How to Plant a Bare Root Rose!

Ahhhhh, roses! Everybody loves roses!  We can show you how you too can have beautiful rose plants in your garden and enjoy them year after year. It is such a beautiful thing to go outside in your garden or onto your patio and smell the roses or get a lovely rose to display in your house. There are so many varieties and colours and such beautiful fragrances that it is easy to say, there is a rose for everybody ... simply devine.

Roses are a true classic, beautiful, elegant and have the ability to lift up every garden to the next level.

Botanus sells a number of different kinds of bare root roses and we encourage you to try one, two or three!  A few details will help you to get the rose off to a good start and you will enjoy it for a very long time. The most important rule to remember when dealing with your bare root roses is to keep the roots moist at all times during the first season.

Your bare root rose has been kept in cold storage until shipping and will need immediate attention upon arrival. Open the bag it came in and immerse the roots in water for 24 hours before potting or planting. This is a very important step because the roots will re-hydrate the canes and enable the new bud growth to develop successfully. For all roses, after soaking as instructed above, be sure to plant as soon as possible never allowing the roots to dry out. Most No.1 size roses can be planted in 3 gallon containers. Miniature roses should be potted in 2 – 3 gallon containers.

Roses need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day so choose a sunny spot where air can circulate and dry their leaves soon after a rain. Most rose plants consist of two parts: the rootstock and the flowering canes. The bulge where the parts join, called the graft union, should be planted just at or below ground level, depending on your climate. Where winter temperatures drop to –20 Celsius or colder, plant the graft union 6” – 15 cm deep and in warmer climates, place it just at or slightly above the soil surface.

The hole you dig should be deep enough to set the graft union at the proper depth and at least wide enough to allow the roots to extend without bending. If the rose is to be planted directly in the ground the soil should be prepared before planting. Roses prefer a heavy soil mix as mixes with too much peat tend to dry out too slowly in the spring and too quickly in the summer. We recommend a mixture of at least 50% loamy soil, 25% growers mix and 25% composted manure and add sand to your mix if your soil does not drain well.

To help stimulate growth, your Botanus bare root roses have been pre-pruned, however, we suggest that you trim the roots immediately before planting by removing approximately 1/4” - 0.63 cm off their tips. Partially fill the hole with the soil mix, making a cone or mound in the centre over which the roots should be draped. Adjust the height of the cone so that the graft union is at the right level, as determined using the guidelines above. Spread the roots evenly around the cone. Holding the rose at the right planting depth, fill the hole with soil, working it carefully around the roots.

When the hole is nearly full, water thoroughly to settle the soil. Finish filling the hole and create a low ring of soil around the perimeter of the hole. Water again. Apply a 3” – 8 cm layer of organic mulch in a circle around the plant, taking care to keep the mulch at least 4” – 10 cm away from the canes. Water as necessary to keep the soil evenly moist until the rose resumes vigorous growth. After your roses become dormant in the fall, protect them from severe freezing weather by piling a mound of soil over the canes. Climbing roses should be laid down and also covered for winter protection.

We are sure you will fall in love with our roses and every new season you'll be able to choose from new varieties, new colours and delicious new fragrances.

For Rose-Lover...it's a good thing. :)