People come to the farm in February asking why their roses are not flowering. The honest answer is usually that the plant went into the ground at the wrong time of year.

The planting window

In Lahore, the best time to put a rose in the ground is mid-October to late November, once the heat breaks but while the soil is still warm. Roots establish through the mild winter, and the plant is ready to push flowers when spring arrives.

The second-best window is February, but those plants always run a season behind.

Prepare the bed properly

Roses are not fussy about much, but they will not forgive bad drainage. Dig the bed to about a foot and a half and mix in well-rotted farmyard manure with some sweet soil. If water stands in the hole for more than an hour, raise the bed.

  • Space bush roses about two feet apart
  • Keep the graft union just above soil level
  • Water deeply at planting, then let the surface dry between waterings

Pruning is what makes the flowers

This is where most home gardeners hold back. A rose that is never cut turns into a tall, woody plant with three flowers at the top.

Prune hard in late December or the first week of January. Take the plant down to four or five healthy canes, each cut just above an outward-facing bud. It will look brutal. In eight weeks it will be covered in growth.

A rose bush you are afraid to cut is a rose bush that will not flower.

Feeding through the season

  1. After pruning: a handful of farmyard manure worked into the topsoil
  2. When new shoots appear: a balanced fertiliser every three weeks
  3. Stop feeding by late April, before the real heat

The common mistakes

Watering the leaves instead of the roots invites black spot. Planting in half shade gives you leaves and no flowers — roses want at least five hours of direct sun. And leaving spent blooms on the plant tells it to stop producing; snap them off just above a five-leaflet leaf and it will keep going.

We keep desi gulab, English varieties and climbers at the farm through the season. Come in October and we will help you pick what suits your bed.