La Rose
Roses are a plant that likes to start growing early and end late. These traits can make it difficult for roses to flourish in Colorado, as our weather is rather erratic and can have radical changes in spring and fall. If properly cared for though, roses can make your yard the highlight of the neighborhood. Here are some of the most important tips when caring for roses on the Front Range.

Plants that were mulched should be uncovered about the second week in April. Crossing and dead canes should be removed.  The live canes should be cut back to a strong outside bud. Canes that have holes in the top should be removed to the stump of the rose and removed. This pruning works for both tea roses and shrub roses. Cuts on canes should be made a sharp angle to help with the reduction of cane boring insects.

Roses should have systemic chemicals applied in late April. The product I prefer to use for this is Bayer’s All in One Rose and Flower Care. This product will help prevent black spot, powdery mildew, and aphids for the whole growing season. For best results apply Bayer’s All in One around the base of the plant as the buds begin to break, as this is when the plant beings to uptake the most amount of moisture and nutrients from the soil.

Once this is complete we recommend applying a good fertilizer in mid-May, this should be applied when new spring growth has started and the danger of hard frosts is passed. For best results, we recommend using specially formulated rose fertilizer to feed your roses.  These fertilizers are generally high in phosphorous to encourage lots of healthy blooms.  There are rose fertilizers that we like to use that are specially formulated for our region, such as Bill’s Rose Food by Jirdon. This fertilizer is specially formulated with two forms of iron and sulfur to help keep our roses from getting iron chlorosis in our heavy clay soils.

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