These lower-maintenance roses are known for lots of flowers, a graceful form, and clean foliage.
In reality, many roses are landscape-worthy shrubs that dont require constant devotion.
Some of the best fall into the aptly-named shrub rose class.
Credit: Doug Hetherington
They usually mix well with other types of shrubs, perennials, annuals, and small trees.
You could even place one in a corner of your vegetable garden as an afterthought and get good results.
Where to Plant Shrub Roses
Most shrub roses perform best infull sun.
Credit: Doug Hetherington
That means anywhere from at least 6 hours of direct sunlight to full dawn-to-dusk exposure.
More sun usually means better growth, less disease, and more bloom.
But theres a tradeoff.
Credit: Mary Carolyn Pindar
All-day exposure can bleach the color of the blooms and sap the fragrance, especially in midsummer.
It can also increase stress on the plant during heat waves and droughts.
Many varieties do well in part sun (at least four hours) or dappled sun.
Credit: Stephen Cridland
Roses that arent reliably cold hardy or heat tolerant where you live need a protected location or microzone.
Plant tender roses near the side of a building or solid brick or stone wall.
Keep heat-intolerant roses away from afternoon sun exposure.
Credit: Michael Mckinley
Most roses arent ideal for childrens play areas.
There are only a few nearly thornless shrub rose options.
check that children know to be careful around roses to avoid cuts or tears in their clothes.
Credit: Denny Schrock
How and When to Plant Shrub Roses
Shrub roses come potted or bare-root.
For the widest selection, consider both options.
Either works well, but they require slightly different treatment before and during planting.
Credit: Janet Mesic Mackie
Potted rosescost more and you may get less variety, but theyre convenient.
Before you remove the rose from its container, water it well.
Dig a hole at least twice as wide and deep as the container.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Amend the soil by adding composted manure and peat moss or an alternative like coconut coir.
Without removing your rose from the pot, position it in the hole.
Remove it from the pot and put it back in place.
Credit: Doug Hetherington
Fill the hole back in andwater the rose in thoroughly.
Bare-root rosesare more cost-efficient and sometimes you get more options.
Start byplacing the bare-root rosesin a bucket of water to rehydrate overnight or at least for a few hours.
Credit: Stephen Cridland
you’re able to usually tell approximately how deep it had been planted in the growing field.
Plant it at the same level or up to two inches deeper.
Shrub Rose Care Tips
Shrub roses are one of the easiesttypes of roses to grow.
Credit: Doug Hetherington
These tough roses have been bred to have the best attributes of all classes.
Soil and Water
check that thesoil drains well.
Waterlogged soil may drown your rose.
Credit: Justin Hancock
The ideal pH for most roses is about 6.5.
But if you’ve already got other garden plants growing well in the site, roses probably will too.
Irrigation usually isn’t necessary for most shrub roses after theyre established.
Credit: Justin Hancock
Always water at the base of the plant.
Overheard watering encourages foliar disease.
If youre only going to fertilize once a year, apply in early spring, ideally afterthe last frost.
Credit: Justin Hancock
you’re free to fertilize about once a month until August.
Look for Rose-tone or slow-release fertilizers recommended for roses.
A layer of organic mulch every year or two also will provide nutrients as it slowly breaks down.
Credit: John Reed Forsman
The most essential pruning rule with shrub roses is to remove any dead, damaged, or diseased growth.
This is typically done in late winter or early spring, just before the buds break.
Removing some of the older growth can be beneficial if your shrub roses have been around for a while.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
This will open up the interior to improve air circulation and promote new growth from the base.
When pruning, look for cane borer damage.
Youll see a canal dug into a stem.
Credit: Lynn Karlin
Prune back until you reach wood that has not been tunneled into.
Unless your shrub rose is self-cleaning, it willbloom more if you deadheadit after each bloom cycle.
Long-term pots should be 16 to 24 inches deep or more with excellent drainage.
Credit: Illustration by Mavis Augustine Torke
They need to be filled with a rich potting mix that both drains well and holds moisture.
you could buy mixes made for roses or adapt a general potting mix.
You could either pot it up a size or replace some of the soil in the existing pot.
Credit: Illustration by Mavis Augustine Torke
In North America,Rose Rosette Disease(RRD) tops them all.
The most obvious symptom of RRD is witches brooms.
Theyre often an unusually deep red that doesnt turn green and have larger and more numerous thorns than normal.
Both stems and thorns may have a fleshy, rubbery look and feel.
Often the stems that make up a witches broom are noticeably thicker than the stem they emerge from.
Foliage and flower buds will likely be heavily distorted.
Timing affects the success rate.
Take your cuttings while flowers are open or immediately after they fade.
Use sharp, disinfected pruners to harvest 4- to 8-inch cuttings with several leaves.
Make the cut at a 45-degree angle just below a leaf node.
Leave two or three leaflets at the top of the cutting.
Place the cuttings into moist potting mix in a small container with drainage holes.
Water the cuttings in.
Cover the pot with a clear plastic bag to hold in humidity.
Leave cuttings in an area with filtered or indirect light.
Too much sun or heat will cook them.
Some roses may root within two weeks.
Others may take months or not root at all.
Pot the cuttings up into their own containers once you see vigorous new leaf growth.
There are plenty of non-trademarked roses out there gardeners can propagate.
Types of Shrub Roses
Shrub roses are relatively easy to grow, but theyre a complex group.
They also include older heirloom varieties (but not Old Garden Roses).
They grow well almost everywhere.
The drawback is that they tend to lack fragrance or dazzling flower forms.
Ground cover shrub roses are nearly as popular as landscape shrubs and theres a lot of overlap between them.
The flowers and foliage are often smaller than on landscape shrubs.
They include groups like Drift and Flower Carpet.
That often means exceptionally well-formed blooms, intense fragrances, refined colors, and elegant foliage and growth.
The classic traits that made roses so popular in the first place.
All but a couple of the oldest ones repeat bloom all season.
Look to this group for the most cold-hardy options and the most natural, graceful shrub forms.
Smallrose hips follow, brightening the bare tips through the winter and attracting birds.
It grows 3 to 6 feet tall and almost as wide.
It produces extremely fragrant, semidouble blooms in clusters.
A good repeat bloomer, it grows up to 7 feet tall.
It grows 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
Zones 4-9
Carefree Beauty Rose
Rosa’Bucbi' set a standard for disease resistance coupled with continuous bloom.
Its double, soft pink blooms repeat reliably from early summer to fall on upright plants.
At maturity, it reaches 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
The plant is vigorous and covered with dark green foliage.
Grows 5 feet tall and wide.
It grows 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
The deepest color occurs in cold temperatures.
A quick repeat bloomer, the plant requires light shaping to train its strong shoots.
It’s resistant both to black spot and powdery mildew.
The rounded plant grows 4 feet tall and wide.
The leaves are glossy and show excellent disease resistance.
Zones 4-9
Hansa Rose
Rosa rugosa’Hansa' bears red-violet, cupped blooms packed with many clove-scented petals.
Early, abundant flowering is followed by repeat bloom later in the season.
The plant exhibits many traits of its rugosa heritage: disease resistance, thorniness, and extreme cold hardiness.
It grows 5 feet tall.
The plant grows 6 feet tall.
Small orange hips carry the show into late fall and appeal to the birds.
The plants are extremely disease resistant and grow about 3 feet tall.
The clustered flowers are cupped and semidouble.
The disease-resistant plant grows 3 feet tall and wide.
The flowers appear in bunches on an upright, vigorous plant.
It grows 4 feet tall and wide.
Zones 4-9
Super Hero Rose
Rosa’Baisuhe' is a disease-resistant, everblooming selection with rich red flowers.
It grows 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
The blooms are lightly fragrant.
Plants grow from 7 to 9 feet tall.
Frequently Asked Questions
The words shrub and bush usually get tossed around interchangeably.
But when it comes to roses, they can have specific meanings.
