Roses thrive in heavy water retentive clayish soils with plenty of well rotted manure, peat or similar incorporated in the site.
If your soil is sandy and drains rapidly you will need to dig about 2-2 ½ feet deep and about 9-12 inches in diameter to accommodate the taproot and a shallower area around a yard in diameter and a foot deep and fill with a mixture of peat, rotted manure and compost.
During hot weather roses appreciate regular watering and covering the soil around their base with horse manure (traditionally), rotting grass cuttings or a layer of organic mulch to keep their roots cool.
When your rose plants arrive from the grower you should plant them at once.
If they have dried en route, soak the roots in a bucket of water before planting.
Trim back any roots that are weak, long or broken.
Dig a hole that is wide enough to allow the roots to spread without crowding.
The rose is best planted with the union (the point where the top joins the roots) is just under the ground surface.
Depending on height space them about 18 – 24 inches apart. Prune the branches 6 to 10 inches from the soil.
If you have to water in a dry spell, you must keep it up, soaking the roots thoroughly about once a week.
Spraying every 10 days guards against the diseases and insects that attack roses.
Nicotine sulphate wipes out the green lice; arsenate of lead is used against chewing insects; or sulphur and arsenate of lead may be used in a dust, as may DDT dust.
In spring, cut back your roses to within 6 inches of the ground. Ruthlessly lop off all but three or four canes on hybrid teas.
This pruning will give you strong plants.
When your plants grow out from spring pruning, you will have to disbud, cutting off all the buds except the top ones on the cane. This is the way to grow large blossoms.
Floribundas do not flourish from heavy pruning in the same way as HTs so take it easy with those secateurs.
Pruning is an art and well worth the trouble to learn in order to shape your plants and to produce the quality or quantity of flowers that you desire.
Look out for suckers; these are soft green leafy shoots that appear from the soil around the base.
The best way to deal with them is to trace them back to their source on the parent plant and cut them off as close as possible. They serve no purpose other than to weaken the parent.
There has been a tremendous development of miniature rose species that can easily be grown in sunlight on a window sill or balcony.
The many forms and variety of miniatures by themselves can give pleasure and interest throughout the summer months and browsing the catalogues in the winter to plan for the coming year need not be denied anybody with a window sill to spare.
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