The Rose Garden

How to care for roses

The rose is the most beloved perennial in the world. Almost all of our roses are David Austins; beautiful english roses with outstanding fragrance.

Most roses flower best in a sunny location with at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight. More sun is generally beneficial, provided the plants receive adequate moisture. The morning sun is absolutely ideal as it dries off the morning dew, preventing fungal disease. New roses should be planted in the fall to establish root growth. I prefer to prune in early spring, just as the buds begin to swell. I remove dead, damaged or crossing wood, open the centre of the plant for airflow, and cut back to a healthy outward-facing bud.

Water deeply and thoroughly rather than giving the plants frequent shallow watering. Established garden roses often need a deep soaking twice a week during the spring and a minimum of four times a week during dry hot weather, while newly planted roses and container roses require more frequent attention. Water the soil rather than the leaves, preferably in the morning. Soaker hoses or drip irrigation beneath mulch are excellent ways to deliver water directly to the roots.

Fertilizing can be tricky, but if you have the time, each bush should get one tablespoon of 20-20-20 Miracle Grow in a gallon of water every week. Once small buds appear, change to 15-30-15 Miracle Grow. This will create huge beautiful colourful blooms. Also ½ cup of my dry recipe around the drip line of each bush at the end of April and the beginning of July. Stop feeding at the end of August. This gives the bush the chance to mature for the winter.

I hope you all enjoy the beauty and fragrance of our Mountain Terrace Rose Garden!

One final note: my favourite Old Garden Rose is Madame Isaac Péreire, a Bourbon rose growing in the sixth-floor garden. Its fragrance is the strongest I have ever experienced, and it has won me many fragrance awards. The next time you pass by while it is blooming, pause for a moment and enjoy its extraordinary perfume.

Johnny Bennett

(Photo: Madame Isaac Perreire)

A lifelong passion for roses

The Mountain Terrace Rose Garden is the result of a lifelong love of roses. I’m Johnny and I live in unit 203 with my husband Will. We have lived here for about 10 years. Prior to this, I lived in a home on half an acre. This allowed me to grow lots of wonderful plants, including roses. I started with 8 rose bushes and within 4 years I had 250 different varieties of roses! As my collection of roses grew, I added a greenhouse and began hybridizing roses of my own. I became fascinated by the possibility of combining colour, form, fragrance and durability in a single new plant. I joined the Vancouver Rose Society and became a Board member. We met once a month at Van Dusen Gardens. Five years into growing roses I started exhibiting at our local Vancouver Rose Show every June. I was mentored by an amazing gentleman who taught me everything I know today about growing roses, including his secret recipe for feeding them. In June 2009 the Vancouver Rose Society hosted the World Rose Show at Vancouver’s brand new convention centre. Hundreds of rosarians from around the world came to Vancouver to exhibit their roses. In addition to hundreds of World category awards, Canada had five world championship category awards. I was honoured to take home two of the Canadian World first place awards as well as a second place award. That would be my last time exhibiting my roses.

The Mountain Terrace Rose Garden

After I stopped exhibiting, my relationship with roses took a new direction. In 2018, I was invited to create the rose garden at Mountain Terrace, where it remains today.

The middle two red climbers on the arched trellis (Corsaire) came from the Rose Farm in Langley.

Most of the rest of the roses came from England and were planted as bare root roses. They have been doing very well up until a few years ago when watering issues arose. We are still trying to resolve these issues.

(Photos: MTRose Garden, Corsaire. Click to open full screen)

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