Expert Tips from National Garden Bureau’s Rose Panel
Roses have a reputation for being fussy, high-maintenance divas of the garden — but a panel of industry experts gathered by the National Garden Bureau is here to change your mind.
From a rose breeder with 82 introductions under his belt to a former Southern Living editor who once accidentally grew a spectacular rose by doing everything wrong, these five specialists cover everything from soil to pests — and prove that beautiful roses are within anyone’s reach.
Meet the Experts
The panel brought together some of the most experienced voices in the rose world:
- Lacy — Easy Elegance Roses (Bailey Nurseries), whose middle name is literally Rose
- Rebecca — US Sales Executive for David Austin Roses
- Georgia — Plant Selections Manager at Monrovia Nursery (celebrating 100 years!)
- Kristen — Star Roses and Plants, introducers of the iconic Knockout rose family
- Christian — Research Director at Gardens Alive, rose breeder with 82 introductions to his name
The Questions Everyone Asks About Roses
Before diving into advice, the panelists shared the most common questions they hear from non-gardener friends and family. The answers reveal a lot about what people fear — and what they’re missing out on.
“How do I prune it?” came up repeatedly. Christian Bédard’s answer? Don’t overthink it. He’s seen tractors run a blade through entire fields of roses and watched them come back in spectacular full bloom that spring. “Just chop them, and they’re going to come back in bloom,” he says.
“Are they fragrant?” Georgia Clay hears this one constantly — and loves that she can finally say yes more often. Modern disease-resistant shrub roses have historically sacrificed scent, but intense breeding work has reunited toughness with fragrance. Monrovia’s Perfume series is one example of this new generation.
“What’s the best rose?” is Rebecca’s most-asked question. Her answer: Tell me what you want the rose to do. Roses can function as hedges, grow over arbors, form barriers, fill containers, or anchor a perennial border. Once you know the job, the right rose becomes obvious.
“Do the thorns hurt?” Lacy notes that while the prettiest roses often do have thorns, many varieties are nearly thornless — and the thorns shouldn’t stop anyone from growing them.
A Field Guide to Rose Types
Not all roses are created equal. Here’s a quick breakdown of the main categories:
Shrub Roses
The workhorses of modern gardening. Shrub roses are generally hardy to zone 5 or colder, free-flowering, and low-maintenance. They come in singles, semi-doubles, and doubles. The Knockout family is the most famous example.
Floribundas & Grandifloras
Floribundas are medium-to-large shrubs that bloom in clusters and have a higher petal count than basic shrubs. Grandifloras are essentially a cross between floribundas and hybrid teas — more upright in habit with two or three flowers per cluster, larger blooms than a floribunda but slightly smaller than a hybrid tea. Both can be fragrant and come in a wide range of colors.
Groundcover Roses
Exactly what they sound like: low, spreading plants with smaller blooms that maximize color and coverage with minimal effort. Think Drift Roses or Flower Carpet. “Minimal effort, maximum coverage,” as Lacy puts it.
Hybrid Teas
The classic cut flower rose. Upright and tall in the garden, high petal count, one bloom per stem, with that distinctive high-centered form. This is the rose you picture when someone says “a dozen roses.”
Climbing Roses & Ramblers
Climbers produce long, vigorous canes that want to spread and arch. The key to flowering on climbers is training those canes horizontally or at a 45° angle — letting them go straight up results in blooms only at the very tip. Ramblers are a softer-caned, often less thorny sub-category that can actually be easier for beginners to manage.
Miniature Roses
Small in stature (often under 2 feet), small in bloom, and surprisingly tough. Hardy to zone 4 on average, they’re excellent container plants — and yes, the ones often sold as gifts can be planted outdoors.
Growing Great Roses: The Basics
Soil
Any rose will do well in well-drained, loamy soil — but most of us don’t have that. If you’re working with heavy clay or sandy soil, adding organic matter (compost or a soil conditioner) makes a significant difference. If drainage is truly terrible and water pools, consider a raised bed or container. For specific amendments, your local garden center or county extension office will know what works in your area.
Sun
Six hours of direct sun is the standard recommendation — and morning sun transitioning to afternoon is ideal. Avoid situations where roses sit in morning shade and then get blasted by intense midday sun, especially in hot climates like the Deep South or Arizona. That combination invites disease and stress. Some David Austin varieties can perform in as little as four hours, but less sun generally means fewer blooms and more risk of disease.
Fertilizing
Start in spring when new growth begins to emerge. A slow-release fertilizer topped with compost and mulch provides a solid foundation.
After that, the frequency depends on your situation:
- Liquid fertilizers need to be applied every two weeks
- Granular fertilizers fade in four to six weeks and may need reapplication two to three times per season
- Slow-release fertilizers still break down faster in heat and may need a midsummer boost in warmer climates.
If you live somewhere with distinct seasons, stop fertilizing in late summer — your plants need to wind down and go dormant, not push new growth before a freeze. In climates with near-year-round growth (like California), September fertilization can set up a gorgeous October and November bloom.
Heavy bloomers like David Austin roses are heavy feeders.
Missing that mid-summer fertilizer often shows up as reduced flowering during the heat of summer.
Pruning: Less Scary Than You Think
The panelists are almost unanimous: pruning does not need to be complicated, and you really can use hedge trimmers.
When to prune: In spring, after new growth begins to emerge. You can then clearly see which canes are dead and remove them.
How much to cut: For most modern shrub roses, cutting back by a third to a half is fine. For older or overgrown specimens, don’t be afraid to cut back more dramatically. Christian Bédard cuts his hybrid teas to 12–18 inches so the first flush of blooms is at nose level rather than over his head.
Do you have to prune? Not strictly — especially with newer genetics. But you’ll likely get better-looking, more vigorous plants if you do. Unpruned Knockout roses, for example, can reach 8 to 10 feet tall. Annual pruning keeps them at the intended 3 to 4 feet.
Deadheading: removing spent blooms during the growing season, is separate from pruning and encourages continued flowering. Stop deadheading in late summer if you want the plant to produce ornamental hips.
A hard midsummer prune (think late July) can produce a spectacular fall flush.
Several panelists have seen this work so well that it’s changed how they advise customers.
Pests & Diseases
Japanese Beetles
Do not squish them in place, it releases pheromones that attract more beetles. Similarly, pheromone traps can backfire by drawing in more beetles than you’d otherwise have. Milky spore (a beneficial bacterium applied to the soil in fall) is a longer-term, environmentally friendly approach that targets the grubs before they emerge. The old-fashioned cup of soapy water still works for hand-picking.
Rose Rosette Disease
This viral disease is the one to watch for. Look for witch’s broom (a mass of small, tangled branches on one shoot), unusually dark red new growth, and excessive thorniness. It’s spread by eriophyid mites, so an infected plant is a spreading threat to the entire garden.
If you suspect rose rosette, place a plastic bag over the plant, dig it up with all its roots, seal the bag, and dispose of it in the trash. Don’t compost it, and don’t leave it in the garden.
Rabbits
If rabbits have chewed your rose canes to the ground, there’s something important to know: own-root roses will regrow as the same variety, because the roots and the above-ground plant are genetically identical. Grafted roses, however, have a rootstock that may be a completely different variety — if the graft union is destroyed, what comes back may not be the rose you planted.
Companion Planting
Roses don’t have to live in isolation. Some favorite companions from the panel:
- Lavender — classic pairing for fragrance and contrasting texture
- Catmint (Nepeta) — similar effect, long-blooming
- Boxwood or other evergreen hedges — create a formal backdrop for climbers or cottage-style roses
- Pittosporum — works well in warmer zones
The guiding principle: contrast texture and form, and let complementary fragrances layer naturally.
Beyond the Garden: Rose Hips & Cut Flowers
Rose hips are having a moment. High in vitamin C and genuinely beautiful in late summer and fall, they attract wildlife and add ornamental interest well past peak bloom season. To get hips, stop deadheading in midsummer and let the plant set fruit. David Austin’s King’s Rose (coming to the US soon) produces hips in spectacular abundance.
For cut flowers, the panelists recommend varieties like Parfuma Sunrise (zone 4 hardy hybrid tea type), Parfuma Bliss, and Sweet Mademoiselle as strong performers that hold up well in a vase. And when the blooms start to fade indoors, float the petals in a shallow tray of water — they’ll stay beautiful for several more days.
The Bottom Line
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this panel of experts — people who have collectively spent hundreds of years working with roses — is this: roses want to grow.
Modern breeding has produced varieties that are hardier, more disease-resistant, and lower-maintenance than anything available a generation ago. They don’t need perfect soil, expert pruning, or constant attention to reward you.
Give them six hours of sun, good drainage, some spring fertilizer, and a haircut once a year. The rest is just enjoying them.
This blog is based on a panel discussion hosted by the National Garden Bureau featuring experts from Easy Elegance Roses, David Austin Roses, Monrovia, Star Roses and Plants, and Gardens Alive.
Do you know that National Garden Bureau members include the most innovative breeders and distributors of rose plants?
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About National Garden Bureau
Founded more than 100 years ago, the National Garden Bureau educates, inspires, and motivates people to grow home gardens. National Garden Bureau members are horticultural experts, and the information shared with you comes directly from these experts to ensure your gardening success.
“This post is an educational/inspirational service of the National Garden Bureau and our members. Please credit and link to National Garden Bureau when using all or parts of this article.”
