Growing Roses in
Lake Havasu City Arizona

By Bobbi Holmes 6/5/2010

To keep a rose bush healthy requires plenty of sunshine, something that’s readily available in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  Humid environments, which keep the rose plant’s branches and leaves consistently damp is a sure invitation to rose diseases; another plus for Havasu, which has a dry climate.

Yes, you can grow roses in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Yet, just like growing roses in other parts of the country, they require special attention.

PLANTING

It’s tempting to pick up a rose bush at the nursery when it has several new blossoms. Don’t expect to plant the rose bush when you get home. Rose bushes should be dormant when planted, therefore if you buy the plant late spring, it will need to set in the pot through a hot summer before planting, which may kill your rose bush before you get it in the ground.

LOCATION

Select a location in your garden with plenty of morning sunshine, and afternoon shade. Because Havasu’s summer heat is legendary, look for an area of the garden that receives afternoon shade, to help shield it from the summer’s heat.

I know some successful Havasu gardeners who grow roses, yet manually construct shading during the summer heat, which is not much different than rose gardeners in colder parts of the country who cover their roses during the frigid months.

The right location is vital when planting the rose.  I’ve seen some Havasu gardeners struggle to keep their roses alive, and others, who happened to select the ideal planting location, neglect their plants, and are rewarded with a bounty of rose blossoms each season. Of course, these negligent gardeners have their roses on an automatic drip irrigation system.

PREPARING THE FLOWER BED

Before planting your rose bush, loosen the soil and remove large rocks, going down at least 18 inches. This may require the use of a pick ax. Add compost to the site, about a 4 to 6 inch layer. Add soil amendments and fertilizer, typically nitrogen and phosphorus, yet you may want to take a soil sample to help determine what to add. Turn the soil over, combining the soil, compost and amendments and let the bed rest for several weeks. Don’t pack the area down or walk on it, as you don’t want it to compact.

IRRIGATION

Regardless of your location, always water your roses in the early morning. The reason for this is that the plant has time to dry off before the sun sets. If watered later in the day, a moist rose bush going into the evening is headed for some nasty plant disease, like powdery mildew.

Another reason for morning watering (for ALL your plants) is that Havasu’s water gets boiling hot during the summer months.  Anyone who has turned on the garden hose in the middle of an August afternoon in Havasu, knows how scalding (and I mean scalding) hot the water is straight from the tap. If you want to shock your plants, this will probably do it.

One way to tell if your rose plant needs water is to check the moisture several inches down beneath the surface of the soil under the bush. Gardeners sometimes do this by pressing a finger in the soil beneath the plant, as far as it will go. If dry at the tip of your finger, the plant needs water.  The best bet is an automatic drip watering system.

CUTTING

A sure way to make your roses sick is to prune or cut the plant with garden shears that haven’t been cleaned.  Before each cut, wipe the blades with rubbing alcohol. It is too easy to transfer a disease from one plant to the next by sharing the shears. If you are cutting off diseased limbs from a plant, wipe the blades between each cut, even if you are only working on one rose bush. The point of removing diseased branches is to stop an infection, but if you then cut a healthy branch with the same blade that cut the infected one, you’ve defeated your purpose.

REMOVING FLOWERS

Removing flowers from the plant before wilting encourages more flower growth. When cutting, position the gardening shears above a five-leaflet leaf, about a quarter of an inch. Slant the cut on the upward side of the leaf to avoid injuring the bud eye.
 
 
Living in Havasu doesn’t mean you need to give up your roses, yet, you do need to take special care on their location and irrigation.