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Roses are the most popular flowering shrubs in Utah. Their long blooming season and the great diversity of size and color of the blossoms are unequaled. Roses are easy to grow when their basic growth and pest control requirements are met.
Roses are classified by their growth habits and flowering characteristics. Select them by size, shape, color and desired bloom period. Provide the right growing conditions to stimulate abundant, attractive blooms. Roses are short-lived if planted in a poor or hostile site.
Hybrid Teas are the most widely grown roses. They have showy blooms throughout the season. Plants are two to five feet high depending on cultural conditions and pruning techniques. Flowers are single or double. Buds are long and pointed with single flowers or clusters of three to five flowers per stem. They are used as ornamental plants or for cut flowers. Many are not completely hardy and need winter protection.
Floribunda Roses are similar in size, shape and color to hybrid tea blossoms. They grow in clusters with short stems. Floribunda roses are hardy, disease resistant, low growing shrubs. Use them in beds where many flowers are desired.
Grandiflora Roses are offspring of hybrid tea roses. These flowers are borne singly or in clusters on longer stems and the flowers resemble hybrid teas. They are larger than hybrid teas and grow three to six feet tall. Miniature Roses are tiny versions of various roses. Miniatures grow less than two feet high. Use them in mass plantings, borders, specimens or indoor plants.
Shrub Roses are hardy, spreading plants that require little maintenance. Varieties grow 4 to 12 feet tall with many canes and thick foliage. Flowers are single or double and grow on the ends of the canes or on branches. Some flower once in the spring while others flower continuously. Shrub roses produce many rose hips after flowering.
Heritage Roses or old roses are those grown prior to 1867. There are many different plant and flower forms. They include Albas, Bourbons, Damasks, Mosses, Noisettes and Rugosas, the wild and shrub roses such as the Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana), Austrian Copper (Rosa foetida bicolor), Father Hugo (Rosa hugonis) and many others. These are hardy, drought tolerant and pest resistant in most cases. They bloom only in the spring.
Climbing and Rambler Roses have long, arching canes. Roses do not actually climb and must be attached to trellises or arbors. Climbing roses have many different colors or types of blooms. Large-flowered climbers have stiff, thick canes up to 10 feet long and bloom through the summer and fall. Ramblers have long, thin canes and small clusters of flowers that bloom in early summer.
Tree Roses are classified by growth form rather than flower types. They are created by grafting bush roses onto an upright trunk. Use them as accents in formal gardens or as specimen plants. Tree roses are not cold hardy and need special winter protection in Utah.
The Utah Rose Society is inviting all rose gardeners, novice, intermediate and advanced to the society's February meeting, at which an exciting presentation and discussion are on the agenda, with a period afterward for questions and answers.
The presentation, including a slide show, will include information about what roses are best suited for Utah, where to find the best vendors, and how to plant and take care of the variety of roses after they're planted.
The rose categories include Hybrid Teas, Minis, Minifloras and Floribundas. There will be a discussion on exhibiting roses and how roses are judged for exhibition. It will also introduce and discuss the term rose banker and how it relates to rose exhibition and the criteria used by judges to select winning roses.
The Utah Rose Society has members from diverse backgrounds and experience. Many members are new while others have been growing roses for years. There are members who grow roses for their own enjoyment and others who grow roses to exhibit. Several members have won regional and national exhibition awards. The experienced members desire to share their knowledge and experience with all rose growers in Utah.
The Society will be hosting the Rocky Mountain District Rose Show in June. They invite all rose gardeners who feel they might be interested in exhibiting their roses at the district show to attend the society's monthly meetings, activities and events to learn more about exhibiting and to prepare for the district show.
The Utah Rose Society will hold it's February meeting on Thursday, the 17th at the Sugarhouse Garden Club, 1602 East 2100 South, Salt Lake City, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served. For further information, contact Sharon Fotheringham at 801.756.4544, or go to www.utah-rose.com.
Written by:
Larry A. Sagers Extension Horticulture Specialist Utah State University Thanksgiving Point Office
