Wow, is it hot! I really enjoy warm weather, but when it’s over 95 degrees in the summer and the heat index is over 100, it’s stand and sweat time. I don’t like it, and neither do my roses!

When the weather gets like this, we need to amend our rose care rules a little. Normally, I spray every ten days or so, but this time of year I also watch the long-range forecast. If it is over 90, I will put off spraying until the temps fall back into the 80’s because chances are the foliage will suffer spray burn no matter how well hydrated the leaves are. Also, the blooms will have a tendency to french-fry more readily after being sprayed.

Usually, when watering, I try to keep the foliage as dry as possible. However, when it’s hot like this, a cooling shower on the leaves is just as welcome as a cool shower is to us! I just make sure I rinse off the foliage early on in the day so it is dry by sunset.

I like to take my husband by the arm and do a little ‘Estate Walk’ in the evening. This gives me an opportunity to take a look around at all our roses and see who likes the hot weather. The hybrid tea and floribunda blooms always shrink in hot weather. They are coming on quickly and blow open just as fast. The mini and miniflora roses are an explosion of color with multiple blooms. But in this July heat, the pinnacle of summer weather, I think some of my favorites are the roses with five petals or less.

Summer Rose Varieties

I have a big shrub called ‘Flutterbye’ that is almost as tall as I am and is completely covered with huge clusters of bloom right now. Each five-petaled blossom starts as a bright yellow with a little red at the tips of the petals. The next day, it is peach, the next pink, and the last day it is ivory. There is so much color on the bush that it looks like it is covered with butterflies! Another rose that does well in the summer heat is ‘Sally Holmes.’ Another single, each bloom begins peachy-pink and quickly fades to white. The clusters of blossoms are so enormous they resemble soccer balls!

I have a new rose that is doing really well in this heat. I watched it for four years in the test beds at the park, and I just love it. It should be widely available at your local garden center next spring. This is a smokey-purple-highly-fragrant climbing confection and its name is, ‘Stormy Weather.’ ‘Stormy Weather’ is a super vigorous climbing rose that is almost always in bloom. I love the sultry purple color and heady fragrance, and it branches readily. It stays within bounds and makes a great pillar rose as it soars to 8′ or more.

Cool Season

When the cooler weather arrives, these shrubs will still be as lovely, and the rest of the roses will attain large size again. Fall blooms are a treat because of their deeper color, size, and fragrance. I’ll be patient until then because the shrubs will carry me over.

Oh! About the Japanese Beetles (and all the hybrid beetles that do the same damage)! I like to keep a jar of soapy water out in the garden. Open the lid and touch the side of your beetle-ridden bloom to it. When disturbed, they will fall straight down into the soapy water and drown. Soap (I use dish detergent) breaks the surface tension of the water and makes the beetles slip below the surface. Bye bye, Beetles…

I have been reminding myself in all this heat that we are exactly six months around the clock from one of the snowiest Januaries we ever had. I took a little video back then, and I think I’ll watch it again today. I’ll bet it makes me feel cooler!