Question
Hello,

I just recently purchased a bare-root rose called 揅limbing Orchid Masterpiece.?I am an amateur rose gardener, and the roses I currently have are all hybrid teas. I tried doing a search on this 揅limbing Orchid Masterpiece?rose, but I couldn抰 find any relevant results on its cultivation requirements or even the rose in general. Will you please give me any specific growing points I should take into consideration for this variety of rose? I don抰 know much about this rose, and I have never grown climbers before.

By the way, I live in Sacramento, CA, which is in zone 9B, if that抯 important to the life of the rose.

Thank you for your advice.

Answer
Here is some background on your rose.In the 50's and 60' there was a well loved rose breeder by the name of Gene Boerner. He introduced many very fragrant roses and this is one of his climbers. It doesn't grow very tall only about 8 feet but maybe in your zone a little taller than that. It has one main flush of flowers and then about 6 weeks later it will have a smaller flush of blooms. The fragrance is very strong abut although this is a beautiful rose, if can be prone to a fungal disease called black spot. I have enclosed a photo of Orchid Masterpiece.
It is more important how you plant the rose and what you put into the hole then what you do on the top of the soil. Give a rose (or any other plant) a good start and it will eliminate most of your problems.Rose roots are what will give you a healthy rose. So dig a large hole about 2 feet wide and if possible 2 feet deep as climbers roots will go deep. Then if your soil is good such as having some clay and loam you only need 2 cups of bone meal mixed in towards the top of the hole. However if your soil is poor, then try and add well rotted manure, if that is not easy to get then put a bag of steer manure in with the soil. Plant the rose with the bump( where it was grafted) at the top of the roots under the soil. Firm down the soil with your feet ( don't stamp just press) Water well, sprinkle a slow release fertilizer all around the base such as Osmocote 14-14-14. Because roses like to steadily munch a slow release of any kind is the best for them plus it saves you having to constantly remember to fertilize. It will take nearly 2 months for new feeder roots to grow and take up the water so you must act as feeder roots and water daily, even more if the weather turns really hot in the summer. Finally again because roses love cool roots place a mulch of anything you can get in your area such as fine ground bark. If that is too costly then place 6 layers pads of newspaper around the base and cover with soil. That will slowly break down and is okay for the soil and the rose. Don't prune your climber no matter what people tell you as it needs all the leaves it can grow. In the first year it will be growing steadily and may not produce many blooms as it takes at least three years for a climber to really put out the flowers. If you have the room then climbers only need to be cut back into their allotted space. So you can cut back those canes which are stretching out sideways and if some of the canes start sticking out towards you then those can be trimmed back. Rose books make a HUGE production out of pruning. It has now be proven that a rose needs all the growth you can allow to be healthy. Now because it will probably get a fungal disease, use any rose spray for black spot and simply follow the directions on the package. Try not to get a spray that also has an insecticide in it because as you probably know, when you kill the bad guys you also kill the good guys too. Hope this helps. If you have any other questions just head your emails with ORCHID MASTERPIECE and send them to
[email protected]
Then I will send you the picture I have or your climber.