Big Bushes

One of the things that sets the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden apart from other public gardens (and crucial to the restoration by FSJRG) was our maxim to “prune high for maximum display.” Too often rosebushes are hacked down to the ground, chopped to only a foot tall with disregard to plant habit and climate. Santa Clara County is blessed with a near perfect climate for roses. Almost anyone can grow roses here albeit with a range of results. Though truth be told some people should not be allowed to grow roses. I’ll never forget the time standing over a bin of bare-root roses I overheard a couple dickering over a pending purchase “if you buy that rose you’ll just have to water it” – how I wanted to snatch that rose out of their hands and save it!

Keep in mind that reference books or info online about the correct way to take care of rosebushes may have been based on rose culture in Minnesota, not California. Methods and results vary tremendously. The first time I visited rose mecca aka headquarters of the American Rose Society in Shreveport, Louisiana, I was shocked to see how small the rose bushes were. In both public and private gardens, roses only seemed to grow a few feet tall and consequently had very few blooms. I’ll admit the sparse display in comparison with our lush gardens back home were a bit of a disappointment.

The difference in performance is part regional, part tradition. Our climate provides for six or seven bloom cycles; depending on variety one can have roses blooming as early as March and as late as December. With all that repeat growth (not to mention sunshine) plants have the opportunity to grow large. Gardeners in colder climates may not have their first bloom until late June and the bushes only squeeze out a cycle or two before shutting down with an early frost; consequently the bushes are small. Regarding tradition, some gardeners prune “like grandma taught them” or perhaps how they did when living in Minnesota or based on reference materials not specific to our area or outcome desired.

Take a look at the bushes in the Rose Garden or in your home garden. When it comes to proper size, pruning and shaping, NEVER remove more than one half the height; otherwise your plant can go into shock. Think of it this way – the canes store sugars and energy for the plant, harsh pruning cuts off energy supplies, which the plant needs for future growth. Of course there are a couple exceptions, sometimes a rose has to be cut back hard because it needs to be relocated and transplanted, or perhaps you discover a rose doesn’t fit the space in the landscape. These are tricky situations, but as a rule of (green) thumb you will have the most success and happiest roses if you allow them to grow to their full potential.

Recently when viewing the big bushes loaded with bloom at the Rose Garden, someone asked, “aren’t the roses too tall?” Though I knew the answer I passed along the comment to Tom Carruth, world famous hybridizer at Weeks Roses. He laughed, “there’s no such thing as roses that are too big!”

by Beverly Rose Hopper
Co-Founder, FSJRG