Yes, water seems to be key with roses. They bloom so much better with more water.

Here, my Just Joey (in a pot) grows much more slowly than any of my other roses. Same with Chrysler Imperial which I don't grow any more.

Nice to hear that Firefighter is a good rose for you. I keep thinking about that rose.
Carol

You do not say where you live, but summer and winter, water is probably the most vital ingredient. However, I must water far more frequently than once a week.

Sammy

I have to agree, water seems to be the most important ingredient in growing good roses. I water mine about every third day and the pots every other day in normal temps but when the thermometer soars I water the ground every day and the pots sometimes twice a day.

I on the other hand, found direct sunlight to be the driver in out zone 6a garden. Its probably due to the weather. We don't have the long growing season of south California and even most of May was cloudy with drizzle. So the true sunny days are precious.

This post was edited by mikeber on Mon, May 26, 14 at 22:01

I'm inland SF bay area. During the summer months, we alternate between cool weather with the marine layer and frying with 100+ weather. The heat makes thing happen too fast once the HT start their growth spurt. Ideally, the heat get things going and it will cool off so I can enjoy the blooms. We don't get as long a growing season as Scal