Coolroses faq


The following are questions we frequently get regarding our roses. If you can't find the answer to your questions here please contact us. The Fortuniana budded plant I received seems small relative to the bare root roses I have ordered in the past. Bare root roses are field grown plants usually budded onto Dr. Huey rootstock. They are generally 18-24 month old plants. Dr Huey understock plants refrigerate well, and can be stored under refrigeration for long periods of time. Fortuniana rootstock plants 18-24 months old have enormous fibrous root systems and do not refrigerate well. Therefore they must be shipped potted and not bare root. If we waited until they were 18-24 months old they would have to be in 3 gallon pots. Most of the Fortuniana budded plants we sell are less than one year old. While they are initially smaller they will soon outgrow and outperform their Dr. Huey budded counterpart. I have a wonderful old rose in my yard. I don't know where to find another one and it looks like it is dying. Can you make me another one if I send you a cutting? How much does it cost and how do I go about sending it to you? I love to bud old roses that are no longer in commerce. I’m trying to” reintroduce” some wonderful older roses like President Macia, Emily, & Casino on fortuniana stock. If you don’t know what the variety is that’s ok too. Don’t send any patented roses, I cannot legally reproduce patented roses without permission. Don’t wait till your plant is on deaths door to try to take cuttings. Find a healthy stem that has recently finished blooming. Cut it as long as possible and remove the leaves. Wrap it into a wet paper towel and place it in a zip lock bag. Be sure to label it and mail it to me. If I get them to take, I’ll be happy to send you one for $20.00 plus the shipping. I just received my shipment from you. What should I do with the plants now? Should I plant them in the garden right way or should I put them in bigger pots and let them grow up a bit more first? When you receive a plant from us, get it out into the sun as soon as possible. Our roses are grown outside on benches in the full sun, no green houses, no shade, no sun screen. They are fully acclimated and fully rooted. If you want more roots before you plant them, pot them into a three-gallon pot with some good potting mix and some timed release fertilizer and they should have roots to the bottom of the pot in about six to eight weeks. Just make sure that they get plenty of water. Otherwise, our roses are ready to plant right away. I've heard that Fortuniana grafted roses shouldn't be pruned as severely as Dr. Huey grafted bushes. How should they be pruned? We prune our roses here in West Palm Beach Florida in the spring. Which for us is in February. Our rule of thumb is to prune no more than two thirds of the bush. If you live in the north where your roses experience a period of dormancy, do not prune them in the fall, and be sure to winter protect them as much as possible. Do your pruning in the spring after the last frost. You don’t want to cut them as hard as Dr. Huey or Multiflora rootstock roses because of fortuniana’s large fibrous root system. The Huey or Multiflora rootstocks produce carrot like tap roots with some stringy roots coming off the main roots. They don’t hold nearly as much water as the large fibrous shallow root system found on Fortuniana plants. Fortuniana root systems are able to grow in poor sandy soil because they grow large shallow roots that can catch more water and nutrients. Imagine what they can do in a well amended loamy rose bed. When can you ship roses to me? The bare root guys only want to ship in the spring. What is you policy on shipping? We ship roses year round. While we pack our roses very carefully, we have had some roses freeze in route in the dead of winter, so you must keep that in mind when ordering. It may be balmy in Southern California but your roses may freeze in the back of a UPS truck driving through Kansas, or at the airport loading dock in South Dakota. How should I feed my new rose bushes? Any good feeding program will work, but I have had very good luck with a "once a year program" developed by Johnny Becnel, one of the pioneers at promoting of fortuniana grafted exhibition roses. I mix this formula directly into the planting hole soil when I plant new plants. It is as follows: The Johnny Becnel Once a Year Fertilizer Program. Move mulch, add: 2 cups fish meal 1 cup 8-9 mo. Timed release fertilizer 2 tbs blood meal ½ cup alfalfa meal ½ cup Epsom salts (actually 3 times per year) ½ cup dolomite lime ½ cup milorganite ½ cup gypsum pellets 1 cup ashes from his fireplace

The following are questions we frequently get regarding our roses. If you can't find the answer to your questions here please contact us.

The Fortuniana budded plant I received seems small relative to the bare root roses I have ordered in the past.

Bare root roses are field grown plants usually budded onto Dr. Huey rootstock. They are generally 18-24 month old plants. Dr Huey understock plants refrigerate well, and can be stored under refrigeration for long periods of time. Fortuniana rootstock plants 18-24 months old have enormous fibrous root systems and do not refrigerate well. Therefore they must be shipped potted and not bare root. If we waited until they were 18-24 months old they would have to be in 3 gallon pots. Most of the Fortuniana budded plants we sell are less than one year old. While they are initially smaller they will soon outgrow and outperform their Dr. Huey budded counterpart.

I have a wonderful old rose in my yard. I don't know where to find another one and it looks like it is dying. Can you make me another one if I send you a cutting? How much does it cost and how do I go about sending it to you?

I love to bud old roses that are no longer in commerce. I’m trying to” reintroduce” some wonderful older roses like President Macia, Emily, & Casino on fortuniana stock. If you don’t know what the variety is that’s ok too. Don’t send any patented roses, I cannot legally reproduce patented roses without permission. Don’t wait till your plant is on deaths door to try to take cuttings. Find a healthy stem that has recently finished blooming. Cut it as long as possible and remove the leaves. Wrap it into a wet paper towel and place it in a zip lock bag. Be sure to label it and mail it to me. If I get them to take, I’ll be happy to send you one for $20.00 plus the shipping.

I just received my shipment from you. What should I do with the plants now? Should I plant them in the garden right way or should I put them in bigger pots and let them grow up a bit more first?

When you receive a plant from us, get it out into the sun as soon as possible. Our roses are grown outside on benches in the full sun, no green houses, no shade, no sun screen. They are fully acclimated and fully rooted. If you want more roots before you plant them, pot them into a three-gallon pot with some good potting mix and some timed release fertilizer and they should have roots to the bottom of the pot in about six to eight weeks. Just make sure that they get plenty of water. Otherwise, our roses are ready to plant right away.

I've heard that Fortuniana grafted roses shouldn't be pruned as severely as Dr. Huey grafted bushes. How should they be pruned?

We prune our roses here in West Palm Beach Florida in the spring. Which for us is in February. Our rule of thumb is to prune no more than two thirds of the bush. If you live in the north where your roses experience a period of dormancy, do not prune them in the fall, and be sure to winter protect them as much as possible. Do your pruning in the spring after the last frost. You don’t want to cut them as hard as Dr. Huey or Multiflora rootstock roses because of fortuniana’s large fibrous root system. The Huey or Multiflora rootstocks produce carrot like tap roots with some stringy roots coming off the main roots. They don’t hold nearly as much water as the large fibrous shallow root system found on Fortuniana plants. Fortuniana root systems are able to grow in poor sandy soil because they grow large shallow roots that can catch more water and nutrients. Imagine what they can do in a well amended loamy rose bed.

When can you ship roses to me? The bare root guys only want to ship in the spring. What is you policy on shipping?

We ship roses year round. While we pack our roses very carefully, we have had some roses freeze in route in the dead of winter, so you must keep that in mind when ordering. It may be balmy in Southern California but your roses may freeze in the back of a UPS truck driving through Kansas, or at the airport loading dock in South Dakota.

How should I feed my new rose bushes?
Any good feeding program will work, but I have had very good luck with a "once a year program" developed by Johnny Becnel, one of the pioneers at promoting of fortuniana grafted exhibition roses. I mix this formula directly into the planting hole soil when I plant new plants. It is as follows:

The Johnny Becnel Once a Year Fertilizer Program.
    Move mulch, add:
        2 cups fish meal
        1 cup 8-9 mo. Timed release fertilizer
        2 tbs blood meal
        ½ cup alfalfa meal
        ½ cup Epsom salts (actually 3 times per year)
        ½ cup dolomite lime
        ½ cup milorganite
        ½ cup gypsum pellets
       1 cup ashes from his fireplace