Find out when to plant roses to enjoy their beautiful flowers and perfume all summer long
Knowing when to plant roses can bring their beauty, soul, scent and color to the garden longer each year. The best roses bloom for months, blooming all summer and into fall.
Roses with beautiful, fragrant flowers can add a lot to the garden: single-flowered varieties provide pollinators, such as bees; fruitful hybrids produce vivid scarlet hips for birds; and romantic double cultivars are covered with lush, calyx-shaped flowers for months.
Combine the knowledge of how to plant roses with this guide on the optimal time to plant roses and they will establish quickly, producing healthy, glossy foliage and masses of beautiful flowers that fill the garden with a sublime aroma.
WHEN TO PLANT ROSES WITH BEAUTIFUL AND FRAGRANT FLOWERS
Roses are sold in two forms: bare root (without soil) and in containers (in a pot), and when to plant roses depends on which you choose.
Bare root roses should be planted between November and March, while containerized roses can be planted in the ground any time of year. If possible, choose to plant bare root roses in winter or early spring to give your new roses the best start possible.
WHEN TO PLANT BARE ROOT ROSES
Bare root roses are on sale between November and March, and that's when to plant roses this way to achieve your rose garden ideas. Specialist rose suppliers offer them for sale directly or by mail order.
Plant as soon as possible after purchasing your bare root rose bush, on a day when the ground is not frozen. It is important to soak the rose roots in a bucket of water for at least an hour before planting.
WHEN TO PLANT ROSES IN A POT
Roses in containers can be planted at any time of the year. Specialist rose suppliers offer them for sale directly or by mail order. Although the timing of planting roses in containers is flexible, like any plant, it is best to plant them during their dormant period, rather than when they are beginning their growth or flowering period. This allows their root system to establish, which in turn gives them more flower power, as well as resistance to pests and diseases. For roses, this means planting them in late fall, winter or early spring.
By mid-spring, roses have begun their new growing season, and throughout the summer, they will be in full bloom. However, if you really want to plant in spring or summer, the rose will be fine in the long term. It may not flower as much in its first year, but in subsequent summers it will perform at its best. The key is to avoid April and wait until May to plant.
“Containerized roses purchased in April have often been potted recently and will have a limited root system,” says leading rose expert and international rose garden designer Michael Marriott . ‘The roots are not developed enough to hold the compost together and therefore when the pot is removed the compost falls out breaking the fragile roots and repositioning the rose. It is best to wait until May to plant when the roots have grown more.
IS IT BETTER TO PLANT ROSES WITH BARE ROOT OR IN A POT?
Bare root planting is the optimal way to plant climbing roses and other types because, in addition to being cheaper, bare root plants establish a robust root system much faster, and planting during winter or early spring allows the rose settles and grows strong sooner. begins its wave of growth in April. Bare root roses also require less watering. Whatever you choose, deadheading roses will be crucial to keeping them looking their best for the longest possible period.
IS IT BETTER TO PLANT LATE-BLOOMING ROSES IN SPRING?
Among most roses, which bloom in summer, there are none that bloom especially later than others. “In practice, there isn't much difference between most varieties when they start flowering, so I wouldn't worry about that.”
If you must plant outside the optimal rose planting period (November to March), it does not matter which summer-flowering rose you choose. The only thing to avoid, if possible, is to plant one of the few rose bushes that bloom in spring (such as R. banksiae ‘Lutea'). By April these spring shoots will be covered in buds and by May they will be bursting with flowers, so opt for a regular summer-flowering variety if you must plant in late spring.
