By Kristen Hannum
How could a gardener have too many roses? In my opinion, it’s a metaphysical impossibility.
Harison’s Yellow RoseHarison’s Yellow RoseThe rose, our national flower, can be hardy to the point of being invasive, especially if you choose a healthy plant of the right variety and take decent care of it. Actually, in my experience, roses will survive even if you don’t take care of them.
Matt Douglas at High Country Roses agrees. “My own garden is a replication of the cobbler’s kid’s shoes,” he says. “It’s as abused as any in town and yet the roses survive.”
He and his wife, Jennifer, treat the 15,000 roses in their greenhouses more tenderly, and yet even those roses provide proof of the genus’s toughness. “We’ve had plants lost in the mail for three weeks — that’s in a dark box, in up to 100 degree temperatures — and yet when we get them back, we water them and set them in a special spot. We rarely lose any.”
Louise Odier Rose
Douglas has customers in Leadville, Buena Vista, Ridgway and other high-altitude locations who, like me, find it impossible to have too many roses. “People have a lot of luck with roses at high altitudes,” he says. Louise Odier RoseLouise Odier Rose
He advises visiting plantmaps.com and plugging in your ZIP code to make sure of your UDA plant hardiness zone.
Douglas recommends pruning your roses in spring. The first half of May is good for most of Colorado. Autumn is for cleaning all the debris, especially rose leaves with black spot, and for cutting back branches that are clearly going to break in the winter weather. Spring is for hard pruning.
Once you understand the logic behind pruning, it’s easier to do it right. Pruning will encourage new growth and blooming, so don’t let your roses talk you out of it. Aim to cut the plant back by about one-third. Your first cuts will be to remove damage. Next, remove anything that’s dead. Last, shape the plant.
There are so many rose varieties that one of the hardest parts of growing them is choosing which to buy. I brought home my share of roses from big box stores, including one scarlet Mr. Lincoln that became a favorite. Even so, you’re safer buying from a nursery like High Country Roses, where you’re sure of the quality, you can talk with the growers and there’s a far wider variety.
Harison’s Yellow Rose
One of Douglas’s personal favorites is the Harison’s Yellow Rose, sometimes called the Pioneer Rose. “They’re the roses that you see practically exploding with yellow blooms in May,” he says. “It’s an amazing historical plant that I think everyone should grow.” The Harison’s Yellow is also amazingly hardy.
Prairie RosePrairie RoseOther historic roses close to Douglas’s heart include the Fairmount Cemetery roses, heritage roses that High Country Roses sells in partnership with Denver’s historic Fairmount Cemetery.
The Prairie Rose is another great choice, not just because it’s disease resistant and beautiful but also because it’s native, meaning that it’s beneficial to wildlife in ways that exotic species aren’t. In addition, you won’t find black spot on Prairie roses so you won’t be tempted to spray.
I was relieved to hear Douglas say he doesn’t advocate spraying for black spot. Black spot is a common fungus that lives on rose leaves and it is nearly impossible to get rid of. I don’t spray for it, and he tells me that’s a good attitude.
I’m planting a Louise Odier Rose this month, a fragrant bourbon pink rose developed in France in 1851. It’s hardy through zone 5, so it will be fine on the Front Range. Good luck picking a new rose for your garden, too.
Kristen Hannum is a native Colorado gardener. Email or write her with wisdom or comments at gardening@coloradocountrylife.org.