Growing roses in Pakistan is far from being the uphill battle many readers, judging from the deluge of questions submitted on this subject, consider it to be. Over the years, I have garnered the distinct impression that the biggest problem faced by would-be rose growers is adherence to information obtained from gardening books and websites intended for residents of countries with far different climatic and soil conditions than are experienced here. Creating and then maintaining a gorgeous array of roses in Karachi and Lahore, for example, is quite a different proposition from doing the same in London, New York or Singapore.

As with all other types of plants, the first thing to do before putting in roses is to carefully select the planting site and then thoroughly prepare the soil: Roses do best in a sunny position which has protection from debilitating winds which, hot or cold, are equally damaging. They do, however, need to be open to good air circulation if problems such as mildew are to be avoided or at least kept to a minimum. Roses benefit more from direct morning sunshine than from afternoon sunshine and require good drainage at all times. Allowing a space of three to four feet from the centre of one rose bush to the next is a good general guide to follow when planting hybrid tea and floribundas, two to three feet for miniature rose bushes, six to eight feet for climbers and ramblers and anywhere from four to six feet for shrub roses depending on the needs of the particular variety selected.

The number of rose species available here has increased tremendously over the years and some specialised rose nurseries have even bred their own, award winning varieties which are impressive enough to compete at international level if, and when, such an opportunity arises. It is always better to purchase indigenously produced roses than to smuggle in expensive plants from overseas which may or may not adapt and which could, unfortunately, introduce previously unknown plant diseases and pests, invisible to the naked eye at the time of purchase. At the time of purchasing do check over each individual plant for the slightest sign of pest and disease and, no matter what the nursery man tells you, do not buy any plant which is remotely suspect.

It is preferable to select ‘true’ plants which have been propagated directly from cuttings rather than grafted stock as is the general habit here as grafted roses are plagued by suckers growing up from their desi root stock. Such suckers need to be removed as soon as they are spotted otherwise they deplete the energy of the grafted plant and can, if not dealt with, actually take over and kill it off. Having said this, I must admit to having allowed a few such desi roses to flourish in my own garden as their perfume is exquisite!

Rose plants, mostly bare-rooted and wrapped in straw, are generally in the market from late November to the end of February which is the perfect time to plant them. Pot grown and container grown plants are available all the year round but it is best to avoid planting them out during the hot summer months as the stress of root disturbance at this time may very well damage or even kill them. Spring planted roses should only be given a light pruning, basically just pruning back any damaged or dead wood as a hard pruning at this time gives the plant a shock it does not need with hot weather on the horizon. Autumn and winter planted roses may be pruned back to a maximum of 50 per cent followed by a second light pruning towards the end of February. The best time for pruning established rose bushes is 50 per cent at the end of October with a second light pruning in February. Climbing, rambling and shrub roses are better left un-pruned except for cutting out dead or diseased wood.

To prepare your bushes for the stress suffered by pruning, a stress that roses in cold climate winters do not suffer as they go dormant unlike here where they do not, stop watering them a month prior to pruning as this helps to reduce any ‘bleeding’ that might result from this necessary chore. Having just said that pruning of bush roses is ‘necessary’ I will now totally contradict myself by saying that pruning, other than to remove diseased, dead or otherwise damaged wood, is really not necessary unless you have either show class blooms in mind or need, by virtue of limited space, to keep bushes at a certain size. Left to themselves, rose bushes often flower far more profusely than if pruned back, flowers will probably be on the small side but there will be more of them over a longer period of time.

A final tip, having realised, as is often the case, that this column will have to be continued, is colour prejudice when choosing your rose plants: Roses with delicate colours have the bad habit of being bleached to nothing in hot sun so opt for strong shades which, even as they fade, will still put on a pretty show.

Read more next week

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Answers to selected questions will appear in a future issue of the magazine. This takes time. The writer will not respond directly by e-mail. E-mails with attachments will not be opened. Please note: The writer’s garden is not open to the public.