You often hear people say "I never have any luck with roses." Well roses need certain routine of care. I regularly take off the dead blooms, spray for fungus once a week, and fertilize monthly. I always have nice roses, especially if mother nature provides decent weather and plenty of rain.

I have also always been interested in roses, but have been able to grow them only recently. My first rose purchase was two Margo Kosters from Home Depot when I lived in Dallas. I put them in the one empty spot of my fully landscaped yard - in complete shade and no access to water. To their credit they lasted about six months before they died.

It would help to know where you are more specifically and what type of rose you bought (hybrid tea, floribunda, Austin, miniature). But some general guidelines that worked for me:
1. Plant them in the ground in a spot with at least 4-5 hours of sun a day.
2. Dig a big planting hole and amend with organic matter (manure, compost and peat moss work for me in California).
3. Mulch heavily. I personally prefer organic mulches such as bark, cocoa shells or compost growmulch.
4. Provide adequate water (usually 1" a week after the first year, more in the first year depending on how hot your summers are).
5. Fertilize with good rose food, first in spring when roses leaf out and later depending on the type of rose, type of soil and label instruction on your chosen rose food. I use organic fertilizer after each flush of bloom. Stop fertilizing in late summer of early fall so as not to encourage growth late in the season which might be injured by frost.
6. Deadhead after each flush of blooms. Not letting roses set seeds generally encourages them to bloom more.
Hope it helps,
Masha

If you are growing hybrid tea (florist looking roses) you will almost certainly need to spray on a regular basis for blackspot.

I have 200+ roses here in blackspot he** and my neighbors all ask me how I do it. I tell them, I spray fungicides weekly, water them when they need it, and fertilize once a month in the growing season.

If it makes you feel any better, I can only grow roses. I kill mums, marigolds, and most plants considered 'easy'.

Elaine

You will hear lots of conflicting advise here--to spray or not to spray, etc. So first, get yourself a basic guide to roses, so you will always have something to refer to. Basic books pretty much agree on basic care: the Sunset book, Roses for Dummies, etc. You can easily find used ones.

Then: spraying, watering, pruning, mulching, etc all depend very much on where you live, what kind of roses you have, and your own gardening philosophy. I would suggest you post the names of your roses, where you live, and a brief description or photo of your garden. Then pay attention to the feedback from those who live near you and ignore everybody else until you feel more confident.

For instance, ehann's statement about spraying hybrid teas for blackspot is relevant only if you live in an area where BS is a problem. Secondly, not all HT's look like florist roses. Third, some of us who live in BS areas prefer not to spray.

Another good way to get started is to read the rose care articles at the American Rose Society site, linked below. I would add that roses are full sun plants, four or five hours of sun a day is not the way to begin with roses.

Here is a link that might be useful: ARS

My primary rule is: Learn the basics before you purchase rose plants

Ok. You blew that one. Me too. And just about everyone here missed it too!

You will learn a lot here, by reading books or by getting involved with local rose growers. You will end up buying roses very different from your original purchase. Your growing techniques will change and in a year or two you will be quite adept at picking/preparing the right spot, selecting the right rose and caring for it to perfection.

Don't try to learn all of this in one lesson.

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Welcome to Garden Web Rozegarten1! Now run fast, very fast. This forum got me started so bad last year on roses I about drove my hubby crazy. You will find some great advice and meet some very nice people on here. I am new to roses too so I am not here to offer any advice, I just wanted to say hi and welcome. Just have fun with your new found hobby and let all the prettiness begin. Post us plenty of pictures so we can see all your progress. Take care, Judy

Ok Harryshoe what is that gorgeous rose???? How dare you post such a pretty thing and not tell us its name. ha ha

There is some good advice here. The things that helped me (of course after I did it wrong) were to realize they need some space between them. They look small when you buy them, but they don't stay that way. Also to water the entire bed thoroughly. The roots spread out and that helps to reach them.
Welcome and best of luck to you.
Nancy

Yeah, come on Harry, that was cruel of you! I will take a gess, though I am usually wrong, heehee! Chicago Peace, Rosemary Harkness or Colour Magic??????

It is GORGEOUS, and as usual, beautifully photographed.

Rozegarten, where there is a will there is a way. You can do it! There is a lot of good advice here, but it's true it mostly comes from experience, and reading and asking questions like you are doing. Even early on especially if you are diligent on giving them some TLC, you will be delighted. Sometimes, some are failures, but this is where you have to be strong, if it really is not working, then replace it with a new one you have been lusting over! Fungus and disease problems have been talked about here, and we all have our own way in dealing with that. But I want to stress the other needs for your roses. Keep watered, fertilize regularly and learn a good pruning technique. Pruning is one of my favourite pass times. You will learn to love that and know you are directing the rose in the way in which you wish it to grow. Dead head blooms early, before they grow ugly and the petals spill to the ground, you will learn the correct time of the bloom, by again, experience. This saves a lot of work, keeps your roses looking great and the ground free of what can be an eyesore at times. Most rose books will give you a step by step on Spring pruning. I remember for my first few years of rose gardening, I would take a book outdoors with me open on the pruning page, and literally go by the book. Later it becomes an educated guess, and you break some of the rules to suit yourself.

Good Luck, and keep asking questions.

Pauline - Vancouver Island

Here is a link that might be useful: Pauline's Rose Blog

Hi and welcome Rozegarten. I, too, was lured in by this forum and all the nice friendly folks who post on here. It's a great place to learn and get some good advice. Ultimately, though, it's just something you learn as you go along. What works for one might not work for another. Plus, we all live in such varied climates that one rule doesn't apply to all. I think if you truly love gardening and roses that you will find what works best for you. :- ) I wish you the best of luck with your roses and hope that they grow and bloom beautifully for you.

April

Rozegarten1, I was touched by your story. God bless you and I hope your roses prosper. I would read some books on roses and especially on pruning them properly. You will find some roses will do very well for you, while others might not. Your climate zone will have an impact on which roses you should choose. You are in zone 8, so you should have many good choices for your area.

I would say learn what you can about the proper care of roses. Explore which ones tend to be more disease-free and choose your roses carefully. Not all roses are created equal. Enjoy the adventure, as I have been told to do as well. Get ready to create a pretty garden of roses for yourself. Give roses time to produce for you and you will be rewarded.

Chance

Welcome to the Rose Forum! You will find lots of valuable info and unlimited enabling here. Would you care to tell us what roses you bought for yourself?

Harry that picture is just wonderful. What is it?

Thanks.

Kate

As much as possible stay close to the principles of good soil, good drainage, good sun (at least 6 hours for good performance), and good air circulation. The more you deviate from those, the more problems are likely to happen. I have ~30 roses, don't spray, but put up with a bunch of blackspot and less than perfect roses. However I find they rebound nicely if otherwise healthy. Every so often one bites the dust, but that just opens a spot for a new variety. I also try to grow varieties selected for general disease resistance. This forum is awesome, and I have trouble finding a book that can offer as much. Welcome aboard!

Roses love company buy 20 more :)

Stanc

Welcome rozegarten!!! This is indeed, a wonderful forum with lots of nice folk, many of whom know a ton o' stuff and are nice enough to share it.

All of the technical advice was very good, but you will find after time that Harry and Pauline had the best advice of all. It took me many, many years to be ok with admitting that I made a mistake, yes the pics of the flower look great, but no, it doesn't perform well in my climate or is too (insert fungus here) prone. As my neighbor reminded me a few years ago, we're not getting any younger, we should have what makes us happy. You will probably be extra scentimental about your first babies, but if any are not the thing for your location, put your shoulders back and march right over to the garage for the shovel. There are hundreds more that might like you better. Look at it this way, if all you got was one good flush of blooms before the bush went south, it was still cheaper than a bouquet, right?

Ok, that sounded like I was setting you up for failure, but that's not the case at all. I think we're setting you up to let yourself be a beginner so you can let yourself make mistakes and if you do, it's ok!!!

Please do get back with us on what you bought and what state you live in, if that's ok. We can help you with sizes so you will know better what to put where - grandiflora's are big, floribunda's are usually smaller with 'bouquets on a stem' type blooming, etc. Another resource that is just awesome to see characteristics of roses is HelpMeFind at www.helpmefind.com

Enjoy, and keep us posted!

I like the way Stan thinks best.

Roses aren't nearly as hard to grow as everyone makes them out to be. It depends on how much time and energy you want to put in and what you're willing to live with. I don't spray every week and fertilize every month, etc., etc. and I still have 137 beautiful roses. If you want some good advice for your area go to that link for the ARS that Mike posted and find a Consulting Rosarian for your area and give them a call or an email. I've yet to meet one that wasn't thrilled to help out any way they could.

After that my best advice would be to relax and enjoy your roses. They're really pretty bullet proof. I know because I've TRIED to kill a couple I have (and hate but he likes) and the darn things are still growing like weeds!

Pauline,
Good guess. The pictured rose is Chicago Peace on one of its orangey days. If you like variable sunset colors, this rose is the champ.

Rozegarten,
Good luck with your new rose garden. The first years can be a bit frustrating. Be patient. Have fun.

Go to ars.org lookup a Consulting Rosarian in your area and have that person help you. There might even be a Rose Society near by. Talk to them, cause they know your area better than anyone.

Welcome to the world of roses----You are going to have a life of beauty and fun.
You already have had some good advice plus you will always be learning something new---
the best advice I can give you-----let us know what zone and state you are in----and try to listen to folks in your area and just keep trying--

I've been growing roses for at least 50 years and I keep learning something new all the time.

Ask a lot of questions here on the Forum ---there will always be someone happy to help you.

good Luck------how about a list of the roses you already have.

Florence

I'm another rose novice, deciding during a torrential rain storm this winter that this would be the year I'd plant my first roses. I learned A LOT during the first week that I spent educating myself. Most importantly, I kept asking questions...and still do. My first advice is to share your climate zone and a general idea of where you live. Growing roses on the Pacific Ocean, where I live, is very different from mountains or desert, and even from someone's backyard 5 miles inland from me. The best suggestions will be those specific to your growing conditions.

This is what helped me most to get started:

- read/skimmed back 20 pages of this forum, an excellent source of a wide variety of knowledge
- read articles on the ARS website (someone gave their link above)
- looked up two local ARS chapters (using the ARS website) and contacted their presidents via email for help and advice. They were tremendously generous with their experience and knowledge. I eventually attended a chapter meeting for each, one of which had a great talk about organic rose gardening from a well-known rosarian.
- volunteered to help care for roses at a local ARS test garden to learn skills like pruning, etc.
- read the "organic rose growing" forum here because I only do organic gardening
- called rose vendors recommended on this forum and asked them questions

Through my initial research, I met three individuals (one here on the forum) who know my area well and volunteered to answer questions on an on-going basis. All three of them were able to give me very specific information, down to nitty-gritty details, for my micro-climate. Their advice, encouragement, and warnings are invaluable. Finding someone who knows your area from personal experience is probably the best way to wade through the overwhelming amount of, and sometimes conflicting, information about rose growing.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA zone map