Roses are a great addition to your yard. Here's what you should know to get started

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15-02-2025

Like many of you, I had a few plants that flowered through the winter. But my roses were the rock stars in the winter, blooming right through December, even though the temperatures were chilly.
Roses have been seen as connected to love since ancient times. In mythology, roses sprang up everywhere Aphrodite walked because she was so beautiful. It is a nice image.
When I moved to my house, there was a hybrid tea rose ('Queen Elizabeth') in my yard. I moved it where I could care for it better, and it lived a pretty long life. I treated it as I treat my roses now. No fungal spray, no watering on the leaves, and clearing up of the fallen leaves. It was accidentally good care. I wasn't a master gardener yet and was treating the rose the way I did up north, minus the dreaded Japanese Beetles.
There are many divisions of roses, and you might be surprised to know that not all of them require a lot of care. I'm going to simplify and only discuss three.
The hybrid tea roses are the most well-known and produce the kind of flowers you would get from the florist. They produce singular, beautiful blooms on long stems. Some are scented; some are less so. Some of the famous varieties you might have heard of are 'Peace,' 'Mr. Lincoln,' 'Pope John Paul II.' There are scores more.
The problem is that they tend to be very susceptible to some foliar diseases, especially in our humid months.
Most rosarians (and we have outstanding ones locally) follow a strict anti-fungal spraying program to protect the leaves on their plants from black spot and cercospora. These diseases thrive in our humid climate. (See more at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/PP267.)
There is also an annoying pest that likes to sneak into tender young growth. Chili Thrips have become a major pest in the last 10 years. Tiny insects, they suck out the sap in buds, leaves and flowers, discoloring them while hiding in the petals and leaves. (Read more at https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/pests-and-diseases/pests/chilli-thrips/.)
If you don't think you want to follow that strict a program, you might want to try an Old Garden Rose. These are the roses that were in existence before 1867, often bred in France. Many of them are more rigorous and sturdier against the foliar diseases. Some are compact, some are climbers or ramblers. Some bloom only once in the spring. But others rebloom as often as every six weeks if fertilized properly. Some have been found in cemeteries, where they had little or no care. That surely speaks to their hardiness.
And in the old garden rose, you often find wonderful fragrance and good cutting roses. I admit to being a greedy gardener. I love to be able to see flowers blooming, but the value of the plant is enhanced if I can cut flowers and bring them inside. If they are fragrant, even better. And in my garden, most plants must appeal to pollinators. The roses don't always, but I have seen bumblebees in my roses, and that is a win.
You will still have to deal with some foliar diseases and chili thrips. Sometimes, removing diseased leaves and flower buds helps. You can control thrips with two biological controls (pirate bugs or predatory mites) or neem oil. I try to avoid the use of pesticides in my flower gardens and am rewarded with native bees and predators. Less really is more. I have not conquered weeds, however!
Some of the varieties that do well here are 'Mutablilis,' 'Mrs. B. R. Cant', 'Perle dOr', and 'Louis Phillipe', a rose that blooms almost nonstop. There are many more.
There is another group of roses in the market, the groundcover or shrub roses. There has been a lot of refinement over the last 15 years and some of these roses are great. They stay fairly low, and do not need much pruning, although they are tolerant. They can be container-grown if you can be attentive to their water needs.
One of the first on the market was the Knockout roses. They have continued to develop and now we have the Drift roses and the Oso easy roses. With their clusters of blooms, they are a landscape plus.
All roses need regular fertilizer with micronutrients, organic compost soil and regular water. Specific rose fertilizers are easy for most of us. As always granular fertilizers stay in place better when rainfall comes.
Early February is the traditional time to trim roses. Trim out crossing branches, so they don't bang against each other when the wind blows. Trim out anything that looks diseased. After every cut, you need to dip your cutters in a sanitizing solution to make sure you do not spread diseases. The solution can be 10% bleach or 10% rubbing alcohol.
Take off any branches that are thinner than a pencil. Make your cuts just above a dormant bud. Any diseased leaves should be removed and put into the garbage (not composted). Old mulch should be removed, and fresh mulch should be applied and new fertilizer applied. Look at your bush to make sure you are happy with the shape before you move on. Be sure to oil your pruners after working with them.
Roses can fit into any yard with sunshine and water. Add some beauty to your yard this year! For more information, see https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP339.
Becky Wern is a Master Gardener Volunteer with the Duval County Extension Service and the University of Florida/IFAS. For gardening questions, call the Duval County Extension Office at [phone] from 9 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and ask for a Master Gardener Volunteer.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Roses: What to plant, how to care for them in your yard