Hybrid Tea: The largest class of roses, Hybrid Tea roses are either budded or grafted meaning they are not growing off of their own rootstock. The blooms are usually on a single stem that makes them ideal for cutting. They bloom off and on in spurts throughout the season.

Floribunda: Form clusters of flowers on a single stem. The flowers are usually less fragrant and not as large as the Hybrid Tea rose.

Grandiflora: A cross between a hybrid tea and a floribunda. The flowers are much like the hybrid T, large and more fragrant, but are born in a cluster on a single stem. Blooms can be almost continuous if old spent flowers are removed.

Miniature: Can grow from 8-18″, can bloom in clusters or as single flowers, and are non-fragrant. Many of them are grown on their own rootstock. They will repeat bloom if the spent flowers are removed. Some offsets of the original crown can be cut and planted as a new plant, only if the rootstock is its own.

English: David Austin has hybridized these roses to combine antique rose form and fragrance on modern, ever blooming shrubs. They have a wonderful fragrance and an old world look to the flower.

Planting: All roses on Long Island should be plant with the bud union 1-2″ above the soil with cow manure.

Care: Full sun, at least 6 hours of direct sun, in a well-drained, loamy soil. Adding an cow manure at planting will help with overall growth. Plants should have plenty of space to grow so they will get good air circulation around the plant to decrease diseases.

Fertilizing: Rose need a lot of food. Water in all fertilizers immediately.
1. It is best to sprinkle a 10-10-10 or a 5-10-5 granular fertilizer around the base of each plant in early spring. 2. 2 weeks later: Apply a 20-20-20 liquid. 3. 1 week later: Fish emulsion in a liquid. Repeat this cycle for the rest of the season.

Pruning: Deadheading old blossoms should be done once the flowers begin to fade. You should cut the blooms off at the next leaf with five leaflets.Do any plant shaping and major pruning after the last frost in spring.

Insects and Disease: Roses are prone to a variety of insects and diseases. Begin a spray program every 7 to 10 days once the foliage appears with a insect and fungus spray.

Winter protection: Winter protection actually starts with work you do during the summer to bring your roses into the fall season in the best of health. The last of the summer steps would be an application (around September 15th) of a rose food rich in potash and phosphorous, but free of nitrogen. A good food would be 0-20-20. Here are the steps to follow to protect your roses during the winter and early spring. A good starting date would be about the end of October and certainly before the temperature threatens to reach freezing.

Water generously to keep the soil in good, moist condition (soil not the leaves). Give your plants a good dormant spray. (liquid lime-sulphur spray for fungus ) Mulch rose bush above the knot to protect against winter weather.

Pruning: Most growers avoid fall pruning, because the open wounds on the canes may not heal properly.

In The Spring: Start spring care around April 1. Remove the mulch from around the knot as it thaws. Water the plants and keep sprinkler going on them. (The water will keep the canes wet and protect them against drying winds.) Spray with a good all-purpose dormant fungicide (before leaves appear) If leaves are already growing use a in season fungicide. Spray with a good all-purpose dormant insecticide. (before leaves appear) If leaves are already growing use a in season insecticide. Work into soil generous amounts of organic matter during the latter part of April.
Rose varieties carried at Father Nature
Coming soon