Ornamentalshrub ornamentalSome care needed

Rose

Rosa

A genus rather than a plant, and the record says so: habit, repeat-flowering and — most importantly — disease resistance are all cultivar properties, and choosing a resistant cultivar does more for a rose than any amount of spraying. What generalises is the site, the pruning season and the fact that black spot is almost universal in Britain.

Position: Full sun or Partial shade
Water: moderate demand
Drainage: Moisture-retentive
Grows to: 60–250 cm × 60–150 cm
Hardiness: H6
Flowers: June to September
Difficulty: Some care needed

Described view

A shrub rose in full flower in a mixed border, showing the whole plant rather than one bloom — the height it actually reaches, how the flowers sit against the foliage, and the bare lower stems a border plant has to hide

August

In flower

Rose’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

Activity	J	F	M	J	J	A	S	N	D
Plant	January.	February.	March.					November.	December.
In flower				June.	July.	August.	September.
Prune		February.	March.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light: Full sun, Partial shade
Frost: Very hardy
Hardiness rating: H6 (RHS)
Grows best at: 15–25 °C
Soil: Loam, Clay
Soil pH: 6–7
Drainage: Moisture-retentive
Water needs: moderate
Drought: moderate tolerance
Waterlogging: poor tolerance
Heat: good tolerance
Wind and exposure: moderate tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — position
Checked 2026-08-13
FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings
Checked 2026-08-13
Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Rosa — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

Soil	Verdict	Why
Heavy clay	Works, with one condition	Rose will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Sandy	Grows well here	Rose grows perfectly well on sandy without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Chalky and alkaline	Works, with one condition	Rose will crop on chalky and alkaline, but one thing has to be dealt with first. The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 6 to 7, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5.The pH is the obstacle. Small shifts are achievable and slow; large ones are not. On chalky and alkaline the dependable answer is a container of the right compost rather than an attempt to change the ground.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits Rose as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7, and this soil is in that range. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Silty	Grows well here	Rose grows perfectly well on silty without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Peaty and acid	Works, with one condition	Rose will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rock	Grows well here	Rose grows perfectly well on shallow over rock without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Made ground and urban soil	Works, with one condition	Rose will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height: 60–250 cm
Mature spread: 60–150 cm
Rooting depth: 60 cm
Spacing: 45–90 cm apart

Where these figures come from

Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — spacing
Checked 2026-08-13

Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

In a container

Minimum volume: 30 litres or more
Minimum depth: 40 cm

Where the container figures come from

Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

Patio and miniature roses only — a full-sized shrub rose is short-lived in a pot. Use loam-based compost rather than a peat-free multipurpose, which collapses within a season under a permanent plant.

Habit and ultimate size

What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.

Foliage: Deciduous
In a container: Good in a container long-term

Where these figures come from

FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rosa — foliage
Checked 2026-08-13
In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

Growth rate: Moderate — roughly 30–60 cm a year
Ultimate height: 60–250 cm
Ultimate spread: 60–150 cm
Time to reach it: 3–5 yearsSourced guidance

Where these figures come from

Growth rateSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rosa — growth rate
Checked 2026-08-13
Ultimate heightSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rosa — ultimate height
Checked 2026-08-13
Ultimate spreadSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rosa — ultimate spread
Checked 2026-08-13
Time to reach itSourced guidancelow confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rosa — time to ultimate size
Checked 2026-08-13

Cutting it back. Bush roses are cut back hard every year and regrow from the base; this is a plant that expects severe annual pruning and flowers worse without it. Replacing a rose in soil where a rose has been for years is the one thing to avoid, because of the replant disorder that follows.

source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

Method	Suitability	What it needs
Open ground	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Traditional dug bed	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Raised bed	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Container	Workable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13	30 litres minimum; Loam-based compost; Patio cultivars
Hydroponics	Not suitable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

ProtectionChoose a cultivar with recorded disease resistance rather than planning to spray. Black spot is close to universal on susceptible roses in the British climate, and resistance varies enormously between cultivars — it is the single most consequential choice made at the point of purchase.
PlantingDo not plant a new rose where a rose has grown before without replacing the soil to a spade's depth and width. Rose replant disease stunts the new plant for years and has no treatment.
PruningPrune bush roses in late winter, cutting to an outward-facing bud and removing crossing or dead stems. The aim is an open centre with air moving through it, which reduces black spot more than anything done after the fact.
WateringWater newly planted roses through their first two summers and any rose in a container or against a wall, where the soil stays dry even in wet weather. Established roses in open ground need watering only in a drought. Water the soil rather than the foliage — wet leaves in still, humid weather are what blackspot needs to spread.
FeedingFeed with a proprietary rose fertiliser in early spring as growth begins, and again after the first flush of flowers on repeat-flowering kinds. Stop by late summer so the wood ripens before winter. Mulch after feeding and after rain, keeping the mulch clear of the stems.

Where this guidance comes from

ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — black spot
Checked 2026-08-13
PlantingSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose replant disease
Checked 2026-08-13
PruningSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Rose — pruning
Checked 2026-08-13
WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Roses — watering
Checked 2026-08-13
FeedingSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Roses — feeding
Checked 2026-08-13

The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.

What goes wrong

Problem	How often	Notes
Capsid bug	occasional source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13
Rose black spot	common source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13
Aphids	common source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13	Greenfly on the soft new shoots every spring. Rarely damaging enough to need intervention.
Powdery mildew	common source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13	Worst on plants against a wall where air movement is poor and the soil is dry.

Start from what you can see

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.

If something is wrong with it

Dark or black spots on leaves — 2 causes GrowingHQ holds for rose
New growth twisted, puckered or distorted — 3 causes GrowingHQ holds for rose
Holes eaten in leaves — 2 causes GrowingHQ holds for rose
Lower leaves turning yellow — 2 causes GrowingHQ holds for rose

Something else? Work through it with the diagnostic tool.