Roses in Alaska: Buying Healthy Roses

People who want to grow roses in Alaska have plenty of places to buy them. Alaska nurseries and greenhouses carry a wide variety of roses, as do some garden centers and department stores. They're available by ordering from catalogs and over the Internet.

They're available grafted or on their own root and both are available bare-root or in pots already blooming.

Bare-root roses are less expensive. Retailers have to be compensated for the container and soil that accompanies roses sold in pots. Prices vary widely but do not always indicate what will survive in your garden.

One standard to consider is the grading system for grafted roses established by the American Association of Nurserymen. This grading system ranks roses in three grades.

No. 1 is the highest. These roses are usually 2-year-old, field-grown bushes. They have at least three canes, or branches, that are at least five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter and originate no more than three inches from the bud union, the bulbous growth indicating where the rose was grafted onto the rootstock.

Grade No. 1½ roses have at least two canes that meet these requirements. Often these bushes will produce one or more canes shortly after they're potted by a commercial greenhouse, making them the equivalent of a No. 1 plant by the time they get to a consumer.

Grade No. 2 is anything that does not meet the minimum standard for a Grade No. 1½ plant. There are no minimum requirements. 

When purchasing own-root roses locally, they will usually be potted. You will find them smaller in diameter than the grafted roses and usually with one main stem. 

When mail-ordering an own-root rose, it may come bare-root. Don't be surprised if it’s very small, sometimes looking like a tiny stick with a few roots. Starting it in a pot, which will be warmer than the ground, will help boost growth. Plant it in the ground about mid-July for the winter. It will take off the second year.

When buying, let your eye be your guide. Look for plump stems and bark and avoid anything that's shriveled. Healthy grafted roses should have thick, green canes. Try not to buy bareroot roses that are leafed out more than 1 inch. If you don't have a choice, remove shoots that are over 1 inch when planting.

The most critical part of the rose is the roots. If they're dried out, you're risking your money purchasing them. If you have doubts, ask what the store policy is about replacing the rose if it dies shortly after you get it home.

© 2002, Alaska Rose Society, All Rights Reserved.
This article was originally published in the Anchorage Daily News, July 5, 2002.

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Last modified: July 13, 2003