How to cut a rosebush in early summer?

Cutting roses is possible in July: rose stems or branches taken from a bush, these cuttings are still tender and allow rapid rooting, then transplanting in the fall.

Although rose cuttings are most often recommended in September, it is also possible to take cuttings in early summer, in July and even in June. This is the time of the first roses, of the abundant and more punctual blooming of old roses, and it is not rare that you are offered a bouquet of roses from the garden, some of which, if not all, make you want to grow them. When the roses in your bouquet start to wilt, you can try cutting them!

How to prepare the cutting to optimize the recovery?

The June/July cutting is made from the stem under the flowers:

• a cutting length of about 20 centimeters is suitable.
• the bouquet or the terminal rose, deflowered, is cut.
• the leaves are almost all removed, cut cleanly, except for 2 or 3 very green leaflets which are left. Indeed, reducing the leaf surface will limit the transpiration and thus the water loss of the cutting. The plant transpires through its stomata, the organs responsible for gas exchange.
• With a sharp instrument, the bottom of the cutting is cut cleanly in bevels. Likewise, 2 or 3 longitudinal scarifications of 2 cm are incised. We can also remove sparingly without breaking a little of the soft and green bark. This scarification is not essential, but it increases the scar surface, where a callus is created, and a concentration of auxin, the natural rooting hormone of the plant.

Pots with cuttings

The cuttings will be gathered in the same pot, in a light mixture which does not compact to facilitate the transplanting without damaging the fragile roots: such as a mixture of potting soil (without adding fertilizer) and fine gravel or coarse sand.

Apart from the practical side, gathering several cuttings close together can help the most recalcitrant ones to root by a hormone game. If some cuttings produce a lot of rooting hormone, it can diffuse to a nearby cutting that makes little and allow it to root.

Mixing several varieties of cuttings can be interesting as long as you label them well.

Use a small stick to drill a hole in the pot before pushing in the cutting. Do not twist the end.

The soil is packed lightly, the pot is watered deeply.

Putting the cutting in the pot

To prevent rose cuttings from drying out with drafts or sweating more than their supply would bear, the cuttings are enclosed in a closed space. The 'smothering' can be done by enclosing the whole thing in a plastic bag, but if you're on the hunt for plastic, a jar does the trick and looks much better.

These cuttings must remain in a humid atmosphere until they start to root, between 6 and 8 weeks. They will show their good will by starting to grow.

The cuttings are maintained in the light shade and with a substrate which never dries out.

Is it necessary to put hormone of cutting or not?

The answer is never clear, after all. The cutting hormone can help, but has an unfavorable effect when it is too concentrated. Moreover, these hormones are quickly expired and without effect. It will be up to you to decide, knowing that for many varieties of roses, it is possible to do without it, which makes life easier! These wood cuttings, which are still quite green, need them less than the November cuttings.

Successful cuttings or not 

The success rate of rose cuttings is related to the technique, but not only, because depending on the variety of roses, some root easily and others not. In any case, trying several cuttings of the same variety will multiply the chances.

Transplanting rose cuttings

At the end of September, the cuttings that want to start again are generally rooted. The lighter substrate makes it easy to separate them from each other. They will be able to have their individual pot of free soil for 2 months before being transplanted in place, or offered to friends.

How to plant a bare root rose?

Fall is the ideal time to plant bare root roses. Whether you buy them from a grower, nursery or mail order, don't delay planting them to ensure their recovery.

What is a bare root rose?

As the name suggests, a bare-root rose is not packed in a pot. It is sold without a root ball, roots in the air, which implies constraints in terms of uprooting, transport and sale, steps that must be carried out as soon as possible.

Advantages of planting a bare root rosebush

A bare-root rosebush has a better chance of recovery because it has grown and fortified in the ground. It is only available at the right time for planting and will therefore be installed at the best time.

In pots, the root system is often constrained, the roots sometimes form a bun, a sign of suffering of the plant contained in a pot too small to ensure its development. Such a plant will have very little chance of recovery, and if it starts again, it will take a long time to develop properly.

How to choose a bare root rose?

Choose a healthy plant with well-developed branches. There should be no signs of rot or suspicious spots on the stems. The roots should be fleshy, strong and not dried out.

How to prepare for planting a bare-root rose?

• Soak the roots in room temperature water while you prepare the soil.
• Choose a sunny location and then manually weed the area before aerating and applying an organic manure such as compost or well-decomposed manure.
• Dress the roots, i.e., prune those that are damaged, and reduce by half those that are too long.
• Prepare a praline based on clay, garden soil, water and cow dung. Praline is also available at garden centers if you don't have all the 'ingredients'.
• Take your rose bush out of the water and dip the roots in the praline, making sure they are all well soaked. This mixture will greatly help the rosebush's recovery.

How to plant a bare root rose?

1. Dig a 40 cm hole in all directions.
2. Make a small mound at the bottom of the hole, ideally with garden soil, compost and a handful of crushed horn.
3. Place the roots flat on this mound, adjusting its height so that the grafting point is just above ground level.
4. Fill in the hole by packing the soil well around the foot of the rose.
5. Do not bury the grafting point!
6. Make a basin around the foot of the rose and water thoroughly.

How to prune roses?

Pruning roses is essential to maintain an aesthetic appearance but also to encourage opulent flowering and its eventual return. Gestures must be precise, but there is nothing very complicated about the program!

Pruning roses in a nutshell

1. Prune roses from February to April, except during the frost period. Non-remontant climbing roses are pruned after flowering in spring.
2. Always use disinfected secateurs between each bush.
3. Prune bush roses to 3 or 5 eyes from the grafting point.
4. Keep 6 branches on climbing roses and prune the other branches to 2 or 6 eyes depending on the vigor and variety.
5. Remove wilted flowers.

How to prune roses on a case-by-case basis?

There are several types of roses. Bush roses are the most common and are often grown in beds. Climbing roses offer opulent blooms, but in order to bloom well, they need precise pruning techniques which are not the same for remontant roses (which bloom a second time) as for non-remontant ones.

The case of ground cover roses is a bit special because they will only be pruned every 3 or 4 years, mainly to remove the dead wood. This is also the case for many old roses, which only need to be pruned to clean up from time to time.

Pruning on miniature roses and stem roses, will be the same as that applied to bush roses.

Equipment needed:

Pruning shears or loppers depending on the size of the branches ;

Thick gloves;

How to prune bush, miniature or stem roses?

1. Disinfect the blades of the pruning shears with methylated spirits before using them for pruning.
2. Wear heavy gloves to protect yourself from thorns.
3. Start by removing all dead branches at their base and those that cross in the center of the plant to allow maximum air and light to enter.
4. Keep 4 to 7 main branches that you will prune above the 3rd or 5th bud (eye) starting from the grafting point (swollen part at the base of the plant). Prune to 3 eyes for roses that are not very vigorous and to 5 for those that are in good shape.
5. The pruning should be done at an angle above an eye so that the water runs off the part of the stem opposite the bud.

How to prune climbing roses?

Follow the same procedure as above from step 1 to 3.

Keep 6 main branches as a framework.

Prune the side branches to 6 eyes.

After the first flowering remove the spent flowers by cutting off the petiole under the first leaf.

How to prune non-remontant climbing roses?

These roses are pruned in the spring after flowering.

Remove the dead wood.

Keep 6 to 7 carpenter branches.

Prune all lateral stems to two eyes.

Create a new variety of rose

If you have the soul of a sorcerer's apprentice and you like surprises, don't hesitate to try to create a new variety of rose. The technique requires a little know-how and a lot of patience, but the results can be as good as you expect and even better!

Choosing the "parents

The mother plant is generally chosen to carry the seeds of the new rose variety. It is selected according to its vigor, its resistance to diseases and to bad weather. The other rose or "father" plant will determine the color, fragrance and shape of the future rose.

The hybridization technique

• Materials needed:
• Small scissors;
• paper cone ;
• ramekin ;
• colored wool thread;
• fine paintbrush.

The ideal time to hybridize is in the spring.

The choice of the mother plant will be made on a vigorous and disease resistant subject. The plant must be in flower.

• Choose a well opened rose and remove all the petals to free the heart. Cut the stamens with small scissors to prevent the rose from self-pollinating.
• On the father plant, select a beautiful rose and cut the stamens before complete maturity.
• Place them in a flared ramekin.
• Wait a few days for the pollen to be released on the walls of the ramekin.
• Collect the pollen with a fine brush that you will put in direct contact with the stigmas of the rose prepared beforehand on the mother plant.
• Cover with a paper cone.

Waiting for the result

It only remains to wait a few months for the rose hip to ripen and go to seed. It will then be time to extract them to sow them in small pots well drained in their bottoms and filled with a light substrate composed of two parts of potting soil for one part of river sand.

Place the pots outside but away from strong frosts.

By April, the seedlings should have produced small seedlings that should then be transplanted into individual pots or even in the ground. Sometimes in the first year, the roses created in this way will have one or more flowers. If this is not the case: be patient, you will have to wait until the following year to discover the result!

Natural roses

Roses are often reserved for formal gardens, forgetting that they are originally civilized brambles that were so popular with the first gardeners that they were selected and then hybridized, to the point of arriving at cultivars that no longer have much in the way of wildness, some even have no thorns!

Natural gardeners also have their roses. Here is a selection of natural roses that are easy to find and easy to live with, without treatment, without complication.

Natural roses for a hedge

The first of all in Europe is of course the rose hip, rosa canina, which serves as a rootstock for many roses. This hardy shrub with an arching habit supports well a calcareous or heavy soil, and it even grows in the shade!

The rosehip can be used as an open hedge, associated with hazelnut or dogwood trees. In spring, its simple flowers with golden stamens are a delight. In autumn it attracts birds with its red fruits full of vitamins, do not cut them: they are a food guard for the winter!

The rough rose or rosa rugosa comes to us from Asia, more precisely the North East of China and Japan, hence its name of Japanese Rose. It is often disliked, used to roundabouts and freeway service areas on the pretext that it tolerates pollution and sea spray very well, we forget that it can make very pretty rustic hedges. Its embossed foliage is particularly covering. When not pruned, it quickly reaches a height of 1.5 to 2 meters. Its delicately scented petals are used for rotting pots. Its large fruits are also very decorative. A tip: install a plant every 1.20m and mix white and pink colors. The first two years, prune to obtain a dense hedge. If you have an oceanic climate, be careful to contain this very strong plant which is considered invasive on the coast. Calcareous soils do not suit it and make its leaves yellow.

The fruits of rosehips or Rosa rugosa are used for rose hip jam.

Natural roses for the bottom of a bed

The botanical rose Rosa glauca is perfect for the bottom of a bed. It is the only rose cultivated for its foliage! This shrub reaches 3 or 4 meters high if it is at its ease. Its foliage is wonderful at the bottom of a bed to bring out pink flowers for example. Its young leaves are purple, then they turn to metallic blue gray if the exposure is shaded, or keep their purple reflection if the exposure is sunny. Its mountainous origins make it a good candidate for dry and stony soil. Combine it with perennial geraniums and foxgloves to accentuate its country side. The English use it as a background for their rose beds in shades of pink or cream. Its small bright pink flowers are followed by small red fruits in autumn.

For a wild place we associate it with a small willow called red osier, the Salix purpurea nana.

Climbing roses

As for climbing roses, the 'New Dawn' is an easy rose that can colonize a fence or wall under its vegetal ardor. It gives off natural pearly pink flowers with a light fragrance. It blooms all summer long. This undemanding rosebush can climb to a height of almost 5 meters and can even withstand northern exposure. Place a few columbines and bistort knotweed at its feet, or mix it with a honeysuckle.

Should we bury the rose graft?

The majority of today's roses have a grafting point that many gardeners look at with suspicion when it comes to burying it. Opinions are divided on the subject...

What is the grafting point?

Today's roses are often grafted. A variety chosen for its aesthetic characteristics (beauty of the flower, abundance of the bloom, perfume...) is grafted on a resistant rootstock, which makes it possible to obtain plants offering all the qualities required to be appreciated by gardeners. The rootstock allows better resistance to cold, humidity or to a specific soil (acid pH, clay soil...) as well as to various diseases. The more vigorous the rootstock, the more likely the rose will remain healthy.

The grafting point qualifies the part where the graft has been fixed on the rootstock. It can be recognized by the bulge it forms on the stem. On classic roses, it is located a little above the collar (part corresponding to the junction between the roots and the stem). Branches are always formed after the grafting point, but sometimes it happens that the rootstock takes over and branches come out under the grafting point. It will be necessary to cut them to favour the graft.

Questions at the time of the plantation

When planting a rose, the gardener is sometimes at a loss as to where to place the graft. Some recommend to bury it, others not: it is difficult to find one's way...

Everything depends on the region and the planting period. The best time is between October and May, except in high altitude and in heavy soil where it is preferable to wait until March to favour the chances of recovery.

In mild regions and in humid soil, the rosebush should be planted with an apparent grafting point. It is not necessary to bury it. It would risk rotting.

Everywhere else, it is recommended to bury the grafting point, about 2 cm deep, in order to protect it from the cold and to avoid that the rootstock produces suckers. This is particularly valid for the frosty varieties as well as the dwarf cultivars.

Ridging will be done every week during the first two months to keep the grafting point buried. As soon as spring arrives, the protective mound can be removed. If you plant in spring as soon as all risk of frost is eliminated, it is useless to bury the grafting point especially if you live in a mild region.

Generally speaking, if your soil retains excess humidity, think of ensuring a good drainage before planting and prefer to cover the grafting point with a thick mulch of dead leaves to avoid cryptogamic diseases attacking this sensitive part especially if it is constantly bathed in mud.