🌹 Rose
Rosa spp.
Thousands of years of breeding and it still gets black spot if you look at it wrong in August.
Sun
Full sun, 6+ hrs
Days to harvest
N/A — ornamental; blooms first year from nursery stock
Spacing
2–3 feet (shrubs); 18 inches (bedding types)
Soil pH
6.0–6.5
How to grow
Plant in early spring in rich, well-drained soil with the graft union just above soil level. In Florida, pick disease-resistant varieties (Knock Out types, old garden roses) because black spot laughs at fussier hybrids. Feed lightly, prune in late winter — and wear actual gloves, not optimism.
Water & feeding
Deep watering at the base; wet leaves are a fungal invitation — drip irrigation or morning watering only.
Common problems
- Black spot — the Florida rose rite of passage; resistant varieties plus airflow
- Aphids on new buds (blast them off with water)
- Japanese beetles skeletonizing blooms up north
Harvest
Deadhead spent blooms to keep flowers coming; stop in fall so hips form and the plant hardens off. Cut stems for vases in the cool morning when they're most hydrated.
Nerdy fact: Roses are in the same family as apples, strawberries, and almonds — Rosaceae is basically the overachiever family of the plant world.