The most popularly grown roses, the hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras, are not fully hardy for our area. The short, hot summer and long, cold winters mean that we must take extra precautions, but with extra care, beautiful roses can be grown in North Dakota.

Choosing a good location for your roses is very important. Roses should have a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight daily, a little shade in the heat of the afternoon helps prolong the life of the blooms. Roses prefer a well drained, fertile, loamy soil that is at least two feet deep.

Before you buy rose plants, decide where you want to use them and acquaint yourself with the many different named varieties from which to choose. Roses can be purchased either bare root or potted. When ordering bare root dormant plants, request number 1 plants. These are large plants which recover quickly and provide abundant bloom the first year after planting. If you purchase roses locally, avoid prepackaged plants that have long sprouts. Potted rose plants should have at least three strong canes.

Plant dormant bushes early, before the trees leaf out. Do not plant growing potted roses until all danger from frost has passed. Plant roses with the bud union (knobby joint between the branches and roots) 2 inches below the normal soil surface. Planting at this depth is very important in cold climates regardless of other instructions. The hole should be large enough to permit spreading out the roots without bunching them. Spread the roots in the hole and pack soil under, around and over them. Water well. If the plants are dormant, mound up loose soil to a height of 10-12 inches above the ground level to protect the stems from frost and drying. Do not remove this mound of soil until the plant is growing vigorously. Rains and hoeing will gradually level the mound.

This page was last updated May 2003

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