9 Tips To Make Your Roses Bloom More

With their elegant petals and sweet fragrance, roses have long been a favorite flower for gardens everywhere. But cultivating a bountiful rose bush that fills the air with its perfume takes more than just water and patience. There are some lesser-known tricks of the trade that professional rose growers have relied on for generations. With a few adjustments to your rose care routine based on these insider tips, you'll have your bushes bursting with blooms all season long.

1. Give Them a Winter Protection

The best time to plant roses is late autumn but it's crucial to protect your rose bushes during the colder months when most are dormant. Laying mulch around the base before the ground freezes will help insulate the roots. You can also create a temporary barrier like draping burlap fabric over the plant, which will shield it from harsh winds and frost. Protecting bushes this way means they will have energy stored to push out many blooms come springtime.

2. Prune Strategically

Most pruning happens in early spring, but light trimming during summer and fall can boost blooming too. Remove any dead, diseased, or misshapen stems that sap energy. Pruning opens up the plant interior for better airflow and sunshine exposure to multiple buds, encouraging them to flower. Just don't shear back bushes too severely or you risk stressing roses and reducing blooms. Strategic snipping is the approach.

3. Give Proper Sunlight

For roses to flower to their potential, choosing a spot with at minimum of six hours of direct sun every day is vital. Insufficient natural light is a common factor holding back blooms. If your rose garden doesn't get optimal sun, try trimming back any encroaching trees or taller plants blocking rays. Moving roses to a sunnier location may be needed for the heavy production of beautiful blossoms.

4. Manage Pests Wisely

Insect pests and fungal diseases can quickly ruin your hard work tending roses. However, it's possible to battle against these threats while still encouraging blooms. Handpick bugs when possible and spot-treat infections instead of blanketing the entire garden with potent chemicals that may also harm pollinators and delicate flowers. Ask your nearby flower shops in Atlanta for suggestion - choose pest controls judiciously and only apply as needed to banish pests without blocking blooms in process. Well-managed pests mean thriving rose bushes.

5. Give Roses Proper Drainage

It's crucial for the care and maintenance of plants (roses) that they have soil permitting excess rain or irrigation to drain away freely instead of becoming soggy. Standing water starves the roots of the air and creates prime conditions for disease. To boost drainage, mix generous amounts of porous materials like sand, gravel, or compost into existing dirt. Planting on mounds also lifts soil above wet spots. Roses thrive when roots stay dry but watered areas drain efficiently.

6. Pick Off First Blooms

This may seem counterintuitive but removing those early flowers will encourage bushes to put extra energy into forming even more plentiful blooms later in the season. Allowing the first few blossoms to fully develop and set seed diverts power away from future blooming potential. However, pinching them off means additional blossoms will keep blooming throughout summer.

7. Give Regular Feeding

Roses require regular fertilizing to push out abundant blooms. Optimal times are in early spring as bushes emerge from dormancy, again when first flowers show, and during summer months while in active growth phases. Choose a balanced, organic rose fertilizer suggested by your local flower shop in Marietta GA, or compost that feeds the soil with the necessary macro and micronutrients plants need to thrive and make gorgeous flowers.

8. Consider Planting Companion Flowers

Surrounding roses with certain other blooms that attract pollinators like bees and butterflies can boost your rose's flowering even more. Good options to pick from nearby Atlanta florists are lavender, herbs like thyme and chamomile, sunflowers, and daisies to invite insect visitors that help roses fruit and set seed for continued bloom cycle after cycle. An abundance of pollinators means more roses have the potential to fully form beautiful blooms across beds and borders.

9. Plant Roses in Pots for Limited Space

Even if you don't have lots of yard space, roses can still be grown in containers on a patio, deck, or balcony. If you are wondering how to plant roses here, choose a pot at least 12 inches wide and deep for a single bush rose or a larger container for miniature varieties. The container should have drainage holes. Fill with a well-draining potting mix for roses rather than regular soil which could become packed. Place the pot in an area getting a minimum of 6 hours of sun daily. Roses grown in pots will need to be watered more regularly than in the ground, about every 2-3 days, and fed weekly with liquid fertilizer during growing months.

Whether you want to brighten someone's day with a bouquet of cheerful flowers, express your love and affection with a dozen red roses, or send rose flowers for comfort during difficult times, William Paul Floral Design is the local Atlanta florist to trust. Order your roses delivery in Atlanta GA!