Rose Pruning Guides

Intro to Rose pruning
Large Modern Shrub Pruning
Medium-sized Shrub Pruning & Making Hardwood cuttings
Damask Pruning
Gallica Pruning
Climbing Rose Arbor Pruning

Rose Color Guide

A comprehensive guide for rose color selection

Rose Hardiness Guide

Cold and Heat Resistance and General Rose Culture

Vintage Tips for Success with Container-Grown Roses

Our plants are container grown, and arrive at your doorstep in active growth. They are own root plants which makes for smaller plants early in life, but much healthier and longer-lived plants. Gallons are normally very husky and ready to plant out, but our new band-sized plants are a few months behind the gallons in size and age. A band plant compared to the larger, gallon-sized plant is shown in the picture to the right. The cost of shipping bands is substantially less than the cost for shipping gallon plants, also plants in bands are shipped year round via USPS Priority Mail. The plants you receive in bands are plants which we would normally pot up into a slightly larger size for a few months before planting out in the garden. Experienced gardeners will have no trouble planting the bands directly in the garden in open positions where all the companion plants are young. But, we do not recommend planting these in crowded spots in the garden near large, established plants as the competition for light, air and nutrients will not favor young plants.

We recommend potting up bands into one-gallon pots, or even two-gallon pots. Use a good potting soil and plant the roses slightly deeper, so that the point at which the plant begins to branch is buried by an inch or so of soil. Water in with a dilute organic fertilizer, and follow up a week or so later with a top dressing of a time release fertilizer and a small handful of alfalfa pellets (rabbit food). Weekly feedings with a mild, organic liquid fertilizer like fish emulsion or kelp meal added to water are highly recommended. Keep your pots in full sun, perhaps with some afternoon shade when days are very hot. After two to three months during the growing season your young roses will have increased five to ten times in size and they are ready to plant in the garden. Always keep roses growing. When they have reached the limits of their pots they need the freedom of the open ground, or the extra space of a nice, big container.

Our one-gallon roses are already waiting to be planted and we advise prompt planting after a week or so of acclimatizing to your weather. Though smaller than budded plants, our own-root plants will catch up to them in a short time and repay you with a long, healthy, trouble-free life in the garden. You will never have to worry about rootstock suckers which so often ruin grafted plants in their prime of life. Remember to mulch your roses, especially in colder climates to protect from the harshness of winter, and to supply a rich organic diet.

While we encourage all to practice safe, organic approaches to gardening, sometimes interference is called for. Young roses can quickly be snatched from us when under stress. A preventative spraying of plants or drenching of the soil around their roots with a copper sulfate solution will prevent disease and bacteria from infecting and killing them. Copper Sulfate is a safe and effective organic fungicide which is perhaps the most reliable tool for all gardeners to protect their roses. Always read and follow the manufacturers instructions, and never assume you can apply a dosage you are familiar with from one product to another. We use copper as a dormant spray and drench as well as as a spray to prevent disease and bacterial infection on our roses during the growing season. It is wise to know your water pH and to buffer acid waters with a small addition of baking soda when applying copper; this will prevent any burn on the foliage. We are always happy to answer questions on the culture of your roses. Please address emails to Vintage Gardens.