PATSY
CLINE HYBRID TEA ROSE
(AROcomu)
Plant Patent #5556 -- Hybrid Tea
Cream to deep pink; fragrant (of course!). Medium height.
The Patsy Cline rose is a "hybrid tea" rose, which has many petals and a high center, opening from long, pointed buds. The typical bush will grow about 3 feet tall in cool climates, even taller in warm ones.
First you need to choose a good site. Roses love sun, so give them at least 6 hours per day. An eastern exposure is best, followed by a southern exposure, then by a western one. If you live in a humid area, go for an eastern exposure. In cold climates, make sure the site is sheltered from the cold winter winds, but make sure the area has good air circulation. Your site should also not contain any other roots that will compete with Patsy's roots. Most important of all: the site must have good drainage! Roses will die if their roots sit in water. Build raised beds if you have to.
Now prepare the soil. Roses will tolerate clay soils better than sandy soils, and acid soils better than alkaline soils. Ideal pH is 6.0 to 7.0. The soil doesn't need to be very rich, but it should have plenty of organic matter worked in ~ compost, well-rotted manure, peat moss. If your soil is really infertile, or if you've used alot of peat moss, go ahead and work a balanced fertilizer into the soil and throughout the bed. Since roses have long, deep roots, dig your bed (ideally) to a depth of about 2 feet.
If your roses arrive on your doorstep and you can't get them into the ground immediately, you can wrap the roots in damp sphagnum moss. Try not to hold them this way too long, though!
Planting roses: Keep the bushes at least 2 feet apart, preferably 3 feet apart, and even 4 feet apart in warm climates! Always dig a large enough hole ~ 2 feet wide, and deep enough to accomodate the roots. Do NOT let those roots dry out while you are planting; even mix up a nice bucket of gravy-consistency mud and let the plants sit in there while you are doing your digging.
Because the Patsy rose is a hybrid, it has a "bud union" at the base of the plant. This is where the hybrid has been grafted onto the rootstock of another rose with vigorous growth that will provide a good root system for your rose. Now look at the position of the bud union: in warm climates, it should be placed just above the soil, but in cold climates, it should be placed about an inch below the soil to protect it from the cold.
If your rose arrives in a bareroot condition, you might want to make a soil mound down in the center of the hole and drape the roots over it, but don't crowd the roots or wind them into a circle. Firm the soil gently around the roots, water them when the hole is half full, finish filling the hole with soil (making sure there are no air pockets), then make a sort of "saucer" around the plant and fill the saucer with water.
If your rose arrives in a container, lift it very gently out of the pot, keeping as much of the soil around the roots as possible, and place it into the hole. Then fill the hole with soil/water as described above. Pay attention to your placement of that bud union, though, as you go!
If you have enriched the soil in the bed, you shouldn't have to worry about feeding the roses right now. You don't want to encourage alot of new growth until the root system develops, because new growth at this time will only stress the plant. You want to develop strong roots to sustain future growth. In fact, your plants may look a little crummy right now, maybe even for most of this first season! All of the work is being done where you can't see it: underground.
Finally, make sure you remove all of the tags from the plant! They will choke it otherwise.
Watering: Give your roses a thorough, deep soaking a few times a week and you will have many more flowers. Water the soil (not the leaves) using a soaker hose. Watering in the morning is best.
Weeding: Try to remove weeds by hand, because roses are very sensitive to herbicides. A mulch will help to keep the weeds down, but be wary of mulch if you live in a humid climate!
Feeding: Gardeners have different feelings on this subject. For me, rose food is like Twinkies ~ lots of empty calories. Instead, you've started with a nice, rich bed for the plants. Now just give them a simple, balanced liquid fertilizer in the spring, then again after the first blooms explode, and then again in August to promote a nice bloom in the fall. And don't feed them in the fall! It will only cause the plants to send out tender growth that is destined to be killed.
Pest control: Another subject on which gardeners differ. Again, I am not a fan of rose spray or rose dust. All-purpose concoctions have a tendency to wipe out the beneficial insects in your garden. Instead, diagnose specific conditions and treat them individually. For example, aphids can be wiped out with a blast of water from the hose, and when the aphids go, so will the ants.
Winter protection: In late summer, let the roses start winding down for the winter, especially if you live in a cold climate. Don't feed them, prune them or even pick them too much at this time, because all of these things will only promote new growth. But definitely water them! This will help to protect the roots all winter. In cold areas, you might consider covering your roses. The traditional way is to mound soil around the base of the plants, about 6-12" of it. Don't do this, though, until there have been several hard freezes; in fact, you can wait until just before the ground is too hard to dig. Bring the soil in from elsewhere ~ don't use the soil between your rosebushes! That would only leave your root systems more vulnerable. Then in the spring, when you think that there might be some new growth at the base of the plants, dig away some of the soil with your fingers. If you discover new growth, remove all of the mounding soil carefully and take it back to where it came from. Another method of winter protection is to erect a barrier around the bushes, or even around the bed, to make a sort of pen that is then filled with leaves or shredded bark. There are also "rose cones" you can buy that will fit down over the whole plant. And heck, sometimes roses winter over beautifully in regions where a heavy snowfall provides a natural "mulch" and keeps soil temperatures constant. And in those climates that experience alot of freezing and thawing throughout the winter season, forget about the soil mounding and the mulching entirely! All of that moisture around the stems will do more damage than good.
Pruning: If you did no pruning at all, you could get by. But your Patsy roses will be much nicer if you control them a little bit. Some people cut their roses back for the winter, but you really only need to cut off the longer tips, then let nature take its course. In the spring, when you remove the winter covering, you can do more pruning while the plants are still dormant ~ remove anything that looks dead. Looks can be deceptive: sometimes a cane looks lifeless when it is still alive, so start at the tip and snip a few inches at a time until the center of the stem looks white instead of brown. It's also a good idea to cut back any canes that are longer than 18". Try to leave the plant with a compact, balanced shape ~ cut back any long, straggly canes, even if they are alive. If you prune away some of the center area, and open it up, this will get more sun to the bud union where canes are produced. You'll also be promoting air circulation, which helps to ward off disease. Cut out any canes that cross and rub each other. And when you prune, cut back to just above a leaf that contains at least 5 leaflets: a rosebud will form just above it! Make your cuts on a slant, then coat any large cuts with Elmer's white glue.
Deadheading: When a flower has died, cut it back to just above 5 leaflets, as described above. This stimulates the bush to produce more flowers!
Thanks to Barbara Damrosch for her advice!
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