Growing Garden Roses as a Summer-Long Staple for Floral Design
If you’re wondering about the steps, tips, and tricks to growing garden roses that are robust and healthy for cut flower use and floral design work, look no further!
Roses are one of the most breathtaking and fragrant focal flowers used in floral design. While I’ve always been a big fan of designs featuring garden roses, I’ve found heightened enjoyment and satisfaction in growing my own garden roses for cut flowers.
From classic, elegant bridal bouquets to bohemian dinner-party centerpieces, from luxe cutting-edge aesthetics to wild and whimsical garden designs, there is a rose for every occasion.
And there is a rose for every garden.
There are over 150 varieties of roses and over 1000 hybrids, including climbers and ramblers, English shrub roses, Floribundas, Grandifloras, Damasks, Bourbons, Rugosas, Hybrid Tea, Alba, and miniature roses.
Among the thousands of different choices, some stand out like shining stars for fragrant cut roses. At Enduring Blooms, we’ve intentionally chosen varieties with exceptional fragrance and form that transport you back to Jane Austen times and make you want to wear puff sleeves in the garden all year long.
That means that we don’t use pesticides or any chemicals that would keep us from wanting to bury our faces in the flowers we grow. One of the ways we can do without pesticides is by also being extra selective with which rose bushes naturally do best in our climate.
Selecting Roses Based on Grow Zone and Climate
The grower-designer and the home gardener alike will benefit immensely from a bit of research about which roses will thrive in your grow zone. Will your roses need to stand up to the high humidity and heat of the Southeast? The frigid winters of the North? Or the dry, arid climate of the West?
The beautiful State of Grace rose from Weeks Roses is a drop-your-jaw beauty that has out-performed every other rose in my parents’ Northern California zone 9 garden, but here in our zone 7 cutting patch, where we can drown in humidity and rain, our best performers are the Heritage rose from David Austin Roses, Cream Veranda and Bliss Parfuma from Kordes, and the Princess Charlene de Monaco rose from Star Roses.
Reaching out to my local Master Gardener (who’s a whisperer of cut flowers), chatting with local nurseries that specialize in roses, and asking questions of local flower farmers all helped me make my final choices, which are ever-expanding.
When browsing for roses to plant, pay attention to key descriptions like “heat lover,” “tends to ball up in humidity,” or “can withstand sub-zero temps,” and take a peek at comments from others who’ve purchased it.
“Online communities can also be a wealth of knowledge, especially those that share your grow zone and/or climate. ”
Online communities can also be a wealth of knowledge, especially those that share your grow zone and/or climate.
Shout out to my “flower friends,” who still try to get together online most Wednesday afternoons to share our victories and challenges, bounce questions off each other, and brainstorm new creative business outlets for our zone 7 flower farms and businesses.
One of my flower friends lives in California, one in Colorado, one in Virginia, and I’m here in Tennessee, but our grow zone is a commonality that has allowed these women to become real teachers and gifts to me.
How to Plant Roses for a Cut Flower Garden
When purchasing or ordering roses for your own cut flower garden, you can usually find rose plants in 4” to 5” pots, gallon sizes or larger, as well as bare root and own-root plants.
The benefits of planting bare root and own-root roses include that they can focus all their energy after the stress of planting on creating good roots instead of trying to keep leaves hydrated.
One of the benefits of larger-sized potted plants is that you can get blooms sooner the first year. And the reason I normally get mostly small 4” pots, also known as bands, is because of the unparalleled selection you can find out there in these smallest sizes.
I love to hunt for new and unique varieties that are almost impossible to find in bare roots or gallon pots. For the strongest rose bush grown from a band, snip off any buds that form the first season it’s planted; this will ensure the rose’s energy all goes toward building a strong root system.
While it can take a year or two for a rose band to get established, the wait is well worth it. Some of my second-year bands have already outgrown my second-year gallon potted rose bush.
It’s best for roses to be planted in the fall or spring, with zones 8 and above being able plant in the winter as well. To plant garden roses, dig a hole twice as deep and wide as the plant and fill with compost or manure-amended garden soil. Water well and deeply when you plant, and continue watering deeply 2–3 times a week if it hasn’t rained.
“Hold off on any granular fertilizers until your plants are well-established, at least 2-3 years old, or you could burn your rose bushes.”
Hold off on any granular fertilizers until your plants are well-established, at least 2-3 years old, or you could burn your rose bushes. I learned this the hard way, and I urge you not to make the same mistake.
Our roses love a good homemade fertilizer made with compost scraps, water, and a bit of ammonia. It’s easy, cost-effective, and best of all, the flowers love it! We do monthly feedings from March through August.
Enduring Blooms’ Favorite Homemade Liquid Garden Rose Fertilizer Recipe
Ingredients/Equipment
2–3 quarts compost scraps (fruit, veggies, even lawn trimmings)
4 tsp Epsom salt
3 capful’s of ammonia
2 gallons warm tap water
Five-gallon bucket
We save our fruit and veggie scraps in a five-gallon bucket with a lid just outside our kitchen. Lawn trimmings, raked leaves, and mowed grass get added to the bucket as well. We even save the water that we boil our pasta and vegetables in, as it’s full of nutrients!
When we have 2-3 quarts saved, which fills about 1/3 of the bucket, we add the warm water, Epsom salt, and ammonia to the bucket, stir well, and let sit for a week or two. Once ready, we pour some of the mixture into a gallon plastic handheld sprayer and generously spray the soil around the base of the rose bushes.
How to Get Rid of Bugs on Roses Naturally: Battling Rose Plant Pests with Natural Solutions
Deer and, rarely, rabbits can be a pesky foe to your roses. Fencing in our plants has been our best bet against losing whole blooms to hungry wildlife.
Insect pests can be more intimidating to deal with. Nothing breaks a rose grower’s heart quite like seeing the destruction aphids can cause to roses’ leaves and buds, literally sucking the life out of precious plants.
“Because we don’t rely on pesticides or harsh chemicals at Enduring Blooms, we’ve had to get creative.”
Because we don’t rely on pesticides or harsh chemicals at Enduring Blooms, we’ve had to get creative. A creative, environmentally-friendly solution is ordering your own live ladybugs to release on your roses. Ladybugs are a natural predator of aphids and will gladly eat up every last one. They are a blessing to any garden!
Releasing the ladybugs at night is best, as they rest at night and are less likely to fly away before finding their food source on your roses. When we can’t source ladybugs, we rely on organic neem oil spray, which acts as an insecticide, fungicide, and miticide. Spray directly on the leaves and let it do its work.
Timing Is Everything: How to Keep Roses Blooming All Summer
For the floral designer who dreams of growing their own roses, for the gardener who loves to be surrounded by nonstop flushes of blooms, and for everyone who loves to fill their home all year long with the beauty and fragrance of roses, special consideration can be given for your growing season, and different varieties can be selected to cover as much time in bloom as possible.
Choosing old-fashioned “once-blooming” roses that mostly flower in May and June alongside continually blooming roses ensures that you don’t have to go without the beauty and fragrance of fresh grown garden roses for the entire summer.
Old-fashioned garden roses date back to the mid 1800s. Also known as “heirloom,” “historic,” and “antique” roses, these beauties are often once-blooming and full of heady fragrance.
Because they’ve been around for so many years, they’ve developed natural resistance against disease and have evolved to be extra hardy.
In my garden, the hands-down favorite is Duchesse de Brabant. She is voluptuous, has a strong classic rose-tea scent, and is still a repeat-bloomer, which makes her extra special to me.
Duchesse de Brabant was introduced in 1857 and is an Earth-Kind rose, which is a special designation given to roses that once established, do well in a variety of soil conditions and can withstand heat and drought.
Choosing varieties designated Earth-Kind roses is another way we rise to the challenge of not using pesticides at Enduring Blooms. You can find more information on Earth-Kind roses here: Earth-Kind® Rose Cultivars - Earth-Kind Roses Earth-Kind Roses
Modern Garden Roses are often described as larger uniform blooms that lack the same intense fragrance and personality of Old Garden Roses, but with rose breeders like David Austin and Kordes, among many others, I find modern garden roses can be every bit as transportive, whimsical, and nostalgic as their antique sisters.
“I find modern garden roses can be every bit as transportive, whimsical, and nostalgic as their antique sisters. ”
Modern roses also can have longer vase life and tend to be repeat bloomers, both win-win’s for our garden and fresh flower subscription delivery. They can be less hardy and disease-resistant than historic roses, which is why we are sure to plant modern rose bushes that thrive in both our grow zone and climate, and we give them plenty of room to breathe to combat disease. There are several amazing modern roses with the Earth-Kind designation as well, including one of our favorites, Belinda’s Dream.
Fragrance Is King—Growing the Best-Smelling Roses
Our favorite roses are blousy and very double, some cupped like peonies, others ruffled or stuffed full of so many petals they’re quartered.
Not all roses have fragrance, but those with a special place in our hearts do. It’s one of our missions for as many people as possible to experience the sense-awaking power and pleasure of truly fragrant garden roses.
Our clients all express joy and disbelief over the otherworldly scent and shape of our Princess Charlene de Monaco, Heritage, and Beverly roses. I hope you feel inspired to grow your own fragrant garden roses for your garden or business. Nothing evokes the same feelings of romance and elegance quite like the blousy, blissfully-scented blooms of garden roses. Puff sleeves for all!
Enduring Blooms’ Top Ten Picks For Fragrant Garden Roses
These are our favorite scented roses, but we love them as much for their over-the-top beautiful form and coloring as their fragrance.
Beverly Eleganza Rose from Kordes
Heirloom Rose from David Austin
Princesse Charlene de Monaco Rose from Alain Meilland
Bliss Parfuma Rose from Kordes
Golden Celebration Rose from David Austin
Duchesse de Brabant Rose, antique garden rose
Liv Tyler Rose from from Alain Meilland
Desdemona Rose from David Austin
Sweet Mademoiselle from Alain Meilland
Honey Dijon Rose from James A. Sproul
Enduring Blooms’ Other Favorite Garden Roses
While these roses might not make our top 10, most have their own delicious fragrance, and all are gorgeous with unique coloring and form.
Love Song Rose from Tom Carruth
Francis Meilland Rose from Alain Meilland
Distant Drums Rose from Dr. Griffith Buck
Koko Loko Rose from Christian Bédard
Belinda’s Dream Rose from Dr. Robert E. Basye
Joan Fontaine Rose from John Clements
Summer Romance Parfuma Rose from Kordes
State of Grace Rose from Christian Bédard
Wedding Bells Eleganza Rose from Kordes
All Dressed Up Rose from Christian Bédard
