Which bloom better roses planted in the spring or the fall? Many gardeners prefer the fall, but many still insist that spring is the proper planting time.
There are always those whose first desire to grow roses may occur during the winter or early spring. For some their planting blood, does not begin to flow until spring arrives.
Roses Cannot Be Planted in Some Places
There are a few sections of our country where you cannot plant roses as successfully in the fall as in the spring.
Those who plant roses in the fall have much more time for the operation. Planting may be done as long as the ground is workable. In the spring, the season is usually far advanced before the soil is workable.
Spring Planting
If, however, you prefer spring planting, or if you live in a section that has very early or extremely severe winters, you will still find it worthwhile to order in the fall. You can surely find some well-drained spots where they can be heeled in.
This means storing dormant plants in trenches and covering them with soil until conditions are favorable for planting. You will be more likely to receive the varieties you want in the fall.
In the spring, these plants will be in better condition than if they had been held over the winter in a storage cellar and will be readily available when the first “break” in the weather occurs in early spring.
The late Dr. Horace McFarland once said that “the next best thing to fall planting or to fall buying and heeling in is the earliest possible purchase and planting in the spring.”
Fall Planting Disadvantage
One disadvantage in fall planting, which also affects the spring planter, is that some nurserymen rush the season by digging their stock too early in the fall. Spring-shipped plants are dug at the same time and held in storage over winter.
The better nurseries withhold digging until the proper time. Some nurseries in warmer sections ship only in the spring, as they find it inadvisable to dig early enough to supply the eastern and northern markets.
Spring Or Ball?
Experiments conducted by the Chicago Regional Rose Society offer some evidence that the mortality rate of spring planting is less than that of fall planting.
Thus, losses in both seasons appear to be high and no mention is made of the subsequent vigor or production of the plants studied.
Advantages of Fall Planting
However, if we remember that growth is going on underground before it is visible above the surface, we will see the many advantages of fall planting.
A fall-set plant has a head start on one planted in the spring; growth proceeds more naturally and with greater vigor, and the soil is in better condition for planting.
Regardless of the efficiency of the nurseryman or the type of storage, it is impossible to hold a rose dormant when spring and the urge to grow to arrive.
Artificial Refrigeration for Plants
Plants that have been kept over the winter in an up-to-date storage cellar, even under artificial refrigeration, may appear to be dormant when they are shipped.
Upon arrival, it will be found that buds have begun to swell and that in some instances, growth has already started.
The rose bush is endeavoring to make up for the lost time. When planted, rapidly growing tender growth is vulnerable to injury from the cold. It has not come naturally or been gradually acclimated, and the roots have not begun to function.
Off-Schedule Plants
My hunch is that this was the cause of “die-back,” which was a serious problem several years ago.
In those days, most roses were planted in the spring, and the plants were thrown off schedule by being held too long in storage.
Some varieties, particularly yellow and copper varieties, seem to have inherited this tendency, but since fall planting has become more popular, even they are now rarely afflicted.
Proper Storage Conditions
Also, a greater knowledge of proper storage conditions has improved the quality of spring-shipped plants during the past few years. They are not equal, however, to those who have spent the winter in contact with the soil.
Roses do best when planted in rich, loamy soil, but they are quite tolerant of various types of soil. They do, however, demand adequate drainage.
Roots of Roses
The hole in which the rose hush is to be planted should be dug amply large to accommodate all the roots without crowding or crossing.
All damaged roots should be cut back to healthy tissue and any which are extremely long shortened so that they conform with the average length of all the others.
Planting Depth
According to experiments conducted by the Chicago Regional Rose Society, winter loss can be held to a minimum if the bud-union is placed at ground level.
However, the average beginner may neglect to give the plant adequate winter protection. Therefore, if the bud-union is about an inch below the surface, the plant is less liable to winter injury and is much easier to protect.
Deep Planting: Not Advisable
Too deep planting is not advisable, but a Thomas A. Edison rose planted in my garden 18 years ago with the bud-union 6” inches below the ground level is still thriving and receives no winter protection.
In heavy, soggy soil, rot is likely to occur at the bud-union if it is too far below the surface. This is also the place where crown gall may occur.
If you do not give the plants adequate winter protection, place the bud union about an inch below the surface. The bud-union is recognizable as swelling or knob on the lower part of the stem where the rose variety was grafted on the rootstock.
Mounding Earth
All roses, whether spring- or fall-planted, should be covered with a mound of the earth after they are in the ground.
In spring planting, this mound is removed about ten days later; it only keeps the canes from drying before the roots begin to function.
In the fall, the mound of the earth should remain over the plant until early spring; this is the same form of protection given to established plants.
The mound should be 8” or 10” inches high, but it may be higher if you wish to retain more growth or want exercise. In many parts of the country, the unprotected growth above the mound will freeze back.
Freezing and Thawing During Winter Months
After the ground is frozen, a mulch of straw, or any other material that will shade the ground, has definite value. In areas where there is continuous freezing and thawing through the winter months, this mulch will prevent heaving and tearing of the roots.
The degree of the hardiness of the various hybrid teas, the older teas and both the small- and large-flowered polyanthas varies to some extent but not enough to justify different treatments.
The small-flowered polyanthas may not require protection in some localities, as they are somewhat more hardy than the others; in other sections, they may freeze back badly if not protected.
Pillar Roses: No Need for Protection
Climbing or pillar roses that have proven their hardiness in your garden require no protection. Others may be laid on the ground and covered with soil or a heavy mulch during winter.
The varieties that we consider the most tender are usually those susceptible to foliage diseases. The odds are against the survival of a plant that has been defoliated by disease or pests.
Scheduling of Preventive Dusting
Neither is difficult to control if a schedule of preventive dusting or spraying has been maintained during the summer months.
Several good materials are now available which will control both in one operation. These combination fungicide-insecticides are inexpensive and their application is but a simple task.
I have yet to lose a hybrid tea from winter injury if it has entered the winter in a healthy condition.
Methods of Mounding
Ti roses are planted 18” inches or more apart, the soil required to make mounds can be pulled up with a hoe from the bed in which they are planted; otherwise, it should be hauled in from another part of the garden.
If I bud only a few roses to protect, I would not cover established plants until about Thanksgiving Day (in northern Ohio), but with several thousand roses, I find it necessary to start piling up the soil in early October.
The canes are not cut back or mulch applied, though, until the middle of November.
Cutting Back the Long Canes
Anyone who has a garden in a location where strong winter winds lash the canes hack and forth will understand the necessity for cutting back the long canes; they would probably be dead by spring.
In any case, the pleasure one receives from a bed of roses more than justifies the care required.
In the final analysis, I doubt whether a rosebed requires as many hours of labor per year as a bed of any other flower – and certainly one reaps a bountiful harvest of beauty.
44659 by R. E. Shepherd