Ground Cover Roses Uses and Care 🌹

Long-blooming, easy-care roses! [View web version]( [FOCUS]( Ground Cover Roses Uses and Care [Flower Carpet Roses]( [Coral with Birdbath] Ground cover roses are a type of rose that has gained in popularity since the 1995 introduction of the Flower Carpet® ground cover rose. Carpet roses are lower growing than shrub roses, with a spreading habit that forms a large thicket, topped by gorgeous flowers throughout the season. They work well in a variety of landscape settings—from borders to beds, to patio containers. With their easy-care attributes, (and even road salt tolerance), they’re excellent for curbside plantings, and for slopes and other tough-to-reach or maintain places. [Flower Carpet® Pink Rose] Some varieties, such as Flower Carpet groundcover roses, are quite dense and can spread up to 36” wide. And best of all, most varieties are repeat blooming, as compared to a more traditional rose that sends off a few weeks of blooms on long stems. Flower Carpet stems have multiple clusters of 8-10 blooms each. In full sun a well-watered, mature Flower Carpet rose can bear as many as 2,000 blossoms in a season! There are now [twelve varieties in the series](, including the new Mini Cherry below. [Mini Cherry Border] Flower Carpet roses are extraordinarily low maintenance and have been bred for exceptional disease resistance and have received over 30 awards for outstanding disease resistance and performance! Better still, they’re drought tolerant once established: their well-developed root system allows the plant to search deep into the soil for stored water, while fibrous upper-level roots take advantage of more readily available water. And the newer varieties of Flower Carpet roses—Pink Supreme, Scarlet and Amber— are even more heat and humidity tolerant. These roses are also quite versatile, which means they are happy to grow well anywhere there’s at least 4 hours of sunshine. And because their bushy form is so good, when you plant them together with other bits and pieces in the garden, they have the knack of bringing it all together and making it look so natural. [Click here]( for a short video on how to use groundcover roses. [A bee on an amber rose] Another advantage to Flower Carpet roses is that with their extreme disease tolerance, there’s no need for chemical spraying or dusting …. and with that, their rich blooms are perfect (and safe) for [attracting bees and other pollinators](. Tips for Groundcover Rose Care and Pruning Flower Carpet groundcover roses are extremely easy-care and require no fussy pruning. A once-a-year pruning is optional and unlike most roses, you don’t have to worry about where you’re cutting along the stem or about pruning them any particular way. You can simply use pruners or even electric hedge clippers—whichever is easier for you. Just cut your Flower Carpet roses back to about 1/3 of their size or more. Cutting them back will ensure a fuller and denser growth for the upcoming season, as well as loads of blooms. To encourage maximum blooms and growth, the optimal time to prune is mid-winter to early spring. If you live in a warmer climate, you’ll probably be dealing with plants that are still green and possibly even still in bloom. Don’t worry though . . . pruning them will stimulate growth and generate more blooms. If you can easily identify any dead stems, cut those right back to the ground. [Flower Carpet Scarlet Before and After Cutback] Flower Carpet Scarlet before and after pruning In colder climates, depending on how harsh the winter was and how much snow cover you’ve had, you may find that most branches have died back to about 3-4 inches from the ground. This is normal for USDA Zones 5 and colder. In that case, you can cut them back to a few inches and they’ll reward you with loads of blooms, starting around early summer and lasting through the first few frosts. Once they start to green up, you’ll be to identify any totally dead branches. Those can be cut back to ground level. Still not certain how to prune your groundcover roses? Check out this short [step-by-step video](. After pruning your Flower Carpet roses, pull away any old leaves and mulch to get rid of any fungal infestations. Feed with controlled-release fertilizer and that’s all you’ll need to do to get them started for another season of blooms! After that, to encourage more blooms, a second feeding in mid- summer is helpful. Although you don’t need to do much with your groundcover roses during the summer, it’s important to keep them well watered when it’s particularly hot and/or dry. Extremely high heat for an extended period may reduce blooms but as the weather cools, you’ll see a new buds. Flower Carpets are self-cleaning, with their dead petals dropping freely to the ground, but you can cut back the spent tips or any extremely long branches to tidy them up if you wish. In colder climates (Zones 5 and colder), after the first hard frost, protect younger roses with an extra layer of mulch during the winter to help reduce frost heave damage. So, the next time you’re looking for exceptionally easy-care plants that will provide months of color and require very little work, be certain to add [Flower Carpet]( groundcover roses to your list. [Flower Carpet Amber Roses] Are you on social? Enjoy more Almanac wit & wisdom! [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( [Pinterest]( [Twitter]( [Visit Almanac.com]( [Shop Our Store]( You received this email because you signed for updates from The Old Farmer's Almanac. If you do not wish to receive our regular e-mail newsletter in the future, please [click here to manage preferences](. *Please do not reply to this e-mail* © 2023 Yankee Publishing Inc. An Employee-Owned Company 1121 Main Street | P.O. Box 520 | Dublin, NH 03444 [Contact Us]( [View web version](