8 Surprising Facts About Roses
Updated: Apr. 24, 2020
Garden roses are an easy-care alternative to traditional blooms.
1. When the temperature is over 90 degrees, foliage will wilt, but don’t confuse this with wilting caused by underwatering.
2. The old-school gardening advice with roses is to prune stems at a 45-degree angle away from the bud eye. But there’s no evidence that this is necessary.
3. Many of today’s garden roses can be planted in containers, but they perform best in pots 18 inches in diameter with a clearance of 18 inches in height.
4. It’s best to stop grooming roses six to eight weeks before your first fall frost date.
5. Garden roses need both pruning and grooming. Pruning is done once a year and involves one severe cutback. Grooming means shaping and deadheading all season.
6. There are roughly 300 varieties of roses for sale at garden centers and other stores across the U.S., and 7,000 varieties available through mail order.
7. Four characteristics of garden roses:
- Naturally disease-resistant
- Full foliage
- Attractive shapes—rounded, tall, or arching
- They’ve been tested, stressed, and observed by breeders for years.
