Growing Roses In South Florida: Ask Denisa’s Ultimate Rose Guide (Part 2 of 3)
Continued from Part One
Choosing the right roses for South Florida:
Most roses purchased nowadays do not come on their own rootstock. Roses are grafted to different rootstocks for a variety of reasons, but mostly to make them more cold hardy and to create a stronger, more vigorous plant. Many old roses or china roses can be grown on their own roots because they have both evolved and survived over the years by basically having very strong root systems. But as luck would have it, it seems like the more beautiful the rose the more delicate and weak the plant is. The hybrid process itself sometimes causes this. Luckily the French discovered that they could graft the more delicate plants on to the rootstock of a hardier more robust rose to create a strong plant that thrives vigorously and hence the grafted rose was born.
There are now a large variety of roses that come grafted on to sturdier rootstocks and the University of Florida has determined the two best rootstocks to suite our South Florida climate.
Fortuniana: The first and most desired rootstock for South Florida is the Fortuniana rootstock. This root system is tolerant of heat and drought (by rose standards) and resists root-knot nematodes. It also does well in our somewhat sandy soil (although any roses you plant should be planted in soil that has been improved with organic matter). The Fortuniana rootstock is the highest recommended for South Florida, but its not always available or easy to find. Luckily we have a backup, and a very common one at that.
Dr. Huey: Dr. Huey is by far the most highly used rootstock in grafted roses. Luckily it does pretty well in South Florida as it too resists nematodes, and other root related diseases found in our soil. Most inexpensive roses are grafted on to Dr. Huey rootstock, but don’t be fooled by a low quality rose that may already be virus infected or stunted. All and all when Fortuniana rootstock cannot be found, Dr. Huey is quite acceptable, and widely available.
It is not recommended that we grow roses in their own roots in the South Florida soil unless they are old garden roses, china roses or David Austin English roses. But almost any rose can be grown here if you simply choose to grow it in a container.
Check back with Ask Denisa for the conclusion of our Ultimate Rose Guide: Growing Roses In Containers
