Hello! We have just bought a home and are currently in the process of planting. I want to start some roses and have been researching methods for planting and care. The general consensus thus far is to buy the bare root roses and to plant this time of year for our area (March/April) - Zone 9a. Any advice from local Texans (we're in the Houston area) would be great! For example, what types of roses do best here - specific names would be great.
Thank you in advance for all of your help! I really need it!!
Christie
Houston, TX
-
grandpasrose
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1651
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
- Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a
Hi Christie! Welcome to the Forum! I have copied some information that I wrote in a previous post about what to look for when purchasing a rose, and what the different ways of buying them are.
When you are looking to buy a rose, the first thing you should look for is if the roots are moist. In a container rose, this is easy to tell by feeling the soil, but in a packaged rose it can be more difficult. If the package is very light, or you can see that the soil or planting mix inside is dry, then the roots are probably dry, and you don't want that one.
If possible take a look at the roots. Bareroot roses should have a mass of long fibrous roots. Don't buy a rose that has short spindly roots, or has had its roots pruned. In container roses, the roots should have white tips, and ensure that the roots are not encircling the inside of the container or growing out the bottom. Also avoid roses that have blackened or girdled roots. If you don't start with strong healthy roots, your rose already has a strike against it.
The canes of bareroot and packaged roses should be supple and green, with small buds and the canes should be at least as thick as a pencil. Don't buy roses with dry, shriveled canes. If you can check the pith on the cane (the layer immediately under the bark) it should be white or green. If it is beige or brown, that cane is probably not live.
If you are looking at a grafted rose, the rootstock neck just below the bud union should be at least as big around as your thumb, and have no visible damage. This neck section should not be any longer than 3" or it becomes awkward to manage when planting.
Avoid buying bareroot and packaged roses that have long pale shoots growing up from them.
At the grower's, roses are sorted into three grades according to the size and number of main canes. If you are purchasing from a reputable nursery or garden centre, or a recognized rose grower, than you are more than likely getting a Grade 1 or 1.5 rose, which means it was of excellent quality when it left the grower.
If you are purshasing from the box stores, or the bargain shelves, you are not guaranteed quality, and you may not even get what you thought you purchased. Often these stores carry the end of sale lots etc. so that they can be cheaper, and often these roses are the ones a little weaker, have not been identified, or misidentified, etc. So in short, you get what you pay for.
As far as suggestions as to what roses you should get, you need to ask yourself a few questions. How much care are you prepared to give them? What are you wanting most from them - fragrance, height, privacy, flower form, color, etc.
Think about those, and get back to us, and we can better answer that question for you. It would be disappointing for you if we suggested a rose and it ended up not being what you were envisioning. There are thousands of roses to choose from, so slimming it down with some simple questions is a big help!
Looking forward to hearing back from you!
Val
When you are looking to buy a rose, the first thing you should look for is if the roots are moist. In a container rose, this is easy to tell by feeling the soil, but in a packaged rose it can be more difficult. If the package is very light, or you can see that the soil or planting mix inside is dry, then the roots are probably dry, and you don't want that one.
If possible take a look at the roots. Bareroot roses should have a mass of long fibrous roots. Don't buy a rose that has short spindly roots, or has had its roots pruned. In container roses, the roots should have white tips, and ensure that the roots are not encircling the inside of the container or growing out the bottom. Also avoid roses that have blackened or girdled roots. If you don't start with strong healthy roots, your rose already has a strike against it.
The canes of bareroot and packaged roses should be supple and green, with small buds and the canes should be at least as thick as a pencil. Don't buy roses with dry, shriveled canes. If you can check the pith on the cane (the layer immediately under the bark) it should be white or green. If it is beige or brown, that cane is probably not live.
If you are looking at a grafted rose, the rootstock neck just below the bud union should be at least as big around as your thumb, and have no visible damage. This neck section should not be any longer than 3" or it becomes awkward to manage when planting.
Avoid buying bareroot and packaged roses that have long pale shoots growing up from them.
At the grower's, roses are sorted into three grades according to the size and number of main canes. If you are purchasing from a reputable nursery or garden centre, or a recognized rose grower, than you are more than likely getting a Grade 1 or 1.5 rose, which means it was of excellent quality when it left the grower.
If you are purshasing from the box stores, or the bargain shelves, you are not guaranteed quality, and you may not even get what you thought you purchased. Often these stores carry the end of sale lots etc. so that they can be cheaper, and often these roses are the ones a little weaker, have not been identified, or misidentified, etc. So in short, you get what you pay for.
As far as suggestions as to what roses you should get, you need to ask yourself a few questions. How much care are you prepared to give them? What are you wanting most from them - fragrance, height, privacy, flower form, color, etc.
Think about those, and get back to us, and we can better answer that question for you. It would be disappointing for you if we suggested a rose and it ended up not being what you were envisioning. There are thousands of roses to choose from, so slimming it down with some simple questions is a big help!
Looking forward to hearing back from you!
Val