The Timeless Rose...

Roses have been cultivated since ancient Babylonian, Greek and Roman times, and have proven the favourite of all flowers through the ages. The modern variety colours, flower form and fragrance, make them irresistable for your garden display and cut flowers.Rosa David Austin Pinks

Rosa Hamilton Gardens

Types of Roses:

Hybrid Tea -

Classic long stemmed roses that make a good garden display are beautiful cut flowers.

Floribunda -

Rosa Iceburg

Providing a greater display of flowers than the Hybrid Tea roses, they produce an abundance of flowers, bourne in clusters or trusses, from spring through to autumn. They are reliable and long lasting.

Climbing and Rambling -

Rosa Dublin Bay

Ramblers have long, pliable stems and bear large trusses of small flowers, producing several strong stems from their base each year. Climbers make strong stems from any part of the plant and their height potential is much greater than that of ramblers

Shrub -

This is a modern term for a bush rose that combines some characteristics of other rose types. Most are hybrids between the wild species, hybrid tea and floribundas. They are ver varied in habit, leaf shape and flower form.

Species -

Roses grown in their origional form, producing fine-petaled, single flowers, in spring mainly, followed by beautiful berry-like hips in Autumn.They are hardy to coastal situations, resistant to pests and diseases, and require little

pruning.

Rosa Rugosa Frau Dagmar Hastrup

Old Fashioned -

Rosa Constance Srpy

Particularly fragrant and hardy, with a lovely informal character. The Austin series is a spectacular part of this rose type.

Miniature -

Bred to so their leaves, stems and blooms are in perfect proportion, they look like tiny floribundas. 20-50cm high and almost thornless, they are a versitile addition to your garden and living space.

Notes From Our Kings Rose Growing Guide:

PLANTING NEW ROSES

Choose a very sunny position in a breezy but not windy spot. Roses will grow in most soils. Enrich with Kings Compost for best results.

Dig a hole a little deeper than the length of the bag the rose is in,and about twice as wide. Add Kings 24 Plus slow release fertiliser and Saturaid to the hole to give your plants the start they deserve. Thoroughly water your rose before planting.

The bud union of the rose should be level with or slightly above the ground. Inspect your plant and cut off any broken roots or sterns. Place your rose into the hole and carefully firm in with planting mix or fine soil.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO PRUNE NEW PLANTS.

Always prune to an outward facing bud, and remove any spinly or crossing over growth. Prune back hard, to around 150-170mm high.

PRUNING

For all roses, remove dead/ diseased wood. On existing bush roses, reduce canes by about 1/2. Leave 3/4 main branches, with an open centre. Make cuts on degree 45 degree angles.

-Cut out dead and diseased wood

-Remove spindly and crossing over growth

-Clear the centre of plant

-Reduce main branches by about 1/2

-Remove growth from below graft.

On climbers, allow 4-5 main leaders, pruned back to 3 live buds. Old fashioned or Classic roses that repeat flower should be pruned in July, where as single flowering types should be pruned after flowering. Groundcover roses need to be trimmed for shape only. Standards and miniature roses are trimmed as for bush roses.

SPRAYING WINTER-SPRING

-May: spray roses with Yates Champ DP and Conqueror oil, mixed according to directions on containers. Combined, these two sprays will kill harmful insects and fungi.

-June: Spray with Lime Sulphur. This kills the spores of rust and other fungal diseases. Lime sulphur will cause the plant to drop its leaves, making pruning easier.

-July: Prune your roses this month (Auckland). Spray again with Yates Champ DP and Yates Conqueror Oil as a final clean up. Before new growth emerges.

-August: Prune if you have not yet done so. Begin spraying with Yates shield as the weather warms to prevent insect and fungal infection. Continue using Shield, alternating with Yates Super Shield or Bravo through spring and summer.

General advice on spraying: When in leaf, do not spray on sunny days as leaves may scorch. Pick up and burn fallen leaves to prevent spread of plant pests and diseases. When using sprays always read directions on container first.

A few basic tips can make rose growing a lot easier...

General rose care:

-Mulching: helps retain moisture over summer and improves soil condition. Use Living Earth Mulch or Pea Straw. Keep mulch clear of stem to prevent rot.

-Feeding:roses are very hungry. Feed through spring and summer. Try Kings Rose Food, nitrophoska or a slow release fertiliser designed for roses. In May an application of Sulphate of Potash will mature and harden canes.

-Watering: Water roses deeply during dry weather. Try to keep water off the leaves to reduce the spread of disease.

Great Growing!!