Plant Care
Roses

Roses, the world’s favourite flowers, are great garden performers that, if well cared for, will live for many years and produce thousands of exquisite blooms.
Position
- Grow roses in a sunny spot with plenty of air movement around the plants.
Soil
- Before planting, dig in some well-aged manure or compost and some Dynamic Lifter pellets.
- In areas with acid soil, add some Yates Garden Lime.
Fertilising
- Feed rose plants regularly (at least monthly) during their growing season.
- Thrive Granular Rose Food and Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food can be alternated to provide roses with an all-round, healthy diet.
- Potted roses should be fed with Yates Once-A-Year Feeder for roses.
Pest & disease alert
- Black spot (dark spots on yellowing leaves), powdery mildew (white mouldy patches) and rust (raised orange bumps) are common fungal diseases that can seriously weaken roses.
- Insect pests such as aphids are attracted to the tender young shoots of roses.
- Control diseases and insect pests with Yates Rose Shield or Super Shield, combined systemic fungus and low toxic insect controls, or convenient, ready-to-use Yates Rose Gun.
- Confidor gives long-term systemic insect control, and once it’s dried, won’t harm garden friends like ladybirds and hoverflies.
- Yates Nature’s Way Pyrethrum is a natural insecticide that kills insect pests on contact.
- Yates Nature’s Way Insect Spray is an organic insecticide that also controls tiny sap-seeking mites.
Rose Pruning Tips
- Prune using sharp secateurs and a good pruning saw.
- Prune most roses in mid to late winter.
- Climbers, weepers and roses that only bloom in spring should be pruned after main flowering is over.
- Clear the centre of the bush and shorten all growth.
- Remove weak and spindly branches.
- Immediately after pruning, while roses have no leaves, spray with Yates Lime Sulphur to clean up fungal diseases, scales and mites.
Shopping list:
- Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food
- Yates Garden Lime
- Thrive Granular Rose Food
- Thrive Once-A-Year Feeder Roses
- Yates Rose Shield
- Yates Super Shield
- Yates Rose Gun
- Confidor Ready to Use
- Yates Nature’s Way Pyrethrum
- Yates Lime Sulphur
- Yates Nature’s Way Insect Spray
Handy tips:
- Wear strong leather gloves when pruning roses. Make sure that your fingers and the backs of your hands are well protected.
- Hang half-opened roses upside down to dry. They can then be used to make long-lasting bouquets.
- Cut blooms with long stems. This encourages more flowers to form.
| Autumn | Winter | Spring | Summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use Rose Shield, Super Shield or Rose Gun to control disease | Plant new roses. Prune established bush roses. | Feed monthly. Begin spray program. Prune weepers and climbers. | Pick roses regularly. Control pest and diseases. |

Comments (22)
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Trudy
Yates site member
19:55, 11 September 2009
could u please help me. I want to know were I can buy a whiskey rose. Thank you.
Loris
Yates site member
21:11, 11 September 2009
My Whiskey rose is 20 years old and still beautiful. Well worth looking for! It is a favourite of my 70 + roses.
verna
Yates site member
18:16, 12 September 2009
thank you for your help i pulled out my old roses and bought some new ones. They were really old and had too many diseases and the rest and did not flower for about 2 years properly. I was advised not to plant a rose in partial shade but has been doing really great . It does get really hot and dry , but i do water late afternoon.
Jim
Yates site member
17:15, 22 September 2009
Hullo I do not have a whiskey rose but I have come across afew orchids I have transplanted. I would like to know if I can spray them with shield. There is quite a bit of brown on the leaves. Any good advice would be greatful.
Margaret
Yates site member
21:32, 08 October 2009
I am just starting out and have 2 standards so far, Double Delight and Iceburg. I have heeded all advice and have been rewarded suitably, so far so good.
Margaret
Yates site member
21:33, 08 October 2009
I am just starting out and have 2 standards so far, Double Delight and Iceburg. I have heeded all advice and have been rewarded suitably, so far so good.
Norm
Yates site member
21:46, 08 October 2009
I have 14 standard roses leading to my front entrance. Alternating with an white Iceburg then Seduction, they are quite a picture
beth
Yates site member
22:32, 08 October 2009
I have starting growing roses again-Last time was in the 80s.I am having to re learn the feeding and spraying programme again. I have put in 2 standard Iceburg,2 bush Sexy Rexy and Double delight which has a perfume to die for.I have 2 climbers Dublin and Bantry Bay which I have grown from cuttings. So far the stds and climbers are covered in flowers.
Nijole
Yates site member
14:51, 17 October 2009
I would like to know where I can purchase a white rose called Kent Beauty I think it comes under another name Sparkler if any one knows please email
Terry
Yates site member
18:49, 29 October 2009
Help!!! I have 20 old standard roses dying at my school. I suspect they have suffered from spray-drift from the fungicide the painters used when they were spraying the school buildings. (Very professional!!) I've cut the roses down to about 1/2 their normal size. There are a few new shoots developing from the bases. I've fed them. What else can I do? It's quite tragic because these roses were donated over the last 25 years by teachers who left the school.
Rachael
Yates site member
10:04, 15 November 2009
Nijole, try the wairere website, they have Sparkler listed.
christine
Yates site member
17:42, 21 November 2009
hi I have just made a rose garden with 5 bush roses cant wait for them all when they flower.what should i do for mulch.or do i leave them just in soil
Sarita
Yates site member
09:50, 25 November 2009
Hi..i got problems with my roses, the new flower shoots just fell off, i dunno who are my enemies, i couldn't see them on daylight. Everytime i woke up in the morning, another flower shoot fall off. I haven't had flowers at this time yet. Please help me...it's very frustrating. By the way, i sprayed them with supershield and put some blitzem pellets on the ground, but it'not working.
Patsy
Yates site member
14:26, 12 January 2010
I have 130 roses and they are all doing beautiful.
diane
Yates site member
14:15, 14 January 2010
we have 5 standard iceburg oone came out pick tint then lost all the leafs and flowers
Pat
Yates site member
11:19, 03 February 2010
we have roses out the front of our house and out the back we have vegie in containers
suzanne
Yates site member
20:41, 20 February 2010
I have mini roses out the back pruned them in winter and they were a picture but now they have flowered all the leaves have gone and they dont look to good what is wrong any one help me
Jacqui
Yates site member
14:47, 29 March 2010
I have a pink rose which grows up the side of the house. It has a lovely aroma and has flowered all summer and still going strong. It is very old. Although its a stab in the dark Would anyone know the name of this rose.
Vicki
Yates site member
13:03, 05 May 2010
Where can I buy a rose called Golden Showers.
Lars
Yates site member
23:13, 16 May 2010
I have 40 roses, mostly teas. Almost all of them have news shoots that are slowly dying. I live in southern new england & winter moth is really bad here. I just found out i was 5 weeks late for spraying them. I've been spraying an organic spray, seems to have killed the worms. But there is still something very wrong. It seems to be spreading now to new roses that did not spend the winer in this garden. It seems like a blight of some kind. Can anyone please help?!
Lawrence
Yates site member
10:56, 17 June 2010
Can you still purchase the rose"Crimson Glory"I know its an old verity but it has a magnifisent perfume. And is Sam Mcready still in Newzealand, he was living on the North Shore of the North Island!!!Thanks for your time , Mr L. Rowse.
Dennis
Yates site member
09:25, 20 June 2010
Have just found this site and found it interesting Thank you for the comments
Jo
Yates site member
16:09, 12 July 2010
I have purchased some yates lime sulphur to spray on my standard roses (as advised) Could any one tell me if this is going to harm Lavender which is planted under the roses, as it says ’it may injure soft plants? many thanks.
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