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sara_ann_gw

How many roses do you have?

sara_ann-z6bok
10 years ago

I don't why, I have always been fascinated by how many roses other people have. I guess because I think I never have enough and always want more, but I know at my age there does have to be a cut-off point. I have about 70 and plan to add a few every year as long as I am able to care for them, I have a huge yard, so I have lots of room. Anyway, for those of you who would like to share, it is your chance to brag, whether it is one or just a few really special roses or hundreds or more, we're all rose lovers and in my opinion if you love roses there is no such thing as too many as long as you can handle caring for them or hire it done. Pictures of your garden or any special roses would be great.

Comments (123)

  • Lisa Adams
    6 years ago

    No problem, Vap. It happens to me all the time. I feel so bad when I look back and realize someone asked me something or made a comment on my post and I didn’t respond. Sometimes I plan on responding later, when I have more time. Other times I just didn’t see it at all. I always figure it’s something like that when someone doesn’t respond, NBD:) I’ve been impressed by the many wonderful rose varieties your growing. You have lots of really neat ones.(And we seem to have similar taste) Lisa

  • flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    This thread made me think of How to Count Roses by Kim_SC at Gardenweb. Very funny reading. I think a few of you referred to it a ways back up the thread.

    My question to those of you with lots and lots of roses, how do you get them all pruned every spring before the season is over? Maybe it's just me, and my bad back, but even leaving out the ones that don't actually need pruning, I'm still not finished by the time they start their 2nd flush, and by then, it's just too late to continue. And, feeding - how do you manage to feed each individual bush? Or, do you feed with a sprayer? What about maintaining the well around each rose? Mine get trampled either by me or the hose. All those wells need to be set right again. I don't like messy looking wells. Deadheading is a constant that is never finished, which I enjoy doing, but do you all routinely haul out ladders to keep your climbers deadheaded and clean looking? This is especially difficult with climbing polyanthas. I can spend an entire day cleaning up Jeanne LaJoie, and still not get all the spent blooms. It's all these little things that take so much time that there's never a chance to just sit in the garden and enjoy it. I need a staff, and I don't have nearly as many roses as some of you.

    The deer and I had around 50 back when we shared the roses, and they kept them pruned down to short bare stubs that required very little care. When the deer fencing went in, I ordered 50ish more. The following year, about 50 more. I'm ready to just enjoy the ones I have, but the temptations just keep coming every spring. I'm weak. Or greedy.

  • Zuzu (Sebastopol, CA, 9a)
    6 years ago

    I'm growing about 1,700 different cultivars and lots of mystery roses and duplicates, so about 2,000 rose bushes in all. I only prune the hybrid teas, about 700 of them. I do my pruning in December because I want them to bloom early in the year. I shoot for 20-25 roses a day. That way, I'm finished by January. I have extraordinarily good soil, so I've never fed my roses, and I don't have wells around the bushes. I use long-handled loppers to deadhead my tall roses. No ladders for me. I have vertigo.

  • nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska
    6 years ago

    Good question flowersaremusic, and I agree with Zuzu that the best approach to having a lot of roses is a minimal one so you can spend maximum time enjoying the roses. Hence - spraying? I don't do it, not even Liquid Fence any more. Feeding? A handful each established plant of Ironite, alfalfa and 10-10-10 once in spring when I spread out the leaf mulch (from my winter protection leaf bags) if I get around to it. I never get around to it more than once in a season, even though I have ambitions of some soil drench fertilizer boost for the wimpy roses, so they maintain themselves thru summer on the leaf mulch breaking down and like Zuzu I have pretty good soil.

    Pruning in spring is also pretty simple, being in zone 5. At least 75% of my roses get pruned to the ground or nearly so in spring, so that's one cut per rose. Even now that I'm up to 1000 roses (this thread started 2 years ago) that's only a couple of cuts per rose at most to gradually cut lower and see if pruning to the ground is needed. I can get through at least 200-250 typical roses relatively comfortably in a weekend this way. Given that some roses don't need pruning, I'm usually done in about 4 weeks by the time serious planting season starts in late April, adding in maybe an extra weekday for some tough cases of pruning and/or taming. I start with the hardiest roses or warmest spots by mid-March before you're "supposed" to prune, as long as I start to see that rose bud out and indicate its survival point. I know what works in my yard for a given rose, though I don't recommend this approach for newbies until you get used to your roses and their behaviors in your yard. A few truly massive climbers take a day collectively to manage - e.g. Quadra and Sunrise Sunset need a fair bit of pruning dead wood and redirecting wayward canes back into the arch. Other hardy climbers like Darlow's Enigma or Felix LeClerc or Alexander Mackenzie don't get pruned at all since they're tip hardy and free standing in my yard.

    Pruning (or deadheading) of the smaller multiple blooming roses calls for the "off with their heads" approach where you cut whole clusters not individual blooms. That means waiting till the cluster is unsightly enough to cut (e.g) for my hybrid musks or polys, or climbers like Jeanne LaJoie (though mine just doesn't get that big). I can deadhead Heavenly Pink or Bad Worishofen or Little Mischief in a few minutes by grabbing hunks of blooms and whacking back behind the branching-off point of the cluster. The really tall climbers either don't get pruned in summer out of the 6' range of my pruners (like Quadra and Sunrise Sunset) or I use the long handled loppers now and then. I don't have vertigo (sympathies Zuzu!) but I'm only willing to drape myself over those monster roses for massive blood loss on a ladder once a year to tame it into shape in the spring. If I get smart this fall I'll do some of the taming as I'm putting the garden to bed over the next few weeks. I'm probably not that smart though.

    Beyond that, deadheading all summer takes maybe 3 hours a weekend, but heck that's my enjoyment time and includes photographing roses as well as deadheading and supplemental pruning out of dead wood too. If I keep the wayward dead canes cut back through the summer in my hardy roses I don't have as much left in spring to weed out in the main pruning. This system wouldn't necessarily work for warmer zones where more surviving cane is left, but the pruning isn't really the hard part of spring for me. It's the planting, to get all 250 or so new roses planted between late April and late May. That seems to be my replacement level of roses these days, even though we've had mild winters. I have roses die each year that are a surprise that have been fine for 4-5 years then give up the ghost for some reason, as well as the wimpy zone-pushing new roses from the previous year and the roses on their second or third or "absolutely last" try at survival (smile).

    See, not that much time - it's just how you allocate it. I don't fuss if I can help it.

    Cynthia

  • flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Zuzu, I appreciate your help. I tend to fuss over each rose, and waste a lot of time. I only have a couple HTs. Whether it's me or my climate, they don't like it here. It's recommended to not prune until late May/early June. Lived in So Cal most of my life, so that was hard to get used to. I have to feed because of my super horrible soil, thus the need for wells. We're kind of opposite in every way.

    Cynthia, you make what I know is a lot of hard work sound enjoyable. And, I do agree, this is my choice and what I love to do, too. I've paid attention to your methods for some time and do many of the things I've learned from you. I also start pruning earlier than recommended, and hold my breath every year. You are so right about winter weather doing some of the pruning for us. I should start the winter process in the fall, but I wait until it feels more like winter, then, bam! it's winter and too late to finish up as well as I'd like to. This year, I still have to cut all the peonies back. Hate it when I do that! It's cold out there. Agreed, the most time consuming task is planting. Digging holes is the worst in my hard as concrete, rock solid clay.

    Thank you both for explaining your approach with a lot of roses. I'm very good at wasting time moving things around, seeing how this and that fits here and there, getting nothing of substance done.

  • BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I have between 50-60 roses, almost all were planted this year when I decided to get back into rose gardening. In my area ,given our heat and humidity, roses, especially the HTs that I like, are rather high maintenance and I wondered if it might be too much. I spray every two weeks, fertilize every month (plus supplements), deadhead every weekend. But I do think I have it well under control, I’ve never had a healthier rose garden even though I travel about 45 weeks out of the year for work (I get Fri-Sun at home).

    Indeed, I just decided to add a new raised bed in my front year, where I’ll add another 15-20 plants (excited!). The incremental work of adding additional roses isn’t so bad...if you have just ONE plant of a prissy rose like Melody Parfume or Dolly Parton you’ll need a regular spray/fertilization program anyway, so might as well add a bunch more! I think that’d be true for up to 100 or so roses...after that, pruning or deadheading would be too much work.

  • SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal
    6 years ago

    I have around 50 -- all I can handle. This winter I may, unfortunately, have to get rid of some of them because, well, I planted too many too close together. I love them all and it's going to be hard deciding which ones should go ... I may try putting some in pots (very large pots). One of these days we may move, so the more I have potted, the more I can (potentially) take with me.

    Terrific thread. Beth, only 1700? I was figuring 5000 at least, lol.

  • Rosylady (PNW zone 8)
    6 years ago

    Wow, a whole lot of experience and wisdom on this thread. This is very helpful for me as I am going from a handful of neglected roses I've had for years to....

    approx 150 roses (of all shapes and sizes) in a formal rose garden, in the front of my house!

    I'm hoping that the pressure of not looking bad in front of the neighbors will motivate me to keep up on the maintenance...hahahah!

    But seriously, I have learned so much from this forum...much more than I could ever learn from books. And I'm hoping that the knowledge gleaned from all of you will help make up for my lack of experience with roses.

    Ironically, my online moniker is Rosylady...but that's not because of my prowess with roses. I've always had a rose-colored-glasses approach to life. I actually got rose colored lenses in my first pair of prescription sunglasses when I was 16, because I liked how the world looked with them on! The saleslady tried to talk me out of it...haha!

    Anyway, I have an acre of land, so I'm sure 150 is just the beginning for me :)

  • arlene_82 (zone 6 OH)
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Oh. the. rose. envy. 22 total for me at the moment, with only 17 of those being different named varieties.

  • pink rose(9b, FL )
    6 years ago

    Right now I have 52 roses . I keep s/p the ones I don't like and replacing them .

  • Parker Turtle
    6 years ago

    last count was 36.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    Ben, after rereading this post, I'm astonished to learn you just planted your roses in 2017. I'm truly humbled! I wonder how everyone's count is doing these days.

  • bayarea_girl_z10a_ca
    4 years ago

    I have 170+ roses. My garden is small so many of them in pots. I like to collect beautiful unique petal-packed bloom roses so having them in pots is the only way to to do it. Luckily, I have mild weather in zone 9 so I don't need to do any pot winterizing like gardeners in cold zones. I have no rain from April to November so all the pots need to be watered daily or every 2 days. Helen

  • dan_keil_cr Keil
    4 years ago

    6 years ago I had almost 500, In those years we had 4 years of severe drought and high temps, then two back to back winters with -15. We haven't been that cold in years. So I have lost maybe 250 roses and the others are barely hanging on.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    Hard to "like" that Dan. 250 is still an impressive amount, but I imagine it mus have been heartbreaking to lose so many. I'm still mourning the six I've lost total. bayarea, so many roses! I'm impressed with those that can keep pot pets happy. I'm so bad at that. I'm so bad, I think I've about doubled my rose variety count, but I'm being a good girl for next year. I have SO MANY cuttings that I need to be. Somehow, I just don't count them as actually roses yet even if they are established rooting.

  • dianela7analabama
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Last time I counted I had around 270 roses, but I always buy multiple repeats so not even close to the same number in varieties. I don’t count very often, because I don’t want my husband to tell me I have enough lol. Having multiples of each rose has help me overcome my heartbreak every time I have lost a rose to RRD this year.

    Flowers I guess I don’t really have many hundreds, but I’ll tell you how it do all my rose work. I just go outside on the weekends when I am not working and start pruning in mid February to be ready for April. Today I cleaned up, and pegged 2 hybrid musks that were getting out their beds. They may lose any new growth that may come up, but I am ok with that. I use the winter months to slowly tie up any climbers that look out of control and fertilize in very early spring. I use a pvc pipe to reach the root area, and deposit my fertilizer like through a straw without getting all scratched up. My husband got me a 15 gallon spray tank that connects to a little Polaris ranger garden car I drive around, and spray. My roses just don’t get deadheaded the rest of the year. Maybe in the future I’ll be able to keep up with it better.

    Vapor I wanted to tell you I found 3 Peggy martins today at a local place super root bound on their little pots. I just couldn’t leave without them. I dug holes in the rain and planted them, before our big freeze tonight, 19 degrees is pretty cool for us here this early. I remembered you mentioned her before:). I can’t wait to see what it does. I planted one in full day sun, one in about 6 hours of sun and one in a very shady location to compare.

  • flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA
    4 years ago

    Dianela, you have a good routine and a good attitude toward your roses. Your garden car sounds so handy! Definitely the way to go in a large garden. The pathways through my garden wouldn't handle anything that wide. I know I putter and waste too much time on each rose instead of just getting the job done when it comes to pruning, deadheading, feeding, etc. I have room for many more roses, but I know my limitations with my bad back, and additional roses wouldn't get the kind of care I would want to give them. I can't bend to prune, so I pull up a stool and do most of it sitting down. None of my climbers are tall enough that pruning them has been a problem, so far, but it looks like I may have to do some reaching with long handled pruners next year if they don't die to the ground.


  • Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
    4 years ago

    Ben, I am so impressed that all of your landscaping is so .new. You should definitely follow your heart and go in to landscape design

    What are in the pot second and third pictures ? Both so gorgeous!

  • Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
    4 years ago

    I have a paltry 65 roses. That seems like the perfect amount for me to take care of


  • BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
    4 years ago

    Thanks so much, Kristine. Pic #2 is Blue for You, pic #3 is Grande Dame.


    I think 65 is the perfect number too, when I’m deadheading. Then when everyone posts beautiful pics of stuff I don’t have, it’s not enough.

  • Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
    4 years ago

    Boy what a fun thread !! I had 250 ish in Tennessee. Now I bet I have 25.. I’ll have to count . It’s sad though !!


  • Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
    4 years ago

    Jennifer, you will be there again

    Starting from scratch and doing all of the preparation takes time. You are off to a good start

    How is the baby Gardner doing?

    Ben, I am so glad that that is Blue for you since I already have that one

    Whew!!

  • monarda_gw
    4 years ago

    I have about 20 in the ground in my teeny, tiny front and back gardens, not counting quite a few in pots, some ready to be given away or shuffled around with those now in the ground.

  • oursteelers 8B PNW
    4 years ago

    I had to go out and count....I’m at 98.

    You don’t even want to know how many hosta I have!

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    Hosta is landscaping! They don't count. : ))

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Dianela, I had to look that up! I didn't even know there was such a thing, but a larger sprayer might be in order for the spring. You are heavy duty! BenT you've really hit it out of the park! It's your pots I can't get over! I so agree Kristine, 65 does seem about right, but BenT put it so perfectly; there's too much enabling on this forum. I actually pooped out dead-heading NewDawn this year! Who knew too many flowers could be a problem! Lilyfinch, it seems like you're on your way already and I think it took you a few years in TN to gather that many. Monarda, 20 seemed like a huge amount year one. I guess it's slightly easier with a smaller yard to keep things contained. Bayarea girl, I shouldn't be surprised at your number..... every post has a new one showcased. My hat's off to everyone with so many!!!

  • sharon2079
    4 years ago

    BenT..... planting roses in your neighbor's yard???? I think I told you once before I wanted you to move to Florida and be my neighbor.....


  • rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ)
    4 years ago

    Reading this discussion from the top, I am reminded of Imelda Marcos.

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    LOL!

  • BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Sharon

    I had a few plants that grew well, but I just didn’t really care for...My neighbor gladly accepted them, and I still get to see them and tend to them at the front of her yard. It’s a win-win.

    I’m thinking Grande Dame or Poseidon will probably make the trek across the street next :-)

  • bayarea_girl_z10a_ca
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Ben, lol, what’s with Poseidon? I thought it is a beautiful rose. When cut in door, I think it has the closest shade of blue I can see in a rose. Helen

  • Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal
    4 years ago

    Roselady, I had a pair of pink sunglasses with rose colored lens in college. I too loved the way the world looked with them :-)
    I have 37 roses and 32 different varieties. Mostly Teas, Hybrid Musks, Noisettes, Polyanthas, Moore miniatures and David Austin, plus a couple Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals.

  • toolbelt68
    4 years ago

    Deborah, your body will tell you when it's time to stop with the roses, until then go for it!!!


    I have 60 Zeffies..... plus a few others

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago

    I'd love to hear at the others, toolbelt.

  • BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Helen,

    Poseidon is very nice in the spring, and I agree among the bluest of roses. (Do you think Poseidon is bluer than Love Song? I’m undecided). But she hates my summers, the petals get so very thin (both in substance and width) and they burn instantly. Lisa said hers stopped burning after the plant matured after a few years, so maybe Poseidon gets to stay. Poseidon in the spring:


  • bayarea_girl_z10a_ca
    4 years ago

    Ben, I think Love Song's color is lavender so Poseidon is bluer than Love Song. I cut Poseidon for in door and it has the most beautiful blue color, more blue than other roses with "blue" in their names, lol. Texas sun can be really hot so how about give Poseidon a spot of morning sun and afternoon shade so you can get the best out of him? Helen

  • BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Ok, Helen, I’ll take your advice and keep Poseidon around and see how blue he gets as a cut flower. He’s in my little ‘problem bed’ where no one looks good with anyone else and they each have their own annoying trait. (Poseidon burns, Dark Knight turns brown, Chartreuse is a lanky weak, Chris Evert complements no one, Lucille Ball is all but invisible). I did just plant Maria Callas in front of him, and I do think they’d look good together, too.

  • toolbelt68
    4 years ago

    Vaporvac, Here is the list of the ‘other’ roses I have.


    Reine des violettes

    Kathleen Harrop

    Pinkie (2)

    Knock Out (4)

    Thomas Affleck (3)

    Spice

    Dr. Huey


    I shovel pruned Mr. Lincoln and dug down at least 2 or more feet to get all of the root stock. Even after all of that Dr. Huey (the root stock) came back up. So, I said to myself, ‘if you can survive that you deserve to live!!! The rabbits are keeping him cut down to about 18 inches but he is building up a good root system…. lol

  • Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Do Reine des Violettes, Kathleen Harrop and T. Affleck do well for you?

  • philipatx
    4 years ago

    Ah, gee, thanks, Helen. I was fixing to offer to drive up to Dallas and take Poseidon off Ben's hands when you had to go and talk him into *keeping* that one. ;-)


    I'm guessing that I have in the range of 40 or so, but who has time to count? (I know, I know... It's not like it's a big number, but still... Honestly, when I think of the poor neglected ones in the pot-ghetto-zone which is in part shade where I don't need to water them *every* day, many of which are growing backwards as a consequence...) I feel like an Imelda, having shoes that will never get worn, I fear...


    Are you guys mostly retired, or just *way* better at time management than I am? (Gardening isn't "work" for me per se, but I think I spend way too much of my "gardening" time just looking, admiring, and daydreaming and not actually accomplishing much.)

  • Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
    4 years ago

    I am just the opposite, too much time working in the garden and not enough time sitting and enjoying the beauty.

    This year I will be taking much more time to relax and enjoy

    I'm even considering hiring a bit of help


  • toolbelt68
    4 years ago

    philpatx, you have it right!! I take the attitude, either grow or go. I don't fuss with them at all. Once in the ground they are on there own except for water. I don't waste my money on spraying them and I don't worry about black spot. For the pass 20 years they have flowered, got black spot, got over it and flowered again. Why lose sleep over something that is going to happen! I do have a drip system hooked up for each plant. I spend my retirement time doing other things besides mother-hening the roses.

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    4 years ago

    I guess I need to count my roses. I'm sure I dont have as many as most people on the forum. I literally have over a thousand other plants with most being tropical or subtropical, so I really cant get too many more roses until I move lol.

  • sabalmatt_tejas
    4 years ago

    Ben- my experience with Poseidon in San Marcos, Tx is exactly the same as yours. Nice spring bloom, then downhill after that. When it does RE-bloom (which is seldom) the petals are nearly the first to burn. It completely shuts down from June-Oct. Mine definitely doesn’t like heat- even when we’ll watered. We do have very strong sun being at 29.88 latitude.

  • bayarea_girl_z10a_ca
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Resurrecting this threat again just because most of us are done with the rose ordering this season and soon will get ready for next year. I have 209 roses with 96 in the ground and 113 in pots in my 0.14 acre lot. It's a lot of work, but I'm happy because the rose god has been good to me and I have acquired a lot of hard to find or just breathtakingly beautiful roses. Helen

  • dianela7analabama
    3 years ago

    Wow Helen your garden looks so much larger in your pictures. It looks like if you had an acre of roses all perfectly placed.


    I don‘t know how many roses I have, but I will count this weekend and see:) I do not have many varieties because I have many repeats.

  • bayarea_girl_z10a_ca
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Dianela, you reminds me the comment you made about my Augusta Luise, lol. You thought I had a bigger bush because of the close up shots and then you saw the whole plant, haha. Maybe I shouldn't post the whole plant, lol. My husband is so nice that he removed all the backyard grass so I can grow my roses. Like Ben, I also have been planting my "like" roses in my friends or neighbor' yards. Helen

  • Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
    3 years ago

    I have around 100, I’ll do an exact count tomorrow. I’m pleased with my amount , but I’ll take more ! lol

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    I have 59 roses in pots...would love to make it 60!!! You know, just to have a round number. :) Well, I do have a John Davis in front of the house...so I guess that's 60.


    Kristine - good idea to hire some help so that you can enjoy your garden a bit more.


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