Antique and Earth Kind Rose Care

 

Roses are considered the most beautiful flowers in the world and are used as a universal symbol of love.  Roses are revered and reviled for their exquisite beauty and piercing thorns.  Their beauty and fragrance makes them a great addition to any garden.  Unfortunately, roses’ high maintenance reputation causes them to be often underused in gardens.  However, with a little research, properly planted and selected roses can be relatively low maintenance and are a great addition to any garden.

 

Maintenance

 

Roses require several basic needs to succeed in a garden.  Roses must have at least 6 hours of direct sun preferably in an open area, to allow for good air circulation, with beds that are rich in organic matter and are well drained.  When transplanting a rose loosen the root ball and soak in water or Howard Garrett Juice before transplanting.  Once the rose is established, soak the rose thoroughly every 7-14 days depending on the season.  Roses can tolerate moderately dry soils once established.  Overwatering, too much shade, little air circulation, and poorly drained soils are often sources of disease.

Careful selection of rose cultivars will also help to minimize maintenance.  Antique and Earth Kind roses are disease resistant, but not completely disease free. Fungus diseases do not debilitate them. They simply shed the infected leaves and continue to grow and bloom in good health. They may occasionally need help, but in general they are healthy and can overcome any health issues. 

 

Pests

Another common problem for roses are pests. Aphids, thrips, and other insect pests rarely affect a healthy rosebush severely, but they can damage and disfigure the tender new growth, buds, and flowers. To help the rose overcome the problem, spray with organic insecticide (like neem oil) and/or attract or release beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and lacewings.

 

Pruning

Pruning is probably the most time intensive and intimidating aspect of rose care.  However, pruning is relatively simple and is needed to maintain optimum rose health and increase blooms.  Modern roses require a “hard cut-back”. Typically, modern roses are cut-back to approximately 1/3 of their grown during late January.  A hard cut back is visually startling and  makes the rose resemble a collection of sticks!  Although its appearance is alarming, rest assured, the rose will bounce back and produce an amazing plethora of blooms.

Old roses don’t require the stringent and careful pruning that is needed by many modern roses. In fact, they can sulk and refuse to bloom if pruned too hard. Just a light touch of sharp pruning shears is all that is needed. A good rule of thumb is to remove all dead canes and clip back no more than 1/3 of the remaining bush. Avoid mid-summer or late fall pruning to avoid frost or heat burn.

Repeat bloomers can be lightly trimmed several times a year, since they flower on new growth. Once a year bloomers are best pruned after their first and only bloom.  Since, they bloom on wood that has hardened over winter, early spring pruning will reduce their display and is not advised.

 

After pruning or hard cut-backs, roses should be fertilized for maximum benefit. Feed with organic fertilizer and water generously. Water dissolves the fertilizer into a form the rose can use and it cleans any residue off the bush. One feeding in early spring and another in early fall is sufficient. If the rose is a heavy bloomer it might help to feed it one more time in late spring.

As with modern roses, remove dead, diseased, crossing, and small growth.  Antique roses less than three years old should not be pruned. Dead head (the act of snapping off dead rose heads) throughout the blooming season to increase blooms. 

 

 

Rose Varieties

 

Roses are classified in a variety of ways.  The two classes discussed here are Old Garden Roses (Antique) and Modern Garden Roses (Shrubs).  Within these two classes, thousands of cultivars exist. 

 

Old Garden Roses / Antique

Antique, also known as Old Garden Roses (OGR) are those classes of roses which were known before 1867, the date the first hybrid tea, La France, was introduced. The major classes include: albas, bourbons, centifolias, chinas, damasks, gallicas, hybrid perpetuals, mosses, noisettes, portlands, species, and teas. There are lesser known OGR classes including: ayrshires, boursaults, eglantines, etc. All roses belonging to these classes are antique, even if the individual variety was introduced after 1867. 

 

Modern Garden Roses / Shrubs

Shrubs are not Old Garden Roses.  This class originated as a catch-all group for roses that didn't fit into a specific class. Therefore, shrubs are the most diverse of all rose classes.   There are two general types of shrub roses: those listed by a family name, such as hybrid musks, hybrid rugosas, and kordesii, and those simply listed as (S) in Modern Roses and the Handbook For Selecting Roses, which includes English Roses, Griffith Buck Roses, Landscape Roses, and Ground Covers.   Two popular Modern Garden Roses are the Austin and Earth Kind Rose.

  

David Austin

The Austin rose is a popular shrub variety. You have to be careful when selecting Austins (or any kind of shrub) because their growth habits and bloom forms are tremendously varied. Some grow like floribundas, some like hybrid teas, and some even like climbers. They grow and bloom differently in the Northern United States than in Southern California. Even their petal count, color, and bloom form may change from one locale to another. An intriguing example of this phenomenon is Graham Thomas, which is a small bush covered in big blooms when grown in the north, but is a huge climber with few blooms on long canes when grown in the south. Before rushing out and buying Austin roses because of the pretty pictures you see in catalogs, I highly recommend that you first study them growing in public and private gardens in your area. 

 

Earth Kind

Earth Kind is an important designation given to select roses by the Texas A&M University Agriculture program. Earth Kind Roses have been through rigorous statewide testing and evaluation by a team of horticultural experts and found to possess the high level of landscape performance and outstanding disease and insect tolerance/ resistance required to for this special designation.

Earth Kind Roses are among the most thoroughly tested, and environmentally responsible plants for the use in Texas landscapes. These roses do very well in almost any soil type, from the well-drained acid sands of East Texas to the poorly aerated, highly alkaline clays of central and Southwest Texas.  Earth Kind roses are certainly not immune to pest problems. However, their tolerance to pests is so great that they rarely require the use of chemical pesticides. I highly recommend using Earth Kind roses in your garden.