ROSES FOR THE NORTH

Try to obtain your rose bushes from a nursery that does not trim off too much of the root system. Those fancy boxes of rose plants available in the local department store or supermarket have had their root systems butchered to fit the box. Roses are heavy feeders but have poor root systems. They require as much of the root left intact as possible if they are to survive more than one season.

There are many hardy shrub roses available today. The list is too extensive to include but some of the newer cultivars are:

Name	Flower Colour	Height
Champlain	dark red	1m
John Franklin	medium red	1.2m
John Cabot	medium red	2.5-3m
William Baffin	medium red	2.5-3m
Henry Kelsey	medium red	2-2.5m
Charles Albanel	medium red	1m
Jens Munk	medium pink	1.5m
David Thompson	medium red	1.2m
Henry Hudson	white	1m
Martin Frobisher	soft pink	1.5-2m

There is very little difference in the care of roses whether in the north or south. The main difference is in the timing of the operations. In the southern part of the prairies, roses are mounded about the 3rd week of October. In the northern areas, by mid-October. The straw should not go on until after freeze-up to prevent rodent damage. This is usually in November but the material should be available sooner in case of early freeze-up.

Roses grafted onto Dogrose rootstock (Rosa canina) are preferred for the prairies as this rootstock has a deep penetrating root system. This enables the rose to withstand drought better. Roses on this rootstock also tend to ripen their wood earlier and this gives them a better chance of survival over winter. The only drawback to this rootstock is that it has a poor fibrous root system and is difficult to transplant.

I will not get into the regular care of roses but I wish to discuss a special technique used by an Edmonton rose grower with great success.

Mr. G.W. Shewchuk of Edmonton, Alberta (zone 3a) has grown hundreds of tender roses yearly with very little losses. He has developed his own technique for planting. He plants his roses with the graft union 4" (10cm) below the surface of the ground. Because of the depth used, the plant is placed on a slant to ensure that the roots are not buried too deep. When backfilling the hole, he does not place soil over the graft area. Instead he uses a coarse aggregate such as sand, perlite or vermiculite over the graft. This is done to permit the new growth to emerge more easily. He leaves a saucer for watering so in reality the graft is only 2" (5cm) below the surface. At first the old branches will be at an angle but the new growth will be upright. He still mounds his roses for winter but not as deeply as usually recommended. With his method, he lost only 7 out of 300 roses in 1979 and only 5 out of 315 in 1980. Most of the bushes he lost were older bushes and may have died simply of old age. He has some which are over 14 years old. His experience has shown that northerners do not have to envy their southern neighbours. They, too, can have beautiful rose gardens.

roses.html
This page by Pat
updated August 18, 2000

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