Turf Short Course Part 2

Dr Tim Phillips presented a talk on roses at the Turf Short Course during the landscape track.  Dr Phillips is a fescue breeder at UK, but his sideline is roses.  He's in charge of the rose garden at the UK Arboretum.  Here are some tidbits from that talk:

• There are over 1700 varieties of roses at the Arboretum
• Knockouts came on the scene in 1999
• AARS (All America Rose Selections) have conducted no-spray trials for a number of years, winners have had no fungicides or insecticides sprayed.  Here are some of the winners:
• Carefree Spirit
• Carefree Celebration
• Secret's Out!
• Pink Flamingo
• Adobe Sunrise
• Citrus Burst
• Sunshine Daydream
• Francis Meilland
• All A Flutter
• Cheap roses from box stores -- 80% of the time they are mislabeled or have rose mosaic virus
• Roses do much better in the sun, minimal amount if 4 hrs sun each day for OK flowering
• 8 hours of sun per day -- you get twice as many roses than at 4
• 12 hrs of sun per day -- get more flowers but individual flowers don't last as long, may bleach out color
• If planting bare-root roses, do not skip this step -- soak roots for 24 hours before planting
• Don't prune weak plants as hard as you might robust plants
• Climbers should be pruned after they are done flowering, usually around late June
• Roses do not like wilting at all
• After a couple of freezes (<25F), trim roses back to 2-4' tall
• Rose rosette is becoming a huge problem.  Be on the lookout and prune out early, otherwise it will become systemic and you must remove the entire plant