The beauty of flowers entices many of us to garden.  For me, growing hybrid tea roses was my gateway drug into addictive gardening. 

I did it ‘right’ back in the ‘80’s. First, in early spring, I built raised beds.  Under the area where the beds were going to be located, I double dug soil carefully removing every sliver of grass and weed.  I built 4 ft by 8 ft rectangles of pressure treated wood.  I filled the boxes with a mix of topsoil and peat moss.  I made sure the pH wasn’t overly alkaline. 

Once my bare root roses came, I carefully soaked them according to direction and planted them in my new beds.  I gave them starter fertilizer then ramped up to some form a blue chemical fertilizer every other week.  I poured systemic treatment granules into the soil to help prevent bug damage and fungal disease.  I sprayed the nastiest of chemicals onto any bug I saw on their leaves.   I did pre-emptive spraying for black spot and rust every other week. 

I had beautiful roses.  Chemical laden. 

I hated the process of spraying.  I’d stress each time I’d mix the stinky stuff for fear of getting it on my skin.  I’d try my best to spray when neighbors weren’t home to spare them the smell of the chemicals.  I didn’t think about what that poison might be doing to birds or other wildlife.  I certainly didn’t think about what I was doing to the soil, the bay and the earth. 

“I began to notice the birds disappeared each time I would spray,” said Chris VanCleave, the Redneck Rosarian and competitive rose grower.  He now grows roses organically.  Like Chris, I’ve moved away from chemicals. 

I started experimenting with other blooming plants.  I added lilies, daisies, Echinacea, and poppies.  I found the reward in growing these plants to be greater than the high maintenance roses.  I pulled out rose bushes one at a time to make room for these other plants. 

But in recent years, I’ve found that I can enjoy roses without using chemicals.  VanCleave has as well. 

“If you feed your soil, plants take care of themselves,” said VanCleave. 

Since he’s begun feeding his soil organically, he’s watched his roses perform better. Larger blooms with more vibrant color, richer foliage and increased fragrance, can all be attributed to gardening naturally.  He’s watched underperforming roses rally.  And has observed as much as three times the blooms per plant.

He does this by using composted manure tea and alfalfa meal tea to feed the soil.  Specifically, he uses Authentic Haven Brand teas.  Roses that are healthy fight fungal diseases more effectively.  But it’s still important to take precautions for the best flower and foliage.

Keeping your roses clean and dry is the best way to fight disease.  Clean up any leaves at the base of your plants, prune and remove any dead branches, and keep the foliage as dry as possible. VanCleave always waters at the base of the plant.  Planting your roses far enough apart to allow for good air circulation is another important part of preventing fungal diseases.

My approach to organic rose growing is similar but maybe a little ordered and less warm and fuzzy. 

I compost chicken manure from my coop with other garden and kitchen waste mixed with dried leaves.  I top dress all the plants in ornamental beds with this a couple of times a year.  That’s all the feeding I generally do, but after talking with Chris, I may try adding some teas next spring. 

I manage my roses rather harshly. The bushes that remain in my garden tolerate this. Early in spring, I cut them back to about 6 inches high, cutting the stems above an outward facing leaf scar. They grow rapidly and bloom nicely from May into late-June.  In Pennsylvania, Japanese beetles attack in earnest in late June and into July. 

Rose leaves and blooms are a delicacy to Japanese beetles.  It’s just not pretty to see rose bushes shredded by this little menace.  One season, I decided to cover my roses with row covers to try to keep the beetles away.  It worked, but row covers draped through out my ornamental beds…. Well…  wasn’t very ornamental.  

So my current approach is to give up.  Once I see the beetles arrive, I hack my plants back down to about a foot tall.   This way, they push out new growth and about the time the beetles are gone, they flush out another round of blooms and look healthy, not nearly bald, as they would have if the beetles had their way with them.  I leave the second round of growth on the plants during the winter. 

Knockout roses and heirloom roses also do well grown organically.  But don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to those.  You can grow hybrid teas. 

“Don’t worry so much about having perfect foliage, “ said VanCleave, “ Enjoy the bloom.”