Growing Roses

[amadi]

Does anybody know anything about growing roses from bare starters? Costco is selling rose starters, which look like plain wood roots with nothing green, no blossoms, nothing, but apparently if you plant them, they take root and they grow. They're not high priced and are probably nothing special but the price is such that it's worth the risk to give it a try.

Has anyone ever done this or have basic info about what sorts of soil conditions, temperature concerns, feeding/fertilizing issues and whatnot I'd need to know before jumping into planting one of these starters and calling myself a rose grower?

Comments

[teapot_rabbit]

I love roses, though I'm no expert. Roses can be kind of finicky, so I would recommend finding a book about rose culture - look for one that's targeted to your specific climate. For example, I live in California, so books written for England that tell me how to overwinter roses in the snow are pretty useless. Garden centers are also a good bet. You might also want to see if there is a nursery nearby that specializes in roses.

Seconding everything feroxargentea said about bare root roses. Usually you plant bare root in the winter, when the plants are dormant (no leaves, etc) so when they start to grow, they're already in the ground.

I don't think there is a true purple rose - lots of interesting shades of magenta and lavender, though.