Continuous Blooming Rose Bushes

Growth Patterns and Pruning

• Flowering shrubs, including rose bushes, produce buds on either old wood, new wood or both. Shoots that grew the previous season are termed "old" wood. New wood is the name given to shoots that grew during the current growing season. Before pruning flowering bushes it is important to know whether buds are set on old or new wood. If buds set on old wood then prune your flowering shrub in the fall or after flowers fade. If buds set on new wood, prune in spring before new growth develops. Pruning at the wrong time results in a non-flowering bush. Most rose bushes flower on old wood in early spring. Repeat and continuous-blooming roses produce new blooms throughout the growing season on a wide range of new and old canes.

Bloom Patterns

• Single-bloom rose bushes produce flowers once in early spring. This type of bloom habit is seen among old garden roses, like Albas and Gallicas. Depending on the length of your growing season some old roses, like Damasks and Bourbons, will bloom once in spring and again in fall. Salet, a moss rose, blooms continuously throughout the season. The reason for a rose's ability to produce blossoms continuously is reliant upon its genetics and breeding. Some roses are able to produce buds not only on old wood, but on new wood that was produced late in the growing season, and on the new growth's lateral branches, ones that grew earlier in the growing season. The longer your area's growing season the more likely you will be able to enjoy repeat blossoms from continuous-bloom roses.

Cultivars

• The line between continuous-bloom rose cultivars and repeat-bloom cultivars is blurred, because not all roses benefit from the same growing climate and conditions. Repeat-bloom roses may have numerous blooms during the early spring and lackluster secondary blooms in fall. Hardy roses like Chuckles, David Thompson and Jens Munk provide flowers throughout the non-dormant seasons, even in cold climates like that in Minnesota.

Considerations

• Roses prefer slightly acidic well-draining soils. Keep soil moist throughout the summer heat with loose mulch. Water rose bushes deeply. Shallow but frequent watering does little to help the plant. Avoid fertilizing during the growing season as over fertilization will limit blooms. One way to ensure that your rose garden is fragrant and full of flowers throughout the spring and summer is to plant a variety of complementary bushes and shrubs.