There are many types of roses available, to fulfill your needs:
- Bush roses such as Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Grandifloras to provide colour throughout the summer.
- Miniature and Patio roses for small gardens, containers and as edging plants.
- Ramblers and Large-flowered Climbers to cover walls and fences.
( These three types require some care during the growing season and also need winter protection.) - Winter hardy Shrub roses (landscape roses), both old fashioned and modern hybrids, for shrub borders, larger properties and low maintenance gardens. Their cultural needs are similar to those of bush roses except they require less pruning and only minimal winter protection.
Your roses will grow vigorously and provide pleasure for many years if you attend to the following points:
Choose a well drained site that will receive about 6 hours of direct sun daily, away from the roots of large trees and roof overhangs.
Roses will grow in any good soil but do poorly in high alkaline soils, which should be amended, possibly with sulphur. For best results, and to allow the soil time to settle, prepare the beds at least 3 weeks before planting in April, or as soon as the soil is workable for spring planting, or in September for fall planting. Double digging is recommended, if at all possible. Where this is not possible, improve the existing soil by adding generous amounts of well-rotted manure, compost and peat moss. Mix these well into the soil to a depth of at least 30cm (12 inches). Where the soil depth is not sufficient, or to improve drainage where soil contains excessive amounts of clay, using beds built up to a depth of 15 to 20cm (6 to 8 inches) with good top soil will provide suitable growing conditions.
Mix bone meal or super phosphate into the upper 30cm (12 in) of the dug bed, breaking up any lumps. Allow the soil to settle before planting. To avoid injury to the young roots DO NOT ADD any other fertilizer at planting time.
If possible, visit local nurseries and place your order in August, for fall or spring planting. Specify Grade I roses and either bare root or container grown.
Bare Root: When the order is delivered, place the roots in a bucket of water overnight and keep the roots moist at all times. If the roses cannot be planted at once bury the plants in moist earth, in a slanted position, until planting time. Before planting, cut back broken or damaged roots and canes to healthy tissue.
Container grown roses: These are already growing, so when planting always remove the pot, even if fiber type, and try to minimize root disturbance. Cut away the bottom, then cut the pot vertically. Holding the pot, place the plant at the correct depth in the hole, back-fill part way and peel off the pot. Finish as described for bare root planting.
Dig a hole large enough to permit the roots to spread out freely. Set the plant on a mound of fine soil and spread the roots over the mound with the bud union at least 5cm (2 in) below the finished grade. In Zones 2-4 this should be 10-15 cm (4-6 in)
Back-fill the hole with soil/peat mixture to about three quarters full and firm the soil mix around the roots. Fill the hole with water and permit it to drain. Finish filling the hole and continue adding earth to form a mound to cover the canes. Do this in either fall or spring: it provides winter protection in fall and protects against sun scald in spring. Remove the mounds when t he plants are established and the buds begin to break.
| Bush roses: | 45 to 75cm ( 1½ to 2½ ft) apart, depending on the vigor of the cultivars |
| Shrub roses: | 1 to 1. 5m (3 to 5 ft), or as solitary specimens |
| Climbers: | 1.5 to 2.5m (5 to 8 ft), depending on desired effect. |
When spring clean-up has been completed, fertilize established roses with granular fertilizer according to manufacturer's directions on fertilizer package, work into the soil and water well. Other alternative methods are available such as, water soluble fertilizers, organic fertilizers and compost. DO NOT fertilize newly planted roses until after their first bloom. Next application should be just before the peak of bloom (June), and a third application may be made in mid July. Later applications are not recommended as plants must ripen wood before winter sets in.
Suitable fertilizers include special rose food, those of 1-2-1 ratio, e.g.: 10-29-10, 5-10-8, 6-12-8 analysis.
Water at the rate of 8 litres (2gals) per plant once a week ( more in hot weather ), preferably applied at ground level. Do not water in the hot sun and make sure the foliage is dry by nightfall.
The removal of spent flowers, ensures a continuous supply of blooms. Cut just above an outward facing 5 leaflet leaf on a cane strong enough to support a new bloom.
Disease control is obtained through protective sprays. A diseased plant cannot be cured. Apply fungicidal sprays every 10 to 14 days from the time new shoots are 10-15cm (4-6 in) high until October. Use materials specifically formulated for rose black spot and mildew control, such as Funginex alternated with benomyl or folpet (Phaltan) where still legal to do so.
In late spring, when the soil has thawed and a hard freeze is no longer expected, carefully remove soil mounds from established plants so as not to damage any shoots that have begun growth.
Wash away the last of the soil from the centre of the bush with a gentle stream of water. Clear away any prunings and dead leaves left from last fall.
In the spring, newly planted roses should be cut back quite severely,
leaving only three strong canes 10-12 cm (4-5 in) long. 
This encourages production of strong growth for a solid foundation. Established
rose bushes are pruned after the soil mounds have been removed in the
spring when canes show signs of growth usually April or when the forsynthia
is in bloom in your area.
Cut out any dead or diseased shoots to ground level. Remove weak, twiggy and crossing shoots to their point of origin, leaving only 3-6 healthy canes of pencil thickness or better. Cut these back to live wood, as indicated by white pith. Pruning cuts are to be made with sharp shears, about 5mm above an outward facing bud.
Around Thanksgiving cut canes back to about 70 cm (28 in) to prevent them from whipping about in the wind. Remove dead leaves from the bed. When the ground is at least partially frozen, place a collar around each bush and fill with dry soil and peat moss to a depth of 40-50cm (16-20 in.) Water well, then cover the mounds with straw, wood chips or similar material. This will cause the bushes to freeze and to stay frozen until spring, even in areas where Chinook winds are common.
Cut canes back to about 1-1.2m (3-4 ft) to prevent them from whipping
about in the wind. Remove dead leaves from the bed. For tender cultivars,
soil can be brought to the beds and mounded up around the canes, using
newspaper collars, to a depth of 20-30cm (8 -12 in).
Otherwise winter protection is not usually necessary in Coastal B.C..