Happy April! I'm so excited to kick off this month's theme: Spring Rose Care. Over the next few weeks, we're diving into everything you need to know to keep your roses healthy during the spring months. We'll cover fertilizer, pests, diseases, irrigation, and even planting potted roses. Let's make your garden the envy of the neighborhood!
To finish strong, we're talking about one of the most crucial (and often overlooked) steps in growing thriving roses—getting a soil test. If you've been around Menagerie for a while, you've probably heard me say this before, but the foundation of healthy, happy roses starts with understanding your soil. I do soil testing in multiple locations on the farm at least once yearly and more often if I am trying to correct a problem in a specific area of our production field.
Welcome to another week of my First Year Bare Root Rose Care series. So far, we've chatted about two super important topics: getting your fertilizing routine just right and tackling dieback. This week, we're diving into what to expect from your bare root rose during its first year in your garden. Spoiler alert: it's all about those roots!
A new month means a new newsletter theme, and I'm so excited to focus on first-year bare root rose care. Spring has arrived, and the farm is coming to life with warmer temperatures. This week hit a delightful 75 degrees! Our newly planted bare root roses are thriving, showing over two inches of fresh leaf growth in just a few days. It's shaping up to be an exciting season for roses, and we're ready to hit the ground running!
Welcome to the final week of our dormant pruning theme. We're wrapping it all up with one crucial step you don't want to miss—applying your dormant spray. Trust me, this isn't just an optional task; it's a must do for beautiful in-season blooms. I learned this the hard way one season when I didn't spray a section in my rose field because we had very late wet winter storms and it was too muddy to get in the field. The result? Families of aphids and thrips came alive, wreaking havoc! Trust me when I say—your future self (and your roses) will thank you for not missing your dormant spray applications.
This week, I'm sharing my proven method for dormant pruning—the 5 Ds of Dormant Pruning—designed for hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, and English roses. Most home gardeners and flower farmers grow these common varieties, and this simple method works beautifully for nearly all roses in your yard. Avoid using this method for climbing, once-blooming, or shrub roses, as they require additional steps and special considerations when pruning. Grab my FREE printable Dormant Pruning Guide to take with you to the garden.
Pruning isn't just about making cuts—it's about making the right cuts with the right tools. The proper equipment can make all the difference, improving efficiency, precision and plant health while making the task far less labor-intensive. High-quality, ergonomic tools not only reduce strain on your hands but also ensure cleaner cuts that promote faster, healthier healing for your plants. Over the years, I've tested dozens of tools, and trust me—when you're pruning thousands of roses, you quickly learn the value of investing in the best. The right tools don't just make the job easier; they make it enjoyable. I've curated a list of my favorite, tried-and-true workhorses, and I'm sharing them with you today.
Pruning is like giving your roses a rejuvenating spa treatment. By trimming away the old and dead parts, you revitalize your plants, creating room for fresh, vibrant growth in the spring. Dormant pruning is essential to perform once a year for maintaining healthy, productive roses by removing weak, dead, or diseased wood, allowing the plant to direct energy toward vigorous new growth.
This January has been unseasonably sunny and dry, and our roses are already beginning to push out buds—it looks like spring will be arriving early around here! At the farm, we're in the thick of bare root rose season this weekend, working hard to prepare and start fulfilling orders on Monday. I'm so excited to begin sending roses your way very soon!
This week has been better than the last for me—how about you? It felt so good to spend time outside on farm projects away from the chaos of the world. That's the beauty of gardens and farms—they ground us in a way that's hard to describe. I spent time on the farm getting our roses dormant-pruned and wrapping up the final preparations for our annual Bare Root Rose Collection launch.
This week, we're tackling a hot topic that confuses many rose growers—bare root rose grades. If you've been puzzled over terms like “Grade 1,” “Grade 1.5,” “Grade 2,” or why some bare root roses are bigger than others, this is for you.
Happy New Year and welcome to the first newsletter of 2025! I'm so excited to kick off another year of growing with YOU. As we step into this fresh chapter, it's the perfect opportunity to cultivate one or two meaningful habits that will help you care for your roses. My guiding word for the year—both for Menagerie the company and myself personally—is consistency. Rather than chasing drastic changes, I'm focusing on steadily maintaining the foundational habits to help everything flourish. These small but essential actions, like daily exercise, my Sunday evening self-care facials, or simply deadheading roses in our family garden every week, are the building blocks to making successful progress.
Now that we've tackled insect and disease care, let's explore the final step in a good fall clean-up - the essentials of fall shape pruning and tidying up your rose beds. This last stage will ensure your roses are primed for a winter nap and a successful spring!
