Answers to your rose questions!

Answers to your rose growing related questions are provided by our Rosarians with additional supporting information provided by many reliable resources.

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Scroll down or select & click from the following topics. ​

• Fertilizing
• Fall / Winter Rose Care
• Planting​

• Pruning / Deadheading
• ​Watering
• Other Questions

More Reading:  Basic Rose Care  PDF*
*KSU Extension/Johnson County Master Gardeners

Have A Question About Roses?

​Ask A Rosarian!

• ​kcrosehelp@gmail.com

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Fertilizing Roses

Q. When do I fertilize my roses?

Answer
The first fertilizer treatment should be in April right after spring pruning.        

• For more information visit our webpage: Fertilizing Roses

Fall / Winter Rose Care 

​Q. How do I prepare my roses for winter?

Answer

• Roses that are rated for USDA Zone 6 or lower should be fine with no special winter preparation > View USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
• A fresh layer of 2-3 inches of wood mulch will help conserve moisture and moderate temperature
• If you have grafted roses cover the graft and base of the plant with 8-10 inches of soil or mulch to provide added protection
• Maintain watering schedule until the soil freezes to be sure plants are well hydrated for winter
• Once a month, on a mild winter day (above freezing), water roses to re-supply the soil with moisture if needed.

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Planting Roses 

Q. When is the best time to plant roses?

Answer
​The best time to plant roses in the Kansas City area is in the spring.

• Bare root roses can be planted in March, as soon as the soil is thawed.
• Potted roses can be planted from April-June.
• You can plant potted roses in August. but they should be hardy shrub roses on their own root system so they can get established before winter.
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Q. What is the difference between own root and grafted roses?

Answer
The difference is in the structure of the plant.

• Own root roses are a single plant growing on its natural root system.
• Grafted roses are actually two different plants that have been spliced (grafted) together.
  • One plant is the hardy root system
  • The other plant is the part that grows the canes and flowers
  • You can see the graft as a thickened, knob between the roots and the upper stem
• For more information visit our website page: Getting Started with Roses​
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​Q. How deep do I plant grafted roses?

Answer 
In the mid-western region, you should plant the graft 2-3 inches BELOW the soil level.

• This means you will plant it deeper than what you see in the nursery pot you bought it in.
• Planting it below soil level protects it from our area’s wild temperature swings in winter and spring.

 
Q. When is the best time to transplant a rose from one part of the garden to another?

Answer
The best time to dig and move a rose is when it is dormant. 

• This means that all the leaves have fallen off for the winter. 
• Late wlnter or early spring before the plant show signs of growth is better than late fall so the plant can get off to a good start
• Prepare the soil where you want to relocate the rose in the fall.  It is usually too wet in the spring.

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Pruning & Deadheading 

​Q. When should I prune my roses?

Answer
The best time to prune is right when the bush starts to put out new leaves in the spring

• A good estimate is the first two weeks of April
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Q. How do I prune my rose bush?

Answer
Here are the basic steps for spring pruning

• Remove any canes that are dead—brown or black with no new leaves emerging
• Remove any canes that are crossing or rubbing on other canes
       -- Some shrub and groundcover roses will have crossing canes that can remain
• Cut back any canes that show diseases or cankers—black, brown, or purple blotches
       -- Cut below the damage to fresh green tissue and white/tan pith
• Remove any canes that are growing through the center of the bush.
       -- The goal is to have an open center, like a vase, with canes around the edges all pointing outwards.
• Cut back any other tall canes to create a compact bush that will grow gracefully in the landscape
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Q. What is the biggest pruning mistake?

Answer
The biggest mistake is not pruning the bush back hard enough!

• Roses bloom on the current season’s wood, so hard pruning is beneficial.
• It is okay to cut most roses back to 12-18 in.
• The reward will be a lovely landscape plant with lots of new growth and lots of flowers.

 
Here are two documents from the American Rose Society with further details on pruning.

• Ten Principles of Pruning  PDF
• Basic Pruning Guide  PDF​
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Q. Do I need to deadhead roses?

Answer
Deadheading is optional, but it will cause the plant to re-bloom sooner

• If possible cut above to a bud or leaf that is pointing to the outside rather than toward the center of the plant

• For hybrid teas and other large-flowered roses—cut above the first set of 5-leaflets
• For shrub roses cut just below the flower, or further down the stem for stronger growth

 
Here is a document from the American Rose Society about deadheading.

• Cutting or Deadheading Roses  PDF​
  

Cut above the first set of 5-leaflets.

Q. When should I stop deadheading in the fall?

Answer
Stop deadheading at the end of August so the plants can begin to go dormant for winter.
 
Q. My roses had a tough winter and look almost dead.  There is only signs of life and new leaves emerging at the very base of the plant.  How can I save it?
 
Answer
Roses can tolerate very hard pruning in the spring after a hard winter.  Cut off all the stems down to where you see new growth.  You will be rewarded with new growth and flowers about 6 weeks after pruning.

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Watering Roses

Q.  How do I water my roses?

Answer
Roses need more water than many garden plants to keep them healthy and blooming all summer.
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Roses need about 1 inch of water each week

• This is about the amount in a 5 gal. bucket
• Hold your favorite watering wand over a 5 gal. bucket and time how long it takes to fill it up.  This is how long you should water each rose bush.
• If possible, water at the base of the plant or use drip irrigation
• If you use an overhead sprinkler, water in the early morning so the leaves will dry quickly (to prevent fungus disease) and water deeply and infrequently so that the leaves are not constantly damp.

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Other Questions

Q. How do you tell the difference between weed killer leaf damage and rose rosette disease symptoms?

Answer
Weed killers can cause distorted growth, but it is different from the symptoms of rose rosette disease.  

• Damage from 2,4-D or other lawn herbicides appears as skinny, pale green, twisted or distorted leaves.  The leaves or stems will eventually turn brown and die. If the damage is bad enough, the whole plant will rapidly decline and die.
• The leaves of roses with rosette disease are bright red, the stems are very thorny and grow in bunches called “witches broom.”  The plant can show symptoms for many years and will gradually decline.

​If you are not sure, cut off the affected stems and wait to see new growth.   

• If the damage was from herbicides, the new growth should look normal because the spray damage was a one-time event. 
• If it is rose rosette disease, new growth will have the same red, excessively thorny, witches broom growth.  Or, the plant will grow new stems from other parts of the bush that show the red, distorted, thorny growth. 

Learn More About

• Rose Rosette Disease

 
You can also take some photos and email them to our Ask a Rosarian e-mail hotline,   and we will try to help you figure out what is wrong with your plant.​

• ​kcrosehelp@gmail.com

Above: Herbicide / weed killer damage.

Q. I have had a hot cocoa rose bush for three years that has always had rust colored blooms. This spring when the buds began to open they were not the beautiful rust color! They bush was covered with red flowers. Could this be from us putting coffee grounds in the soil? Thank you for your help. -- Lisa

Answer
Coffee grounds just add some organic matter to the soil, they can not affect the color of your roses!  What happened is that your  rose was a grafted plant, with the Hot Cocoa plant on top, grafted to a different rose on the bottom for a stronger root stock.  The bottom plant is called Dr. Huey, and it is a dark red climbing rose that is not very pretty on its own, but makes good root stock.  Over this past, nasty winter, the Hot Cocoa part died.  So what you are seeing is the Dr. Huey part taking over.  Unless you love it, you should dig it up and start over with a new Hot Cocoa or rose of your choice.  This time when you plant it, be sure that the grafted part (a thick knob with green sprouts on the top and a short stalk with roots at the bottom) is planted three inches BELOW the soil level.  This will protect it from winter damage.  This page, Getting Started, on our website, describes how to plant a grafted rose. 
 

Q. Help! Something is eating my rose leaves.  They eat the green part but leave the brown veins behind.  It looks like stained glass windows. Or, sometimes there are big holes chewed out of the leaves between the veins.

Answer
This damage is caused by rose slugs.  Little green larvae of the sawfly.  They like the tender green tissue but can't chew the tougher veins.  Learn more by visiting this page, Rose Insect Pests, on our website; see the rose slug section.