It’s a good thing that midsummer roses aren’t as lazy as we are in the hot weather! Look for two rose phenomena when the temp zooms above the 85 degree mark: the flowers of everblooming roses will be slightly smaller than they are in spring and fall; and hybrid tea roses tend to “candelabra.” (Yes, it’s a noun used as a verb, but don’t blame me, I didn’t make it up!)  

The heat and strong sunlight work with your fertilizer and water and put rose photosynthesis into high gear. Rose blooms, which achieve their size in their bud form, have so much energy that they open before the buds get really big. Similarly, hybrid teas, which are revered for their one fabulous bloom per long stem, tend to create more than that one bud, and grow ‘side buds’— a pair of extra buds next to the big center bud.  These side buds can be pinched out at any time, but earlier is better than later.

Growth may also start from several leaf axils at the top of the cane. This growth will be spindly, so pinch it out, as well. But when roses ‘candelabra’ there’s not much you can do about it. Some hybrid tea roses try to produce clusters of buds, but rather than the compact clusters that floribundas produce, a hybrid tea candelabra is a cluster on an elongated, leafless stem at the top of the cane.  It looks just like… yes, a candelabra! The buds will open, and the flowers will be pretty, but without leaves, the cluster looks naked and these are the stems I leave in the garden for color.

When you cut flowers or deadhead spent blooms, cut long stems so the new canes that grow will be fat, and the new flowers big. Make those plants use all that energy wisely!

You’ll be a lot happier with your floribundas if you pinch the big center bud out of each flower cluster. That way, all the flowers in the cluster will open at the same time, for a much prettier display. The earlier you disbud, the better the cluster will look when the florets open. The gap where the center bud was fills in as the remaining buds grow.

Needless to say, watering and fertilizing are very important now. Healthy, energetic rose plants produce lots of strong new basal canes that are the future of your rosebush. A rose cane has a limited lifespan, depending on your climate, so the development of new canes to replace the ones that will die next year or the year after are vital to the longevity of your plant. A quarter-cup of Epsom salts scratched into the soil at the base of each rosebush encourages new basal cane production.

It’s also important to keep roses insect, mite, and disease free. Keep up your regular spray regimen, and evaluate your performance in August and September. It’s a fine rosarian who has disease-free plants in the fall!

The hardest thing for me is keeping the rosebeds weed free. My resolution this season has been to cultivate all the beds at least once a week, so the weeds never get large enough that I actually have to pull them.  So far it’s working, and cultivating is easy when you do it often. Roses love the soil they’re growing in to be frequently cultivated because it provides aeration and it allows better penetration of water and fertilizer. Not to mention disturbing the roots of those nasty weeds!

Above all, cut lots of roses to bring inside where their fragrance quiets frazzled nerves and their beauty quickens the heart. GG

Ann Hooper is a certified American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian, who grows nearly 400 rosebushes at her home near Boston.  She is the owner of Primary Products, a mailorder supplier of everything needed to grow fabulous roses.  Visit the Primary Products website at http://www.primaryproducts.com .  Ann will always answer your rose culture questions.  E-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it