I just really wanted to try growing roses and I wasn’t paid to write this or given anything for free. I loved growing them so much that I wanted to share my experience. You need these!

I soaked the bare roots in water overnight.

This was my first year of growing roses. I was slightly worried because it sounds like a lot of work and I was reading about care, pruning, etc. and I was actually really intimidated by how much work it takes to keep these alive. I was so wrong!

The roses were actually one of the easier and more exciting plants that I had this year. They grew so fast that it really makes you feel like you are accomplishing something if you have immediate gratification issues like I do.

I ordered four bare-root plants from David Austin Roses in January because you have to order early to get what you want. I’m zone 4 but they had lots of options for me including roses that do well in shade.

They are super reasonably priced! For some reason, I thought that it would take a couple of years for the roses to be full-sized bushes and that they only grew 12-18" a year. I don't know why I thought that because they were huge. Here's a little list of what I ordered and how each flower went.

Princess Alexandra of Kent. It is so pretty!

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA OF KENT
I knew I wanted a pink rose and this one delivered. Huge/beautiful flowers, lots of blooms. It bloomed twice and grew taller (and skinnier) than the other rosebushes. I think I pruned it the wrong way so I had to stake it in August. So too heavy. The most gorgeous little blooms become huge blossoms as they age. These seemed to last the longest. This thing was like 3' tall by the end of the season. These are monsters!

LADY OF SHALOTT
Orange roses that look like a sunset. This bush seemed to stay on the rounder/thicker side and was probably the prettiest actual "bush" as a whole. The flowers don't get as big as the Princess Alexandra of Kent but the color is ridiculously vivid and they look really fancy. It's like a peach/cream/yellow ombre effect. I feel like they don’t photograph as well because it is a softer color but they are so pretty in person. Like a Peaches ‘n Cream 1984 Barbie!

The Poet’s Wife (with a little baby beetle eating in the corner).

THE POET'S WIFE
The smallest of the bushes but also tons of blooms and just a gorgeous yellow color. This one also bloomed THREE times over the season and spent the least amount of time with no flowers on it. It is a vigorous thing. So beautiful and yellow roses just look expensive and wonderful in any arrangement. And they almost smell like lemonade. So fabulous! They get just the tiniest bit of red on them that disappears as they age. It kind of looks like little blood spots. These ones were also the most liked by the Japanese Beetles. They just kept eating them.

Tess of the d’Urbervilles. You need this. Now.

TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES
This was my climbing rose and my favorite of the four. It didn't have as many blooms but it is such a beautiful color. There's something very storybook/Disney/gothic sexy about red roses and I just love these. They start red then turn a neon pinky red and then back to red. It's fascinating to watch. HUGE thorns like something out of a science fiction novel and the most beautiful green leaves. These are magic and everyone needs them!! Plus this plant was taller than I am by the end of the season. WEAR gloves when you prune these and make sure you use twine or plant ties to help mold these to your trellis. They are pretty flexible and I managed not to break off any branches while adhering them to the trellis.

Helpful Hints!
The Japanese Beetles love these. I had to keep picking them off and killing them so they wouldn't destroy the roses. For 2021, I'm adding a ton of beneficial nematodes to my garden and roses to try and kill these before they hatch.

Buy the Mycorrhizal Fungi. It was cheap and helps establish healthy roots when you plant the roses. No idea if this actually does anything but these plants were magical so I’m not changing a thing in the future.

Also, get the rose food! You will need to feed them a couple of times a year - at the beginning of the growing season (mid-March to April) and again in mid-summer after the first flush of flowers. I fed mine when I planted them and then again right after the first blooms were gone.

I planted my roses in containers because I had read that it is easier to start them in planters so that you can get used to maintenance and watch out for disease and blah blah blah. I don't think this is necessary. I planted mine in 20" x 20" planters and they were relatively low maintenance. I love the look of containers but these plants are huge and will need to be transplanted to the ground in spring.

In late September, I cut them all down by about a third and winterized them as best as I can. Fingers crossed they survive winter and transplant. I can’t recommend trying roses enough. They are such beautiful plants!

Going to try and find room for a few more for the 2021 garden!

David Austin Roses Review - Planting in Containers

Gaye Gardens