"Great Salt Lake"
Jan Hernandez
Rose: Lynn Anderson
Special Shoutout to Heather Weymouth for the Pictures!

Over the next few days, I'll be posting the winners of the 2024 Utah Rose Society Rose Show! The theme was "Roses for Utah's Diverse Landscape."

Special Shoutout to Heather Weymouth for the awesome pics!

Click on the blue "Download File" below to download the rose schedule.

Why do we prune roses? Whether it’s for beautiful blooms in the garden, the perfect bloom for the rose show, or flowers for cutting and bringing inside, one of our main objectives with pruning is to enjoy the beauty of the rose. Pruning is also important for encouraging healthier and more vigorous plants.

When we prune depends upon the type of rose. Repeat blooming roses are pruned late winter to early spring. Wait until there is a smaller threat of a hard frost and the buds are turning red and starting to elongate. Along the Wasatch Front, this is usually sometime in March. It’s best to prune before the rose bush starts producing significant new growth, since new growth pruned off at this point could reduce the vigor of the rose.
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Once-blooming roses are pruned in mid-summer after blooming. They bloom from buds formed on the previous year’s growth, so pruning in spring removes flower buds for the coming season. Pruning in summer allows the plant time to develop new flower buds for next year.

How we go about pruning depends upon the type of rose. If you don’t know what kind of rose you have, take time to observe its nature. Does it bloom more than once in a season? What is its growth habit? Does it have very upright canes or is it bushier with smaller branching and twigs? Does it have quite long canes and vigorous growth? The answers will help you decide how to prune your rose.

Although there are different techniques for different types of roses, any rose pruning should follow these guidelines:

• Rose bushes less than three years old should be pruned sparingly to help them become established. Preserve as many leaves as possible when pruning.
• Remove dead, broken or diseased canes. These can be pruned out any time throughout the year. Then remove any crossing or congested growth. Older, non-productive canes can be removed. The goal is to open up the center of the plant for better air circulation and sunlight penetration.
• Remove any growth smaller in diameter than a pencil, since it will never be vigorous enough to support good bloom. (Note: Some roses naturally have more small, twiggy growth, in which case this rule is less important. This is why you should get to know your rose.)
• Pruning cuts should be made 1⁄4 inch above a bud that is pointed in the direction of desired growth. The angle of the cut is less important than making clean cuts that do not damage the bud below.
• Remove about one-third of the overall height of main canes. Pruning shorter will produce larger and fewer blooms, which are desirable for exhibiting in rose shows.
• After pruning, remove dead leaves from the canes and dispose of them, as well as any other pruning litter.

Modern roses are repeat-blooming and include hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, miniatures, minifloras and shrub roses. Remove any dead, unhealthy or unproductive shoots, then any shoots that are crossing or crowding the center of the bush. Shorten remaining canes by one-third to one-half of the overall height. With floribundas and minifloras, buds may not be visible on stems that have had large sprays of flowers. Cut to the approximate desired height, and a nearby dormant bud should be stimulated into life. Miniatures require very little pruning. They naturally have a twiggy growth habit. Remove congested canes and shorten the height if desired.

Shrub roses, including English roses, have a more twiggy growth habit. They can be pruned as other modern roses by removing old, unproductive canes if needed, and shortening remaining canes by up to onethird. Little thinning of canes is required.

Old Garden Roses have their own particular forms and growth habits. Most require only light pruning, if any at all. Prune occasionally to remove old, unproductive canes or to thin very dense, inner growth. If shoots need to be shortened, prune no more than one-third of their length. Repeat-blooming types, such as Bourbons, Portlands and Hybrid Perpetuals, can be pruned while dormant. Deadhead throughout the summer to encourage more blooms.

Climbing roses, which include modern climbers and ramblers, have their own set of pruning guidelines. They require training onto a support in order to climb. The canes of climbers should be trained as close to horizontal as possible in order to stimulate blooming along the length of the canes, rather than just at the tips.
If an old, trained cane becomes unproductive, remove it at the base and replace it with a vigorous, young cane. If a wayward stem cannot be redirected by tying it in, cut it back to a bud pointed in the right direction. Trim remaining canes as needed to control size or shape. If the base becomes bare, cut back one or two of the older main canes to within 12 inches of ground level to stimulate vigorous new shoots to develop.

Modern climbers are repeat-blooming and have tall canes, usually about 8 to 14 feet tall. They bloom on current season’s growth. Some modern climbers have stiff canes, but their flexibility can vary. The long flowering canes produce side shoots which are the real flowering stems. The only pruning that should be done in the spring on an established climber is pruning the short upright shoots coming up from the main canes. These can be shortened to two to three buds. Old lateral shoots that are no longer productive can be removed completely.

Ramblers are vigorous, once-bloomers with slender, flexible canes that can grow up to 30 feet in length. They mostly flower on wood produced the previous year. Their vigorous, rampant habit does not require pruning except to keep them in check and reduce the tangle of their long, wild stems. They can be grown as groundcovers or trained as climbers.
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