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Larry Sagers Horticultural Specialist Utah State University Extension Service Thanksgiving Point Office © All Rights Reserved
Join the Utah Rose Society for their annual Rose Show on Saturday, June 14 at the Visitors Center at Red Butte Gardens. The show runs from 10:00 am-5:00pm and rosarians will be on hand to answer questions on planting, growth, watering and diseases of roses.
Roses are the most popular flowering shrub in Utah. They excel because of their long season of bloom, the great diversity of size, color and abundance of the blossoms, and the beauty of the flower. Roses are easy to grow if basic growth requirements are met and pests are controlled. Understanding roses and their growth habits makes rose growing even more successful.
Roses are divided into classes by their growth habits and flowering characteristics. Hybrid teas are the most widely grown roses. They are ever blooming and are grown for their showy flowers. Plants grow from two to six feet high depending on the cultural conditions and the pruning techniques. Flower may be single or double, and the buds are long and pointed with single flowers or clusters of three to five flowers. They are grown as ornamental shrubs and many are used for cut flowers either from the garden or greenhouse. They are not completely hardy and generally need some winter protection in most areas of Utah and need heavy protection in the colder locations.
Floribunda roses have flowers similar in size, shape, and color to the hybrid teas. The flowers are born in clusters with short stems. Floribunda roses are hardy, disease resistant, and low growing. They are useful in beds or other areas where large numbers of flowers are desired.
Grandiflora roses are intermediate between hybrid teas and floribundas. Flowers are born singly on longer stems, but the flowers are smaller and more prolific. Their growth habit resembles floribundas, but the bushes are larger than hybrid teas.
Miniature roses are tiny version of other types. Miniatures generally grow less than two feet high and are often used for edges or borders, but are also becoming increasingly popular as specimen plants or as indoor houseplants.
Old roses are roses that were available before 1867. Heritage roses are roses developed by plant breeders prior to 1867. Old roses also include the wild and shrub roses. In the intermountain area, this includes the Nootka Rose (Rosa), Woodsii, as well as the Austrian Copper (Rosa) fotida, the Father Hugo roses (Rosa Hugonis) as well as many others. These are hardy, drought tolerant, and pest resistant in most cases.
Climbing and rambler roses are tall, growing plants with long, arching canes. Roses don't actually climb and must be attached to supports such as trellises, arbors, or fences. Climbing roses have many different colors and types of blooms available. Large flowered climbers have stiff, thick canes 10 feet or more long and bloom several times during the summer and fall. Ramblers have long, thin canes with small clusters of flowers that bloom in the early summer.
Tree roses are a classification based on growth form rather than flower type. They are created by grafting a bush type rose onto an upright trunk. They make an excellent accent in formal gardens or as specimen plants. Tree roses are not cold hardy and need special winter protection to survive in Utah.
Select garden roses according to the size, shape, color, and bloom period desired. As with other plants, roses need to be planted where they have good growing conditions. They bloom profusely and produce many attractive blooms if grown in suitable areas, but will be unattractive and short lived if planted in the wrong site.
