Planning a new rose garden? Any Advice.........

[johnrite]

I am going to venture into the world of rose gardening in the spring and I was hoping for some advice. The first thing I'm going to do is get my soil tested and put a lot of work/money into it, as a vegetable and fruit gardener I am a firm believer in working the dirt.
I've been waffling a bit on the exact roses that I will plant and I was hoping for advice from people who have actually grown them. I will be planting one climber, six shrubs, and six standard trees, with a sunset color theme.
Here are the roses I've chosen, please tell me if you think they are good or if you think I should plant something else instead.
Climber: Autumn Sunset
Shrubs: Midas Touch, Joseph's Coat (I know it's a climber but I must have it and I'm willing to prune/train,) Strike it Rich, Fragrant Cloud, Chris Evert, Legends.
Trees: Julia Child, Radiant Perfume (I've read lots of bad news about this one, is there a good replacement?) Just Joey, Sunstruck, Dream Come True, Bella'roma.

[ChowderMan]

roses are a bit like real estate - it's location-location-location . . .

full sun is good, where you have to settle for partials, morning sun is best. roses suffer many afflictions when they don't dry off quickly.

you're onto "soil issues" - good drainage is very helpful.

past that's it's Japanese beetles and aphids. lady bugs and praying mantis are very fond of aphids - I've not found too many good solutions for the beetles other than a daily hosing - if you use the scent lures/traps, keep it downwind.

[High Cheese]

Amazon
I planted a few hybrid teas with some good results. Choose plants hardy to your zone. Buy some dedicated clippers.

[Mr. Green Jeans]

The major issue with roses is disease. The BMP for disease is to break the triangle pathogen> host> environment. Morning sun exposure is best because it dries dew off the foliage soonest. All day sun is ideal and good ventilation is also a help. Each fall be sure to prune out any dead branches and remove all dropped foliage from the beds. Good sanitation goes a long way in disease prevention.
Hybrid teas are still the elite members of the family. They are higher maintenance though but the awesome blooms are worth the price IMHO. Love & Peace is one HT that has good disease resistance. I prefer the new landscape roses from breeders like Bill Radler <Knockout family> and Ping Lim < Easy Elegance series>.
We grow about 150K container roses each season and have 5 acres of test plots to evaluate future introductions.

[buckytom]

have you promised it to anyone yet?

that's the first step.

[Onionking]

Roses are great. They can really enhance your garden if placed in the right location.

[leolady]

I jumped in feet first with roses this year without looking or worrying if I can swim. So far I have somewhere around 60 knockout, landscape, floribunda, grandiflora, and hybrid teas planted.

But my huge rose garden looks kinda trashy cause I used a thick hay mulch between the plants. Oh well..........at least I had only a couple rose suicides out of all those I bought.

And since part of the area I planted had been a gravel road years ago it is a wonder if anything can grow there. I couldn't get a shovel in an inch in some places and ended up having to plant the roses on top of the ground and cover them with potting soil. Believe it or not, the roses are doing pretty good.