Rose Love

Not to brag, but I have quite an impressive rose collection for an urban garden. Or an insane one, depending on your perspective! As best I can tell, I have 12 rose bushes on my property.

Why the obsession with roses? I’m certainly not alone in this affliction. References to roses and their significance can be found almost as far back as the written word. People were probably obsessed with roses even before that, given that roses are one of the oldest flowers, with fossils dating back 35 million years. And they have certainly stood the test of time. Roses are still ubiquitous today in perfume, fashion, and bouquets.

Is it the fragrance? Rose is a classic perfumery ingredient, adding fresh elegance to both modern and traditional scents alike. I know the fragrance is a big factor for me. Roses can have many different types of scents, from strong and fruity to tea and myrrh. Personally, I think wild roses smell the best. They make me think of the beach or my grandparents’ in Nova Scotia.

Or is it the beauty? I love the abundance of a rose bush laden with blooms. Roses have been bred to form all types of blooms, from the tight flower of the classic red rose to the boisterous many-petalled varieties. Some are delicate, some are rumpled, but all are beautiful.

Or is it simply that roses are an excellent addition to the garden? They have so many attributes:

Reliable bloomers – mine bloom from May until November – no other plants delivers like that
Bees love them
Available in a variety of colours
Divine fragrance
Edible – apparently all varieties of rose can be consumed. They are commonly used in jelly, tea, rose water.

Whatever it is, the obsession is real. I want to build a wall of roses, and am well on my way, with six shrubs planted in a row. Will they ever bloom all at the same time? Not so far, but a girl can dream.

Types of Roses

Roses are typically grouped into seven classifications:

species (or wild)
old garden (or antique)
modern
hybrid tea and grandiflora
floribunda and polyantha, miniature (or miniflora)
climber
shrub

I am not good about documenting the names of my plants (is anyone surprised?). What I do know is that I don’t have any climbing roses and I don’t believe that any of them are wild.

Pests, Diseases, and Care

I feel like roses have the reputation of being finnicky and difficult to grow. That has not been my experience with them in the least. They grow and bloom on all parts of my property and stand up very well to being moved.

One of the benefits of roses, for me, is that Sam the groundhog leaves them alone. But I do deal with sawfly larvae (which are annoying, but fairly easily controlled), Japanese beetles (don’t get me started), and what I believe is black spot fungus. I handpick the pests (a topic for another post) and am not entirely sure what to do about the black spot.

Treatment

The only treatment I really use is neem oil, always after sundown, so as not to harm any pollinators. It’s effective for Japanese beetles and also has anti-fungal properties. Every year I mean to try it on the black spot, but never get around to it.

Deadheading

I do deadhead my roses to keep them blooming all season. To do so, I cut just above the first set of five leaves on a 45 degree angle.

Pruning

I’m a fairly new gardener, so pruning is not something I’ve mastered. But I am getting more confident every year. It’s good to prune your roses to get rid of weaker branches, thereby creating a stronger plant. Roses respond to pruning by growing, so pruning in the spring is ideal. You can cut them back quite drastically. I cut back my roses with black spot last fall and they are growing back looking healthy, although the first blush was delayed.

Rose Colours and Meaning

Let’s take a tour of my rose collection, broken down by colour.

Pink roses – gratitude, elegance, and sweetness

The first two roses I put in at this property. I love the fragrance and abundant blooms of these plants. They are usually among the earliest plants to flower in spring. They unfortunately get attacked by Japanese beetles every year and usually develop black spot, which was bad last year.

This one of two identical miniature rose bushes. I was told they might not survive the winter, but here they are five years later. These roses are very sweet looking, very disease resistant, and very reliable but they don’t have any fragrance.

This rose bush will soon be taller than I am! It gets attacked by sawfly larvae every year, but has still done very well. I think its first flush this year is exceptional. I had never noticed its fragrance before, but this year, the bees are loving it, and so am I!

Apparently, I really like this rose bush because I somehow ended up with two! As I mentioned in another post, I moved this rose bush to the side of the house. I am hoping it will grow tall enough to enjoy from our living room window and make an unattractive corner beautiful.

I can’t believe how well roses tolerate being moved. Buds that were on the shrub before it was moved are actually going to open!

This rose is a little different. I don’t think it has any fragrance, but it is quite disease resistant and flowers reliably. I can’t say it’s one of my favourites, but it’s nice to have the flowers.

This David Austin Scepter’d Isle is shade tolerant. I love the many petals and yellow centre peeking out. The fragrance is strong myrrh.

Yellow roses – warmth, friendship, and joy

My Imogen yellow rose is blooming prolifically this year. Also from David Austin, this rose is shade tolerant with a soft fragrance.

Orange roses – pride, energy, and intense desire

I have two orange roses. My Roald Dahl from David Austin was looking great this spring until I moved it. It wasn’t looking like it would survive but recently has started growing leaves again. The tea fragrance is lovely, as are these roses.

I don’t know the name of my other orange rose, but I love the almost neon colour of the bud before it blooms. These roses are small, but they bloom consistently throughout the summer.

White roses – innocence and spirituality

I adore white roses! I love the hints of other colours within them. As I mentioned previously, this white rose was one of only two purchases this year. The buds are peachy, but the flowers are pure white.

Red – Love and Passion

Red is a classic rose colour – but I don’t have any nor do I want one! You’ll find that there is no red in my garden, apart from one columbine plant.

Thanks for taking a tour of my rose collection with me! My roses might be the highlights of my garden for me. It’s so rewarding to watch them fill out year after year. What do you think? Is my rose collection complete? Trust that I have some ideas up my sleeve…

Rose Love

Types of Roses