Paul Zimmerman is a renowned expert on roses, with over 25 years of experience in the field.
He is the owner of Paul Zimmerman Roses, a company that provides consulting services, lectures, and garden design focused on roses.
Paul is also the author of the book “Everyday Roses: How to Grow Knock Out® and Other Easy-Care Garden Roses” and has written numerous articles on roses for various publications.
He is a sought-after speaker at gardening events across the country and has served as a judge for the All-America Rose Selections.
Paul Zimmerman is known for his practical and sustainable approach to rose gardening, and his passion for sharing his knowledge and expertise with others.
In this interview, he shared how his passion for roses began and what are the most common mistakes people make when growing roses, including assuming they need special care and not considering the regional preferences of different rose varieties.
Paul emphasized the importance of selecting the right rose variety for the garden’s location and purpose, as well as the significance of proper soil preparation.
He also shared tips on year-round rose care, including grooming and shaping, pruning, and avoiding the use of insecticides and fungicides.
Lastly, Paul Zimmerman highlighted the biggest challenges facing rose growers, such as the misconceptions about rose care and the excessive use of chemicals, and how to overcome them.
Read on to find out the art of growing roses with Paul Zimmerman.
The Art Of Growing Roses With Paul Zimmerman
1. How did you become interested in rose growing, and how long have you been doing it?
I describe what I do as my “accidental career”. In my early thirties, I gave up my career in show business. I was living in Los Angeles at the time. While deciding what to do next in life I took some time off and got back into gardening. I grew up in Miami Florida to Dutch parents and had a lawn care business and worked in our yard there.
To this day I have no idea why I decided to try roses. I’d never grown them before, but for some reason wanted to try them. I purchased my first three roses which were “Olympiad’, ‘Pristine’ and ‘Crystalline’.
My wife says that when I decide to do something I go way overboard and want to learn everything about it. I joined a rose society, helped found another one, became its President, and started a rose care company.
When we moved to the upstate of South Carolina I had a mail-order rose nursery for ten years and closed that to focus on the work I do now. This was over the span of the last 25-30 years.
2. What are some of the most common mistakes that people make when growing roses, and how can they be avoided?
The most common mistake is they think roses need coddling and all kinds of special care. If you exhibit you will need to do all those things, but if you just want roses for the garden the same care as you give your other plants will suffice. Fertilize and water them, groom and trim them and that’s about it.
The other most common mistake I see is thinking that all roses do well in all parts of the country. There is nothing further from the truth. Roses, like all plants, are regional. Some like cold, some don’t. There are some roses that like heat and some don’t. Some can take humidity and others wilt in it.
Do your homework to see which roses will grow in your growing zone and region. Just like you would with any other plant.
3. What are some of the most important things to keep in mind when selecting rose varieties for a garden or landscape?
Where you live is the #1 thing to think about. Like I mentioned earlier not all roses do well in every part of the country. Find roses that like where you live. Too often gardeners buy roses and give up because they are “too fussy”. Something that could have been avoided had they been sold the right rose for where they live.
The other thing to keep in mind is what is the rose’s job in the garden going to be. By this I mean do you want tall ones for a privacy hedge, low ones to line a walkway, ones that product cut flowers, a climber to cover an arbor, something short for the front a flower border?
The list goes on. Roses come in sizes ranging from 1.5’ low “ground covers”, to shrubs from 3’-8’ tall and wide, to 15’ climbers and even 30’ ramblers. The important take away here is that roses like to grow to their mature size. So buying a shrub rose that will grow to 8’ and trying to keep in under 3’ will not work. The same goes for a climber. If you want to cover a small arbor a rose that wants to grow to 25’ is going to eat the arbor, and you, alive.
4. How do Paul Zimmerman go about caring for roses throughout the year, from planting to pruning and beyond?
Essentially I care for them like all the other perennials and shrubs in my garden. They all get fed the same, planted the same and soil gets treated the same. And the key is your soil. Not just a 2’ x 2’ hole for each rose, but prepare and treat the entire garden bed. If you do so there is no need for that 2’x 2’ hole filled with all kinds of things foreign to your native soil.
I groom and shape my roses all season long. Generally after a bloom flush. That’s a great time to clean out dead growth if I have any and also shape the bush. I do prune my roses in late winter when the forsythia bloom, but I don’t have a set height for every rose. Much of how I prune in terms of height, how much I take out etc depends on the rose and where it’s planted. Roses I want to keep taller are pruned tall, some are pruned to medium height, and some shorter.
I have close to 4000 square feet of gardens on our farm with between 250-300 roses on average and a lot more perennials and other flowering shrubs. I don’t have the time to make this a labor-intensive garden.
My garden is also sustainable. I don’t use insecticides of any kind and no fungicides. If a rose doesn’t do well and is always full of disease I take it out.
5. What are some of the biggest challenges that rose growers face, and how do you suggest overcoming them?
The biggest challenge rose growers face is all the misinformation that they are hard to care for. That coupled with all the articles about you can only grow roses with labor-intensive feeding and spraying programs is what prevents people from growing roses. I see lists of chemicals often costing hundreds of dollars. Why would anyone buy a plant they are told needs that kind of care?
The second thing I would point to is the thought that roses have to be “perfect” all the time. No disease, no insect damage; the list goes on. Nothing is ever perfect and it’s okay for roses to have some disease and some damage. Mine often do.
6. Can you tell us about some of the latest trends or developments in the world of rose growing, such as new hybrid varieties or growing techniques?
In one word – Sustainable. All garden trends in the industry point to a new generation that does not want to grow with synthetic chemicals. This means we in the rose industry have to find roses that can be grown without chemicals but we also have to let people know it’s okay to grow roses this way. Plus teach them how to do so.
The other development thankfully making its way back into roses is fragrance. This is a high priority for today’s buyers and I’m glad to see it. Not that all roses have to have fragrance but it certainly is nice when they do.
In the United States, we are trending towards our own root roses as opposed to roses budded onto a rootstock. This is good for a few reasons. Practically it will help stop the spread of the rose mosaic virus (RMV) which is that yellow variegating of the leaves. RMV is primarily spread from budded infected roses onto clean rootstock or vice-versa. If a rose is clean than any cuttings taken from it and grown on their own roots will also be clean.
Also, own root roses are by their very nature vigorous. If a rose can be propagated and grown on its own roots it has inherent vigor. If a rose cannot be grown without being budded onto a rootstock to inject that vigor into it, then in my opinion it’s not a good rose.
7. How do you recommend dealing with common rose pests and diseases, and are there any natural or organic remedies that you recommend?
I recommend doing nothing for pests. I don’t use insecticides of any kind and have far less damage than many other gardens I know. That’s because I’ve built what is called a Host Environment for beneficial insects. This means they come and stay in my garden to deal with pests when they arise. I have information on this on my website and in my books, but essentially this is how I deal with insects.
For disease, I always give a rose a few years to settle in before I judge it for disease. I don’t spray fungicides although I sometimes will use a copper-based spray if I see something like downy mildew. If, after a few seasons, a rose continues to get more than its fair share of disease I shovel prune it. I also allow my roses to have some diseases. Living in the upstate of South Carolina, I get rose diseases pressure in July and August. I use that time to trim my roses back, clean them up and get them ready for the fall flowering.
8. What advice do you have for someone who is new to rose growing and wants to get started in this hobby or profession?
Don’t read anything about how to grow roses!!! Kidding aside, I would suggest you start by doing some research and picking the roses for your area. Local plant and rose societies can help. Many local rose societies are now putting out lists of easier-to-grow roses. Social media groups can help. Local botanical gardens if they grow without chemicals. Ask around. Like any group of plants, not all roses do well in all parts of the country. Doing a little homework upfront is a great start.
After that basically treat it like any other flooring shrub in your garden. It might need more pruning and of course, deadheading helps because most roses flower all season long. But don’t get into the complicated care regimes. Rose Exhibitors need to do this and they are excellent rose growers but they are growing for a specific reason. For the general gardener good, basic gardening techniques will work for most roses.
9. For our readers who are passionate about roses and want to learn more about your work, where can they find you?
I have a Facebook Group called Paul Zimmerman Roses Gardening. That is the best place to interact with myself and other like-minded rose growers. We are over 17,000 members from around the world. I make it a safe space where no question is too basic and no question can be asked and answered enough. That, my website – paulzimmermanroses.com and YouTube Channel are the best places to go.
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