Roses, with their captivating beauty and delightful fragrance, are an excellent choice for any cutting garden. At Sweet Earth Co. we grow several varieties of roses and are excited to add 10 new varieties this spring. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting out, here's a guide to spring pruning and maintaining your roses for a flourishing cutting garden.

Choosing the Right Roses for Cutting

Types of Roses for Cutting Gardens:

Floribunda: Clusters of blooms, compact plant, prolific flower production.

Grandiflora: Large, showy blooms, elegant appearance.

Hybrid Tea: Classic, single-stemmed blooms, ideal for arrangements.

Shrub: Versatile, low-maintenance, continuous blooming.

Climbing: Vertical interest, abundant blooms for cutting.

Miniature: Charming blooms, perfect for small arrangements.

Before diving into pruning, it's essential to select the right types of roses for your cutting garden. There are three main categories of roses — Species Roses, Heirloom Roses, and Modern Roses — with each category including several classifications. Species roses are wild roses that form thickets. Heirloom roses predate 1867 and are large, very fragrant shrubs, usually once-blooming. Modern roses are repeat bloomers and are great for cut flowers. Here's a breakdown of the types classified as Modern:

Floribunda: Known for their clusters of blooms on compact plants, floribunda roses are prolific flower producers, producing most blooms in late spring and early summer with smaller flushes through the growing season. These are good for containers.

Grandiflora: With large, showy blooms, Grandiflora roses are a cross between the Floribunda rose and Hybrid Tea rose varieties. They generally grow tall, up to 7 ft, and are cold-hardy.

Hybrid Tea: Renowned for their classic, single-stemmed blooms, Hybrid Tea roses are a staple in cutting gardens.

Shrub: Versatile and low-maintenance, shrub roses offer a continuous supply of blooms throughout the season. This group includes David Austin's "English Roses".

Climbing: Ideal for adding vertical interest, climbing roses produce abundant blooms perfect for cutting.

Miniature: Despite their small size, miniature roses pack a punch with their charming blooms, perfect for small arrangements and boutonnieres.

**This beauty is called Distant Drums and she’s a favorite for floral design. It is a Floribunda rose with peach to pink ombre coloring.**

Spring Pruning Tips

At Sweet Earth Co. we only prune our roses in spring. Timing is crucial when it comes to pruning roses, especially in cold climates. Wait until nighttime temperatures consistently stay above 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit before pruning. Pruning too early, while temperatures are still dipping below freezing, can lead to cane dieback.

Here are some steps to guide you through the pruning process:

Wait for New Growth: Before pruning, wait for your roses to start pushing new growth. This indicates that they are ready for pruning.

Clean Pruning Tools: To prevent the spread of disease, clean your pruning tools between plants. We sanitize ours with rubbing alcohol. This helps disinfect the blades and reduces the risk of infecting healthy plants.

Wear Protective Gear: You don’t want to forget this step! When pruning roses, wear long leather gloves to protect your hands and arms from thorns. Long sleeves and long pants are also advisable.

Remove Diseased Canes: Inspect your roses for any signs of disease, such as blackened, shriveled, or spotted canes. Remove these canes to prevent the spread of disease.

Prune, Prune, Prune: Pruning signals to the plant to send out new healthy stems. I start with removing any stems that are crossing, and then I move on to pruning older stems. The goal is to open up the inside of the plant, creating somewhat of a bowl shape. This improves airflow within the plant and encourages stem growth outward. As a general rule of thumb, prune your roses back to about one-third of their height.

Remove Dead Leaves: As part of your spring clean-up, remove all dead or dried leaves from your roses and their surrounding area. This helps prevent the spread of pests and fungal diseases.

Click on the video below for a tutorial on how to prune roses.

Maintenance Tips

To keep our roses thriving, we put a lot of care into their ongoing maintenance. Consider employing some of these tips in your rose garden as well.

Fertilize: Roses are what are known as “heavy feeders” which means that in addition to providing them with high quality soil, amended with compost, they require applications of fertilizer to help them grow and bloom vigorously. We feed our roses with a fish & seaweed emulsion fertilizer to provide essential nutrients for healthy growth. We also drench the soil around the base of the plants with diluted molasses to feed the microbes in the soil.

Interplant Basil and Parsley: We have found that interplanting basil and parsley amongst our roses helps deter pests and promote a healthy ecosystem in your garden.

Regular Weeding: It’s important to keep rose beds free from weeds and decaying debris, especially near the base of the plants, to reduce competition for nutrients and water, and to discourage pests from overwintering in the soil.

Deadheading: Any blooms that are not harvested for arrangements are left on the stem for pollinators to enjoy. However, once spent, we deadhead these spent blooms to encourage continuous blooming throughout the season.

Harvesting Roses for Bouquets and Arrangements

There’s something very special about harvesting roses from your cutting garden to bring the beauty of your blooms indoors. Here's how to best harvest roses for use in bouquets and arrangements:

Choose the Right Time: Select roses for harvesting when they are in their prime, ideally during the cooler parts of the day, such as early morning or late afternoon. Avoid harvesting during the heat of the day, as this can cause the blooms to wilt quickly.

Select Healthy Stems: Look for roses with firm stems and vibrant, fully opened blooms. Avoid harvesting roses with signs of disease or damage, as these may not last as long once cut.

Use Clean, Sharp Pruning Shears: Before cutting, ensure your pruning shears are clean and sharp. This helps make clean cuts, minimizing damage to the stem and promoting water uptake once placed in a vase.

Cut at an Angle: When harvesting roses, make a clean cut at a 45-degree angle, just above a set of healthy leaves or a leaf node. This encourages new growth and prevents water from pooling on the cut end, reducing the risk of bacterial growth.

Remove Foliage: Strip off any leaves that will be submerged in water once the rose is placed in a vase. This helps keep the water clean and prevents bacterial growth, prolonging the life of your blooms.

Place in Water Immediately: After cutting, place your harvested roses in a bucket or vase filled with clean, tepid water. This helps hydrate the stems and prevents air bubbles from forming in the vascular tissue, which can block water uptake.

Conditioning: Before arranging your roses, consider conditioning them by placing the stems in warm water for a few hours. This encourages the roses to fully hydrate and helps them open up more fully.

Arrange with Care: Once your roses are fully hydrated, arrange them in your desired bouquet or arrangement. Mix different colors and varieties for a stunning display or whites and blush roses for a romantic wedding bouquet. Spring is the perfect time to plant new roses, whether as bare-root plants or mature specimens. By following these pruning and maintenance tips, you'll ensure a bountiful supply of blooms for your cutting garden throughout the season. Happy gardening!