Gardening Australia – May 2019

ROSES

T

he most common misconception I hear when talking

about roses is that they are difficult, if not impossible,

to grow well in humid climates. This is one of the

biggest myths in rose growing. I have a garden with

more than 500 rose bushes that thrive in the humidity of

Brisbane, and I have travelled around the world to see roses

growing successfully in other humid regions.

Rose growing is all about having realistic expectations, and

if you make the right choices and apply some simple gardening

practices, you can grow great roses in humid conditions. The

growing process will not be quite as effortless as in temperate

climates, and your blooms may be a little smaller, but, you

will have flowers for 10 months of the year, instead of the six

months of those living in areas with cold winters.

GETTING STARTED

Plant selection is critical. Many roses from catalogues have

wonderful colours and perfect blooms in the photos, but too

many have been developed in Europe and America, without

assessing their disease-resistance level in humid climates.

Since the 1990s, rose breeders have focused their attention

on creating disease-resistant plants, and this has resulted in

outstanding new varieties. Some of the old garden roses, such

asTea,Noisette,HybridGiganteaandChinaroses,arealso

toughsurvivorsthatdowellinhumidity.Youjustneedtoreview

thematuresizeofsomeoftheseoldervarieties.

Humidtropicalandsubtropicalclimatescommonlyoccur

betweenthelatitudesof35°northandsouthoftheequator.In

thewarmestmonths,temperaturesarehigh,withwarm,sticky

nights.Thesummersareusuallywetterthanthewinters,and

thecoldestmonthisnormallyquitemild.InAustralia,thismost

notablyincludescoastalregionsfromBatemansBay,southof

Sydney,tothenortherntipofQueenslandandacrosstoDarwin.

Mostbooksandarticlesaboutrosegrowingapplytotemperate

climates,andthismayinhibitandcomplicatematterswhenyou

aregardeninginhumidclimateswithwarmerwinters.Oneof

themostcommon‘mistakes’Iseeinrosecultivationinhumid

climatesispruningtokneeheightinmid-June.Thisisatradition

inareaswithfrostandsnow.Inhumidclimates,thebestresults

areachievedbyremovingaboutonethirdtohalfoftheheightof

thebushonthelastweekendinJuly.Youwillthenhaveflowers

byearlyOctober.Yourprimaryobjectiveistoremovedeadand

CLOCKWISE

FROM ABOVE

A prolific bloomer, the

Floribunda rose ‘Peach

Profusion’ is the most

disease-resistant plant

for humid climates;

the dainty Hybrid Tea

rose ‘Charles de Gaulle’

is highly perfumed;

‘Dublin Bay’, one of the

bestmodernclimbers,

flowersyear-round;

thespectacularclimber

‘PierredeRonsard’will

produceflowersallyear.

GARDENINGAUSTRALIA MAY 2019 21

PHOTOS

GAP PHOTOS/FRIEDRICH STRAUSS, PAUL HAINS, ISTOCK, ALAMY