Hybrids Tea & Climbing Roses

When you think of a rose garden, you typically picture a formal garden design with award-winning hybrid tea roses aligned in stately elegance. But some of today’s gardeners are using different varieties of roses to add a whimsical, nostalgic feel to their casual garden layouts.Some gardeners are blending roses with a variety of other plants and flowers for an easy-going profusion of color and scents. Climbing roses on a wall or trellis provide an interesting backdrop andmost varieties of roses are quite hardy.

Hybrid tea roses produce large blooms similar to what you would purchase as cut, long-stem roses in a floral shop. That said, hybrids are susceptible to disease and require regular pruning. Old-fashioned rose shrubs, by contrast, have so many blooms per plant that they are more difficult to cut, but don’t need as much protection during the cold winter months; plenty of sunlight and water during dry times is sufficient.

As many rose plants are grafted onto root stocks, watch for suckers that can be traced to the root below the point of union. These should be removed by breaking them off, as cutting them, like pruning, encourages new growth. Like other flowering plants, roses will produce more blooms if the dying ones are dead-headed.

As vining roses tend to become aggressive, they should be pruned to keep their growth in check. The best time to prune roses is at the end of their dormant period, before they bud and flower in early spring. Roses typically send out a new sprout that will not flower until the following year. This year’s flowers are found on last year’s old wood.