Plant bare-root roses. Ask the nursery to wrap the roots to keep them from
drying out, then plant them immediately when you get home. (or,
temporarily place them on their sides in a shallow trench and cover them
with moist sawdust or soil to keep the roots from drying out until you can
plant them). Set them in well drained soil in a spot that gets 6-8 hours of
sunlight. If the soil is sandy or heavy clay, amend it with organic matter such
as fir bark or compost. An equal mixture of topsoil, peat moss, and perilite or
vermiculite works well also.
February
Zones 4-9
Finish planting bare root roses.
Complete pruning.
If you haven't already done so, apply doemant sprays to control aphids, black
spot and mildew. Use horticultural oil with lime sulfur or fixed copper.
In the low desert after mid-month, feed established roses with a complete
fertilizer or commercial rose food, following package directions, when buds
begin to swell. Water first, let drain, spread the fertilizer around each plant,
then water again.
Zones 10-11
Plant bare root roses.
March
Zones 4-11
As soon as buds begin to swell, feed roses with high nitrogen fertilizer such as
20-10-10, or a commercial rose food. Continue feeding every four to six weeks
until October.
April
Zones 1-3 (cold climates)
Plant bare root roses.
Prune dormant plants.
May
Zones 1-3
Fertilize roses with high nitrogen plant food.
Finish pruning roses.
Zones 4-11
Water when rain has been minimal. This is very important for anything
you planted and for plants in pots and under house eaves.
Apply high nitrogen fertilizer.
Remove spent flowers.
June-July-August
All zones
Feed, water (especially on hot days), weed and mulch. Remove faded
blooms.
To eliminate aphids and spider mites, spray plants with water, then apply
insecticidal soap.
Clean up fallen leaves. If they are diseased, discard them (don't compost
them).
September
All zones
Continue removing spent blooms.
Renew mulch if necessary.
Zones 4-11
Feed roses after their fall bloom. Use a complete liquid fertilizer at half
dose.
Irrigate plants as needed.
October
All zones
Continue dead heading and watering.
November
All zones
Clean up fallen leaves and petals.
Knock down watering basins.
Continue deadheading faded flowers.
Zones 1-3
Protect plants from winter cold by mounding soil around them. Make sure
the soil is high enough to cover the bud union. Then surround each plant
with a wire cylinder weighted down at the base with rocks or bricks, and
fill with straw or leaves. Keep protected through winter.
December
Zones 7-11
To control overwintering insects and plant diseases, spray roses, this month
or next, with horticultural oil, oil and lime sulfur, or oil and fixed copper.
Zones 11
Plant bare root roses as soon as they appear in the nurseries.
Parts taken from "Your Guide to Growing Glorious Roses"-- Sunset Magazine