Good repeaters yes, once-bloomers no, not even in severe drought. (The soil here is always moist enough to support a spring flush.) Semi-repeaters, maybe for six weeks before the fall flush if that proves worthwhile. Actually that scheme would apply to any vigorous roses, not just old ones.

Nope. Not a drop. If they get too dry the repeaters might stop blooming, but they'll start up again when it starts raining. I don't even water the newbies unless they look like they really need it--but I try not to put any plants in during the dry season (we've stopped planting for this year until fall at our house.) If it needs watering under normal conditions, I'm not going to grow it. We had a long period without rain last year and had temperatures into the 100's on some days (most days were cooler, but still, it was HOT). The roses got zero water. None of them died from it. Yeah, the yard didn't look its best, but we were DRY--the water department hadn't restricted use yet, but they had signs up all over the place asking people to conserve.

Paul Zimmerman has a great youtube discussion of summer care for roses, including how to determine how much water your garden needs. The watering discussion is not quite 6 minutes into the video.

All his youtube videos are great. They've helped me a lot.

I get confused about the one inch per week rule and two inches in extreme heat. I will check out the video, thanks!

All of my roses- teas and chinas for the most part - are good repeaters IF they get water. So yes, I water. There are loads of plants in my garden that get zero water, and if I planted spring blooming roses they wouldn't get any water. Even down here with months of no rain, most established plants will live with little water. I love camellias and have tons of them but once they are good and growing they never get water. They will live and bloom fine without it. I'm not wastefull, but I want blooms for as much of the season as I can get them!

No water after the first year, and I take whatever flowers Mother Nature gives me. We have a reliable summer drought (about the only aspect of Italian weather that IS reliable, in my experience) that lasts from two to four months, with heat and wind. Our soil is deep clay and we mulch heavily. The roses can take it. Our water source is local surface water and it's not an infinite supply; I don't feel right about using it for watering during drought. The only time I mind gardening this way is when the fall rains hold off until late September or October and the roses don't have time to set buds for a fall flush. That's irritating, but, that's gardening as well.
Melissa

Redsox, in Louisville roses would rarely use 1-1/4" per week, never 2". They could use 1" only in the heat of summer.

I don't water my roses after they're established. We probably average almost an inch here a week anyway, and the clay soil holds on to water pretty well.

Eric

No, it would be a waste of time anyway since all plants are mulched so deeply that water would barely penetrate. However, I do water a lot for the first year - a real soaking (10litres per square metre, every week) The roots go in search of water and get long and tough. Also, the soil is always moist and warm when I mulch and this seems to lock in moisture for the rest of the season.

Yes, during our hot dry summer - usually (this year it has rained frequently all Spring, and is still raining hard in the middle of May, which has only happened twice in my lifetime that I can remember) we have no rain whatsoever for 7-8 months, with lots of heat and no humidity. I'm betting that many of the roses would survive without it, but none of them would bloom. It should in theory be possible to not water the once bloomers all summer, but when I planted them I did not have this epiphany, and they are interspersed with the repeat bloomers and lots of blooming companion plants, so they do get some water.

Jackie

I'm sorry. I'm still confused.

How long or how many seasons does a rose need to be in the ground to qualify as established?

Sorry, if I missed the answer. I'm not too bright this afternoon :)

Audrey

Audrey,
I would say the first summer they need enough water to grow. The second summer they need enough water to grow and not wilt - but not nearly as much water as the first summer.
Year 3 is established, or at least in my garden that's what I call it.

I water new plants, esp bands, once or twice a week in the heat. The second and third year about once every 10 days if no rain. If it is a hot, dry spring--when the plants are actively growing and setting blooms--I'll water a couple of times. If it is a hot, rainless summer I'll water about once a month. I put in a drip irrigation system when I fist started my garden (and everybody was a baby). Now I use it only if I am away or have expanded a bed and therefore have a lot of babies in with more etablished roses, or if I am away or too lazy to stand out there with the hose. The advantage of the hose is that it gives me time to check out each rose.

I water when it's very hot and no rain for weeks. Deep soil and roots can provide enough water for a very long time, but if the soil dries out quickly water is needed. Even albas like Felicite Parmentier has been known not to form buds if conditions are too dry. I always water my hybrid perpetuals when needed, they are reliable rebloomers then.

I don't water after the first year except when there's been no rain for two to three weeks, sometimes longer. I check under the mulch. If the soil has not dried out, I figure the roses will endure. I try to keep the roses well mulched, the soil has a lot of clay and retains water, and it's humid here. Someone on the forum once said that Madame Isaac Pereire won't bloom without regular water. That seems to be true, and I just don't get many blooms from her in summer. So I think how much you water depends on what you want out of your garden, as well as on climate and soil.

I'm another who rarely waters anything beyond new plantings and my Japanese Iris. We have regular rain, good soil and deep mulch. Plus, I'm still commuting/working 12-14 hrs. per day and there just isn't time.

How many years to get established depends on whether your growing season is 6 months or 12 months long and how big was the plant when you bought it.

I'd consider grafted bare-roots established after one 7-month season; 2-gallon potted roses after 2 seasons; 1-gallon own-roots after 2 or 3; tiny bands after 3 or 4 seasons.

Paul Zimmerman's videos are the best thing since sliced bread!
Thank you Paul.

Carla