Bush roses: varieties and care from A-Z

The rose, colloquially known as the bush rose, is actually a shrub rose. Its flowers are in umbels or clusters on overhanging branches. With its voluminous splendor, it comes into its own next to other flowering or green plants, but also as a solitary plant in a traditional cottage garden as well as in a cottage or country house garden. This requires professional planting and care.

location claims

Bush roses prefer sunny and airy locations where damp foliage can dry quickly. This reduces the susceptibility to fungal attack. When choosing a location, it is important to ensure that you never plant a rose in a place where there have already been roses. Otherwise, it is very likely that the new rose will grow poorly or even die due to soil fatigue.

If no other space is available, the soil in the planting area must be replaced over a large area, at least 50 cm deep and 30 cm in diameter. The condition of the soil is at least as important as the location. Fresh, humus-rich, nutrient-rich, well-drained, calcareous and loamy, medium-heavy soils with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5 are optimal. A special soil for roses is ideal for pot planting.

planting

The planting date depends on the root packaging. While bush roses in containers can be planted in spring and autumn, bare root and balled roses are only planted in autumn, between October and the end of November. About a month before planting, the soil in the planting area is loosened to a depth of about two to three sods. In addition, it makes sense to pre-water the soil. When planting in a tub, it is important that the tub is large enough, the larger and, above all, higher it is, the better. A depth of 50 cm is the minimum.

Instructions for planting

About 12 hours before planting, bare-root plants in particular should be watered extensively. They should be in the water at least up to the grafting point. In order to reduce the evaporation surface, the shoots of bare-rooted plants are shortened to around 20 cm, leaving at least five buds per shoot. Damaged and dead root parts are also removed and the tips of the remaining ones are minimally shortened.

• Then a planting hole with a diameter of approx. Dig out 40 cm
• Mix excavated soil with compost, horn shavings or rose soil
• Fill in a part of the soil and insert the bush rose in the middle
• Grafting site should be about five centimeters below the surface of the soil
• Fill the planting hole with excavated soil
• Compact the soil with your foot and water
• Pouring rim prevents irrigation water from running off unused

In the last step, the roses are piled up with soil about 15 cm high to protect them from frost, both for spring and autumn planting. In the spring it can be removed after a few weeks and in the spring when planted in the fall.

care instructions

With the right care, bush roses have a long life ahead of them, so here is our advice:

Pour

Bush roses are considered to be relatively easy to care for, but are not entirely undemanding. They are grateful for regular watering. It is particularly important to ensure that you always water close to the ground and not over the leaves. If the leaves are permanently wet, this can increase the susceptibility to various leaf diseases.

Fertilize

Fertilize for the first time in spring and then at regular intervals. Freshly planted roses only need to be fertilized in the second year. The first application of fertilizer should be in the spring, after the annual pruning, e.g. B. in the form of mature compost and some horn meal. The next time you fertilize after the first flowering, for example with organic rose fertilizer. The last fertilization is due in July at the latest.

Instructions for cutting

Regular pruning of the bush rose is recommended. They ensure healthy growth, lush and long-lasting flowers, protect against baldness and can prevent diseases.

• Best time between March and April, provided it is frost-free
• Prune bush roses that bloom more frequently
• Then grow bushier and more branched
• Radical pruning promotes growth in length, no increased flowering
• Shorten strong shoots by a third and weak ones by half
• Remove dead parts directly at the base
• Can be cut into healthy wood
• Thin out the shrub a little for dense growth
• Completely remove individual shoots
• Once-blooming bush roses bloom on perennial wood
• For a beautiful bloom, better leave it alone
• Thin out older specimens in spring
• Cut out very old shoots at the base or a branch
• Prune the small shrub roses hard or put them on sticks
• Remove wilted flowers and diseased and injured shoots in autumn

hibernate

Bush roses are hardy and can actually do without winter protection. Nevertheless, it is advisable to pile them up with compost or earth around the grafting area to protect them from severe frost and to additionally cover the base of the shrub with fir branches. Potted roses should be planted in frost-proof pots right from the start. It is best to place them on an insulating base and cover the root area with potting soil or leaf compost to protect the grafting area. The pot itself is wrapped with bubble wrap and jute. Then you move it in front of a house wall that is protected from rain and wind.

multiply

Roses are usually propagated by grafting, which is difficult for laypeople because it requires specialist knowledge. Hobby gardeners tend to propagate their roses using cuttings or layering.

cuttings

• Take cuttings between June and August
• Cut just below an outward-facing bud
• Cutting should have five eyes and one faded flower
• Cut off all other flowers
• Remove all but one leaf in the top third
• Halve the remaining leaf
• Reduces evaporation during rooting
• After cutting, place the cuttings in willow water
• Willow water acts as a rooting aid

After rooting, it is planted so deeply that only the shortened leaf can be seen. A translucent cover is placed over the cutting and ventilated regularly. From then on it is important to ensure a regular water supply and protect the cuttings from frost.

lowering

Propagation via sinkers is only suitable for bush roses that have particularly flexible shoots. In summer you choose a shoot close to the ground with at least three eyes and remove all leaves. Then you scratch the eyes slightly on the leaf axil and put a small stick in the cut to keep them open. Under the shoot you dig a small trough in the ground, which you fill with some compost.

Then you bend the pre-treated shoot to the ground and put it in the gutter so that only the shoot tip looks out. Now cover the shoot with soil, press the soil down and fix it in the ground with wire or stones. Until spring, the area must be kept evenly moist. After rooting, the sinker is cut off the mother plant and planted separately.

Diseases

Black spot usually appears from April or May on black-brown fruit deposits on the leaves. The leaves turn yellow and fall off prematurely. Infested leaves and shoots should be removed at the first sign. Various sprays can be used to combat it. As a precaution, the planting area should not be too damp and the planting should not be too dense.

pests

When controlling aphids, natural predators such as B. Ladybug and nettle decoction can be helpful. As a preventive measure, you can strengthen the roses in spring with horsetail decoction.

sorts

'Princess of Wales'

A modern, free-flowering shrub rose with medium-sized, creamy-white and partly shimmering pink, double flowers. It blooms more often, grows 100-150 cm tall, upright and bushy. Flowering time is from June to September.

'Bavarian gold'

Compact variety with full, yellow flowers. It blooms more often, is very robust, has very good leaf health and grows 40-60 cm in height and 30-50 cm in width. Flowering time is from June to November.

'Eifel Magic'

A robust shrub rose that captivates viewers with its medium-sized, very double, pastel-pink flowers. It reaches heights of 100-120 cm, has good leaf health and flowers from June to September.

'Astrid Countess of Hardenberg‚

This rose impresses from July to September with intensely fragrant, strongly double and quartered flowers in a velvety Bordeaux. It grows broadly bushy with growth heights of 120-150 cm.

'Musquee Sans Souci'

Strongly scented musk rose that impresses with its simplicity and naturalness. Flowers like wild roses, snow-white with rich yellow stamens. It blooms more often without a break.

'Rose City Freising'

Frequently blooming, 100-150 cm high shrub rose with healthy foliage presents itself from June to September with medium-sized, semi-double, unscented flowers. They are white with an irregular velvety blood-red edge.

'Light Queen Lucia'

A rich and often flowering rose classic with loosely filled, lemon-yellow, lightly scented flowers. It grows to a height of 120-150 cm and flowers from June to September.

'Snow White'

Probably the best-known pure white rose of all and a tireless bloomer. It produces medium-sized, semi-double flowers with a delicate fragrance, has hardly any thorns and reaches heights of 100-130 cm.

'hummingbird'

Blossoms of this hybrid show a real firework of colors. They are unevenly striped pink and white, loosely filled, with an intense fragrance. It grows 120-180 cm in height and flowers from June to September.

'grand hotel'

A bush rose that blooms plentifully and frequently, 120-150 cm tall, with large, full, blood-red flowers with a velvety sheen. Flowers are very color stable and appear from July to September.

'La Rose Synactif'

Its large, full, soft pink, mauve to lilac flowers make this rose something special. They smell intensely of lemon and anise and adorn the 100-150 cm high shrub from August to October.

'Palais Biron'

'Palais Biron' delights from the end of May with nostalgic, densely filled flowers in strong violet and with a very strong Damask scent. It flowers profusely, has a bushy, well-branched habit and grows to a height of 80-150 cm.

'Summer Lodge'

Bush rose with an unusual color of flowers. The loosely double flowers are unevenly patterned in crimson, brownish-orange and honey yellow. Flowering time is from May to July and the growth height is between 100 and 150 cm.

Learn more about roses