Grow Beautiful Roses

Protect a rose graft, the swollen knob near the base of the plant, from winter damage. Not all roses have grafts, but most hybrid teas, grandifloras, standard (tree form), and some miniatures are grafted. When planting, check for the graft and make arrangements to keep it from harm, if necessary. There are several options:

Prune hybrid teas, floribundas, and other roses requiring heavy shaping back to 12 inches tall while they are dormant in spring. These roses flower on new growth, and nothing encourages new growth more than heavy spring pruning. While you are cutting stems back, take some time to remove any dead, diseased, or overcrowded canes. For shrub roses, pruning can be as simple as cutting out old and dead canes with long-handled pruning loppers.

Remove root suckers from grafted roses to keep them true. Many hybrid tea and floribunda roses are grafted on the extra-vigorous and disease-resistant roots of other species such as multiflora or rugosa roses. These root stocks may send up sprouts of their own, called suckers, which are easily identified by the different-looking foliage and flowers. Upon close inspection, you can see root suckers emerge from below the swollen graft. Clip suckers back as soon as you see them to keep the inferior sprouts from competing with your rose cultivar.

If the only sprouts that arise from the plant are off the roots, the graft has been damaged -- which can occur during winter -- and the original rose top is dead. If the root is a rugosa rose, you might try to grow it -- it's a pretty plant. But if the root is a multiflora rose, it is a weed that is best taken out early.

Layer ramblers and other roses to make new plants. Ramblers have long, limber canes that can be tied to a fence or trellis like a climbing rose. These flexible canes make them perfect for layering. Notch the bark beneath the stem, remove nearby leaves, pin the stem to the ground, and mound over it with soil.

Once rooted and cut free from the mother plant, you'll have a new plant growing on its own roots. It will have no need for graft protection!

Use the Minnesota tip method in cold climates for winter protection of hybrid tea roses. In well-drained soil, dig a trench on one side of the rose. With your foot, gently push the rose canes into the trench, where they will be insulated underground. Mound soil over the canes and graft and mark the burial site with a stake so you can free the canes in early spring.