Roses Don't Like Las Vegas' "Winter"

Roses Hate Las Vegas Summers

            It's summer. This is the time of year when garden roses struggle. Summer is their "winter". As the temperatures get hot, roses stop flowering and the leaf edges turn brown and scorch. The month and week it stops flowering depends on their “landscape exposure” (which magnetic direction they are facing in the landscape), how the soil was amended where it was planted, the variety planted and its overall health.

If roses are not taken care of properly they will look pretty scraggly during the summer months in Las Vegas. This rose has some salt issues due to a lack of water to flush the salts from the soil and a lack of good soil preparation for good drainage.

Rose Family Plants Don't Like Rock

            Some plants don’t grow well in rock and roses are one of them. Nearly all landscape plants in the Rose Family (think Photinia, pyracantha, strawberry, Carolina cherry laurel, and most of our favorite fruit trees) like soil improvement and a moist environment when planted in desert soils. The number of native Mojave Desert plants in the Rose Family is very limited. That tells you something about the desert environment and the Rose Family.

This landscape photinia lost its leaves during the winter mostly because of its poor health. Plants in the Rose Family need soil improvement at the time of planting and surrounded by organic mulch, not rock. 

Roses Like Amended Soil

 The most favorable environment for garden roses in the desert is soil amended with compost at planting, six hours or more of morning sun, organic mulch on the soil surface (like woodchips) and moist soil. Garden roses will NOT do well the first year after planting if put in the wrong location, the soil is amended poorly and not watered correctly. They will begin failing in 3 to 5 years if surrounded by rock.

Apply Fertilizers to Roses

            Applying the right kind of fertilizer at the right time is only part of the success equation. Applying a rose fertilizer once in the spring is adequate, three times during the growing season is better and it can get complicated from there with fertilizer favorites and soil amendments if you are a rose enthusiast.

Select Roses that Like the Desert

            Some roses perform better in the hot desert than others. Consult Cooperative Extension or the Weeks Roses wholesale website for suggested recommendedvarieties for the desert when buying or replacing. Roses last 20 years or more if properly selected, planted and maintained.