Late Summer Rose Care for Repeat Blooms in Autumn

Before that first frost hits in late September or early October, repeat-flowering roses like the Explorer Roses, rugosas and many hybrid teas still have the capacity to flower in colder zones, some even into December. But the rose needs the gardener’s nurturing hands to prune, feed, and dead-head. The gardener also needs to understand the plant’s needs throughout the summer in order to see those late-season flowers.

Diagnose the Rose’s Needs

The rose speaks to the gardener when its leaves turn pale and sickly for want of nitrogen. When its leaves are burnt around its edges, it needs more water. When the leaves turn yellow with green veins the rose is telling the gardener it needs iron. It’s a simple communication, offering the gardener its symptoms to diagnose its problems and give it what it needs.

Gardeners should use rose food specifically formulated for the plant. The nitrogen in the food will ensure the fauna is rich and full. The phosphorous will stimulate the roots, and encourage more growth, as well as more flowers. The potassium makes the rose more resistant to aphids and other pests, and it makes the rose stronger and more able to come through the winter unscathed.

Follow the directions on the rose food box without giving the plant too much food in one sitting. Water the rose well before and after feeding. In fall, add a little bone meal to the soil around the rose’s drip line and water it in. This will stimulate root growth before the plants settle into dormancy for the winter.

Dead-heading Roses

A lot of energy was spent offering the gardener that first lovely flush of flowers in spring, but afterward, those spent flowers should be removed. There is no need to let those hips form yet. Instead, let the rose concentrate on producing more flowers rather than putting its energy into making fat rose hips. Dead-heading ensures that.

Pruning and Cutting Back Roses

After the first flowering flush of spring, most repeat roses flower sporadically throughout the rest of the growing season and will do so well into the colder weeks of autumn. But to see that, the roses need pruning and cutting back, not just dead-heading.

Through the summer, keep the rose free of diseased, twiggy, or dead wood, including canes that are crossing over other canes. Roses grow best when they are open and airy to ground level.

Once the gardener learns to understand the rose’s needs, she will find the rose isn’t the high-maintenance diva of the flower garden some gardeners unjustly claim her out to be. Unlike most other garden plants and flowers, the rose lets the gardener know when it’s feeling out of sorts and if the gardener has good nurturing instincts, her roses will be the last plants to flower in autumn.

The article, Soil Preparation for Healthy Roses will show the gardener how to give her roses a good start. The article, What is Rose Proliferation? might answer a few questions about what could make the rose unhealthy. And gardeners could learn how to ready their roses for the onslaught of snow by reading How to Protect Perennials and Roses for Winter.