Growing Roses for Beginners

Roses can be a troublesome plant to grow for beginning gardeners. They are often quite susceptible to garden pests, so daily care must be taken to ensure that the plants do not have harmful insects or mold on them. Growing roses for beginners is not impossible as long as adequate time is spent caring for these beautiful yet delicate plants.

Roses are most commonly purchased as a bare root and planted directly into the soil. Make sure that the surrounding soil is well aerated to insure that water can easily seep into the ground. It is also important to add some fertilizer to the soil in the locations which you want to plant your roses. Location and lighting conditions are also of paramount importance when growing roses for beginners. Roses thrive on plenty of warm, but not hot, sun. Therefore, planting roses in an area which has lots of sun early in the day, but less sun during the hottest times of the day, is essential. Once the location has been decided upon and the rose has been planted, water the plant thoroughly and keep the soil surrounding the new plant damp for at least a week or two before lessening the amount of water provided.

Regular maintenance on rose bushes helps keep them healthy and allows the flowers to look even more appealing. Besides checking periodically for pests and molding, beginning rose gardeners should keep in mind that the pruning of old flowers allows the bush to focus energies on creating new blooms. Pruning back faded flowers at the stems is largely responsible for keeping roses looking healthy.

Growing roses for beginners can be a challenging, but ultimately rewarding, act. Some roses even work great as butterfly garden plants. If you would like to discuss growing roses, please join the PerennialFlowerGardening.com community and participate in the forum.