Buy Quality Plants. Potted plants from a good nursery are the best bet for a beginner rose gardener. Bare root roses are fine if the are mail ordered from rose specialty store.
www.edmundsroses.com is my favorite mail order.

Plant in VERY SUNNY location with highly amended soil.
Roses perform best with early morning full sunlight that lasts at the very least 6 hours. The soil needs to be 1/3 sand, 1/3 organic matter (pine bark & compost), 1/3 clay. Drainage is very important. A raised bed works best in our heavy clay. Bud unions should be planted just below the soil level plus 3” of mulch.

Roses are HEAVY FEEDERS. Slow release granular fertilizer works well in conjunction with regular watering with Monty’s Joy Juice. Weeks before a rose show, many exhibitors feed with MJJ everyday to produce the large winning blooms.

MULCH is very important. I think Pine Bark is best for roses because it does not mat down. It also works to lighten the texture of the soil as it breaks down. Pine bark 2-3 inches thick really helps to reduce the splashing of fungus from the soil. It also helps reduce the heat stress and water loss that leads to fungus.

A PREVENTIVE spray for fungus is a must in the humid Louisville climate. Your spray program must start as soon as leaves appear in the spring. You must spray following the directions exactly for the chemical you are using.
Protective clothing and eyewear are a must. Spraying for insects is optional. I don’t use insecticides, letting nature take its course. Beatles are controlled by knocking them off into a bucket of sudsy water. Spidermites are controlled with a strong spray of water on the underside of the leaves every three days.

Pruning plays a huge roll in controlling disease. Spring pruning all depends on your micro climate. I prune my roses (expect for climbers) hard each spring, usually to below the winter protection. This pruning needs to be done BEFORE they start to leaf out. Fresh new canes growing from the bud union (below the soil) will be the healthiest.
Mid summer pruning of blind shoots and crossed canes helps to improve the air flow.

Winter protection should be called spring protection. In this area of the country, more roses are lost (when planted with the bud union just below the soil) due to the spring freeze/thaw cycle more often than the cold of winter.
There are several ways to protect your roses. I prefer to use more pine bark mulch, mounded 4-5 inches deep around the base of each rose. I avoid tender climbers because they require too much work to protect. Dortman, Forth of July, and New Dawn are some of favorite climbers.

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